Bill’s Bar – The First Ever Burger Conquest Costume Burger Ball

Bill’s Bar
http://www.billsbarandburger.com/
22 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10014

THE STORY
You’ve seen “Back to the Future” right? Kid from the future has a crazy inventor friend who makes a time machine. In a random turn of events, he ends up in the past as a high school student at his parent’s school and is instantly the cool new guy on the block, thus changing his parents lives and in turn his own future? Well that’s kind of like the B.R. Guest restaurant in NYC, Bill’s Bar. Follow me…

About 3 weeks ago, Bill’s Bar opened and the Burgeratti all exploded onto the nets with praise and adoration; A Hamburger Today, Hamburger America, The Feedbag, Eater, Grub Street.
So Marty McFly = Bill’s Bar and High School = New York City, although I am not sure who is Biff Tannen in this comparison. Maybe Josh Ozersky (ha!) Actually, since he introduced me to Donna at B.R. Guests, I guess that makes him more like George McFly…but I digress.

Bill’s Bar is located in NYC’s where The Hog Pit used to be in the meat packing district. They use the ever popular Pat La Frieda for their ground beef and prepare their burgers smash style (wad of beef literally gets smashed onto the cooking surface) on a Keating Miraclean flat top griddle. So with the promise of tasty burgers and the need to come up with my own review but stand out from the rest of my burger buds, I emailed Team Burger and invited them too…

THE BURGER
13 of us rolled into Bill’s this rainy Halloween even ready to do some damage. The extremely friendly and accommodating staff lead us to 3 tables in the back where we stared to look over the menu. Bill’s serves up 6 choices of burgers including the Burgeratti fave, “The Bobcat.” The inspiration behind this burger topped with green chiles and jack cheese is from the famed Bobcat Bite in Santa Fe, NM. Which is what I ordered. When I asked “how are the burgers prepared” I was told that the 5 ounces patties are “cooked for about 90 seconds but we’ll try to get it as rare as possible for you.”

Served on a squishy sesame seed bun and with lettuce, this burger packs a tasty flavor. The meat is slightly crisp on the outside and had a very salty flavor, which is exactly how I like it! I expected the chiles to be a little hotter and a little smokier but the cheese really blended into the overall flavor of the sandwich. Maybe this bad boy was way too hyped up but I expected to love it more than I did.

And that is exactly why, I ordered a 2nd burger, this time with just cheese and lettuce. I am glad I did because the 2nd burger was fantastic. As much as I love a burger with bacon, egg, cheese, peanut butter and fried bananas (see Vortex), I’m really quite happy with a simple bun, lettuce, cheese and patty combo. The Bill’s Classic was fantastic and bursting with burgery goodness. In retro, getting both burgers was the right call, although I will say, the bottom half of the bun really held no support for the sandwich.

With a decent selection of beers, Bill’s offers more than just a great burger. We also tried the creamsicle shake which was creamy and delicious and an Oreo Shake with Jameson Whiskey in it. This thing was sent down to us from the food and liquor heavens and thank you to Tom for having the head space to order it. The fries were crispy and good but the real potato win was the NJ influenced “Disco Fries” smothered in cheese sauce and gravy. We also dove into a plate of boneless wings and as much I would like to tell you whether the sauce was good or not, they were simply covered in Frank’s Red Hot. How can you go wrong with that? The specialty food item of the menu, Crispy Veggie Fries. The name is a bit of a misnomer as these are more like tempura vegetables and are damn tasty.

With all this foodie goodness, I have to tell you the absolute winner here, and Matt will agree with me, especially after his double patty chili covered monstrosity (I love you Matt) that the Beer Battered Onion Rings were the best God Damn Onion Rings on the planet! I have never had better tasting, more perfectly fried O-Rings in my life. Don’t you hate it when you bite into them and the stringy onion comes slopping out of the fried batter like a tape worm trying to escape a hole? Gross. NOT THESE SUCKERS! Every bite goes right through to give you a perfect mix of onion and batter.

Thanks to the Bill’s Bar staff and B.R. Guest for a great time and a great meal. Thanks to Team Burger for eating in costume. Me, I am the black colored robot from the future named Bronar, shoving a burger into my mechanical face.

8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev