Bierhaus NYC – The Rev Meter for Social Community

Posted on 04/25/2011 by Rev

Bierhaus NYC
http://bierhausnyc.com
712 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10017

THE CONQUEST
The hardest part about writing this blog is getting started. It’s a lot more work than you think it might take to maintain the discipline of continued creative writing, especially considering the blog has one topic; HAMBURGERS. As Glorious as a Burger may be, if all that was all that I wrote about on the blog, well, that would kind of be a pointless endeavor as far as I am concerned. How many times can you read “freshly-made savory beef with a salty balance of cheese, etc, etc, etc?” Which gives me two tasks outside of crushing Burgs; 1. creative writing & 2. varied subject matter without going too “OT” (off topic) as we like to say in the blogosphere.  So let’s talk about something else for a moment.

Every year, my fantastic Mother-In-Law Evelyn showers me with Christmas gifts. My wife’s entire family is very gift oriented, which is really awesome but when you live in Manhattan, like we do, space is a commodity. After many years of cooking kitchen utensils, cooking devices, books, and other house hold items, our gift receiving retention space hit capacity. Without trying to be rude, I asked Evelyn if she could switch up the style of gifts to things that are either consumable or experience based. Christmas has never been better! Jars of Cashews, bottles of Wine and Bourbon, gift cards, bottles of fine cooking oil…it’s even better than it was before.

This past Christmas among the consumable presents I received was a gift certificate to The Art Of Shaving. Its a retail store, product and men’s spa that specializes in products and services that cater to the upkeep of a man’s face. They carry a wide array of shaving, grooming and skin care products to help keep a man’s face looking well groomed and healthy. Some locations even house a men’s barber spa where a guy can get a haircut, aroma therapy and skin services like a straight razor shave. The latter is the exact way I planned to use my gift card.

To prepare for my “royal shave” I stopped trimming my beard for 5 weeks. I can grow facial hair at an alarming speed and I’ll bet my hair growing capabilities could beat the speed of light in a drag race. Some people have a 5 0’clock shadow whereas mine usually shows up at lunch. After much “Rip Van Winkle” ridicule from my wife Cara, I made an appointment at The Art of Shaving.

On the day of my reservation, I had quite a gnarly, yet still very soft, amass of facial hard ready to be “man-handled.” I was quickly seated in the private spa room in the back where the extremely friendly, talented and professional Arthur Mirzakan spent an hour plus grooming your favorite Burger blogger.

So what did this man make over session entail you ask? Here it is straight from their website:

“The Art of Shaving’s most signature service begins with a hot towel. The face is then massaged with Pre-Shave Oil to help protect the skin and soften the beard. Next, warm Shaving Cream is applied to the face and then shave twice, once with the grain, and then re-lathered and shaved across the grain for The Perfect Shave™. After, the face is wrapped in a hot towel … morewhile the barber prepares with fresh ingredients the After-Shave Mask®. Once the mask has dried, it is removed with sponges soaked in lemon essential oil. Finally, Hydrating Toner is applied and the face is lightly massaged with After-Shave Balm to help moisturize.”

It was truly a luxurious experience that had I the funding (or if I owned The Art of Shaving) I would partake in at least twice a week. Not only did it feel great, but I looked my absolute best and learned some great grooming tips from a true professional. But for now, I settled on an Art of Shaving home kit that comes with a brief lesson on how to use the product correctly.

So now that we are on what could be misconstrued as a totally “OT” digression, let’s get back on the Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers. As professional in the brand consulting and social media world, I spent most of my days in my office at Yeah! Management, helping artists, restaurants, brands and other marketers in developing their business. While doing so, I spent a lot of time using social networks to accomplish goals, make connections and share (pictures of Burgers). As part of my career, I am the community manager for a number of small business including my very own bar, Idle Hands Bar as well as Rub BBQ, That Burger Tent, Gunners Run and even help out the guys from the Grill ‘Em All Truck in Los Angeles.

The job title “community manager” requires a good understanding of which social networks are best used for bars and restaurants and also a deep comprehension on how to optimize their abilities. Thankfully I love social networking and have become an full blow iPhone app junkie. If I can use it to find Burgers & Beer, talk about Burgers & Beer or eat Burgers and drink Beer, I am all about it.

I wanted so badly to write about my experience at The Art of Shaving but to do so, it needed to somehow include a Burger. I had not intended on a BurgerConquest and therefore was not prepped to do so but literally duty called! Suddenly it came to me, let’s put social networking to the test and see if it does what it’s supposed to do when in the right hands.

THRILLIST
– Find a something cool, in this case, a Burger

Where do I turn when I need to find the coolest, best, new, most rad, awesome, quality spots for, well just about anything, especially Burgers and Beer? Thrillist. Ever since I found out about Thrillist, I have been a fan. Being a subscriber, a rewards member and now a consultant for them, I love what they do. Thrillist makes you feel like an insider in your town and there is no better way to instantly tap into their ability like the Thrillist app.

How to use the Thrillist app
1. Open the Thrillist app
2. Sign In
3. Tap “Eat, Drink, Shop or More”
4. Search. The app will then pull up a list of Thrillist approved business that meet your criteria.
5. Tap on the icon of the business you are interested in and you get this…

In 1589 Wilhelm V., Duke of Bavaria, and his royal court, recruited master brewer of the Geisenfeld Monastery, Heimeran Pongraz and began to build a brewery in Munich, Germany. 3 years later in 1592 they opened the Hofbräuhaus, perhaps the most famous German Brewery in the world. It’s a staple of the yearly German Oktoberfest, the famous Bavarian month-long celebration of beer held in Munich, Germany. It’s notoriety is celebrated by beer lovers worldwide and has even inspired Hofbräuhaus to build replica locations all over the world including Las Vegas, Pittsburg, Melbourne Australia and now in NYC!

Welcome to the Bierhaus NYC! According to my trusty Thrillist App, “Perched above a closed OTB and rocking a giant bar on one end and a 50ft balcony on the other, this German joint from the Whiskey River/ Black Bear Lodge crew offers an airy, skylit, dark-brown-wooded backdrop for consuming exclusively Hofbrau brews (Original, Dunkel, Hefeweizen…) and surprisingly authentic fare including pretzels w/ bier cheese, slow-roasted pork shank, and a Wurst Sampler, which was not Vanilla Ice, ’cause he had that extra “ding” in there!”

A few minutes walk from The Art of Shaving and I was comfortably seated at the bar with a Hofbrau Hefe Weizen Dunkel in my hand.

UNTAPPD
– Socially connect by drinking a Beer

One day a bar of chocolate crashed into someone’s peanut butter and one of the most amazing combination’s ever took place. Similarly, one day Tim Mather and Greg Avola decided to combine beer drinking and social networking to create Untappd.It’s been nicknamed “Foursquare for beer drinkers” and allows you to share which beer you’re drinking and where with your friends. It’s a great way to find out about new beers, new places to drink them and new friends to drink them with.

I was instantly obsessed upon discovery. In fact, I hunted down Greg and Tim to let them know just how great an improvement Untappd was for the social networking universe. Flash forward and Idle Hands became the first bar in the world to have their very own Untappd Badge! Check into 10 different beers at Idle Hands and you’ll unlock a badge that grants you a FREE taste of EVERY beer on tap in the bar!!

How to use Untappd
1. Untappd lives on the web so there is no need to download an app. Go to http://m.untappd.com from your mobile device.
2. Sign up
3. Tap “Drink Up”
4. Type in the name of the beer or the brewery you are enjoying and hit send.
5. Tap on the brew to confirm.
6. Add your location, a quick review as well as a check into Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare and Confirm Your Brew.

If the beer you’re drinking does not come up, you can opt to add it into the system. For some odd reason Hofbrau Hefe Weizen Dunkel was NOT listed so I did just that. Now all my friends on Untappd knew where I was, what I was drinking which was a new beer for them to all discover.

FOURSQUARE
– Socially connect, get suggestions & unlock a check-in special

Props to Foursquare for turning social networking into a game. With their system you can check into a location or an event, share it with your friends, get tips on what to do or order there and even unlock special deals for Check-ins. If you’re a bar or restaurant and you are not using Foursquare to market your business, well in the social media world we call that a #FAIL. Check out what we offer at Idle Hands to encourage visitors and Foursquare check ins;

“Free 4.16 oz draft beer or Powers shot with any purchase. 1 per person per day. MUST tip the bartender or drinks are double priced and we call your Mom to tell her what a cheapo she raised.”

How to use Foursquare and earn Check-In specials
1. Open the Foursquare app
2. Sign In
3. Tap “Check In”
4. If the venue you’re located at does not come in, type it into the “Search places” field.
5. Once the venue opens up, tap “Check In Here”
6. Add in any photos, comments or a quick review as well as share your Check-in on Twitter or Facebook.
7. Tap “Check In Here” to complete.
8. Sometimes a tip will come up if it’s been left by someone you are following. You can choose to Add it to your to do list or tap “I’ve Done This,”
9. A new screen will appear with your Check-In Special. Tap “Redeem” and show it to someone (generally your server) who works there.

In my case, a tip appeared from Askmen whom I follow. They were suggesting I try out some of the beers but little did they know that I already did that isht on Untappd! Bierhaus Check-in unveiled the following;

“Check-in wearing your Tracht to get a Free 1/2 liter of Hofbräu Original!” Since I had no idea what a Tracht was, I Googled it. There I was lead to Wikipedia where I learned that a tracht is a traditional Bavarian costume. I thought that was pretty cool and a great check-in for branding purposes. When I showed it to my server, Marueen, who by the way was extremely friendly and attentive, she confirmed that to earn the free 1/2 liter of Hofbräu Original you indeed had to be wearing a tracht.

While that’s pretty funny, I would consider it a #FAIL as a Check-in special. How many customers does Bierhaus NYC have that regularly walk in wearing trachts? More importantly, how many first time visitors to Bierhaus NYC will be A. wearing a tracht and or B. return there with one? The idea of a Check-in special is to reward the patron for engaging in the social community of the business. Yes, I did learn something about what is a tracht but it did not entice me to return to the Bierhaus NYC.

YELP
– Socially connect, get suggestions & unlock a Check-in special

Poor Zagat and Citysearch. Their arc has been totally eclipsed by Yelp. With more than 45 million users, Yelp has become the place to go online to read user generated reviews of local businesses and connect with the people who wrote them. They also offer special events, discounts and lists you can take part in. Much like Foursquare, the Yelp app, allows you to easily discover all of this in the palm of your hand and also Check-in to your location.

How to use Yelp and earn Check-In specials
1. Open the Yelp app
2. Sign In
3. Tap the category you are looking for or “Check-In Offers”
4. If the venue you’re located at does not come in, type it into the “Filter” field.
5. Tap the venue once it appears.
6. Tap “Check In Here”
7. Add in a Quick Tip as well as share your Check-in on Twitter or Facebook.
7. Tap “Check In Here” to complete.
9. A new screen will appear with your Check-In Special. Tap “Use It Now!” and show it to someone (generally your server) who works there. With Yelp you can also choose to “Save for Later,” which I think is a pretty cool option.

Check me out!! I’m ranked 2272nd on Yelp. Weehooo!! Bring on the spoils but not from Bierhaus NYC unfortunately. Yelp allows business owners, just like Foursquare, to claim their account and manage the information and Check-In specials. However, it doesn’t appear that Bierhaus have done this. Considering that “As of January 2011, more than 45 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days” I would again, post up another #FAIL.

BIZZY
– Socially connect, get tips & suggetions

New to the local business social network scene is the company known as Bizzy. While on the surface they may not seem all that different than some of their competition, Bizzy does one thing REALLY well and that’s why I’m a fan. Bizzy hyper accelerates the networking aspect of social networking by making the entire platform center around personal recommendations. Once you create an account you can then enter in all your favorite local business into their site. By doing so, you will be connected to other users who also favored those businesses.

As you favor more and more, your connections become more and more intense, pairing you up with like minded consumers. Think of it like Match.com for foodies and shoppers looking to find trustworthy recommenders. The first time I logged into Bizzy, I had intended on posting up 10-15 favorites and watching what would happen. The network is so addictive that I ended up posting 50 of my favorite local businesses! That’s how I met my fave new twitter buddy, Lea AKA “MacCheesy,” and how we ended up crushing Burgers at the Wall Street Burger Shoppe with Rachel, the Fabulous Foodie.

How to use Bizzy to get suggestions, tips and make connections
1. Open the Bizzy app
2. Sign In
3. Tap the category you are looking for
4. If the venue you’re located at does not come in, type it into the search field.
5. Tap the venue once it appears.
11. Tap “Check Out”
6. Rate the business on a positive “Love it,” neutral “Meh,” or negative “No Thx” scale
7. Share a tip and a photo as well as share your Check-in on Twitter or Facebook.
8. Tap “Check Out Here”
9. You’ll be taken back to the venue page where you can connect to the business directly or see what other Bizzy users thought of the venue.

Unfortunately Bierhaus NYC is not listed on Bizzy. I hit up Lea (who also works at Bizzy) to find out what happened. Lea hit me back with this;

“For now, Check Out from the “Check Out” tab in the app. This way, there is more enhanced search if the place isn’t yet in our system. If you search for Bierhaus in the “Check Out” section and it doesn’t come up, you can click the red font saying, “Not in the list? Tap here.”

FACEBOOK PLACES
– Socially connect, get suggestions & unlock a Check-in special

In just a few years Facebook has become the Voltron of social networks. Combining the powers of photo sharing, event invites, new music, videos, business promotions and all through an easy to use web, mobile and app interface, Facebook is the ultimate in social networking. I mean hell, there was even a hit movie about it. Geocities is still at home crying with jealousy over the popularity of Facebook. Speaking from my own personal experience, if my computer or iPhone is on, Facebook is open…always.

Feeling the peer Check-In pressure heat from Foursquare, Yelp and all the rest, Facebook has recently gotten hot and heavy in the space with Facebook Places. It works not unlike it’s competition, you can check into a location, add a photo and unlock Check-in specials. It does however have a few added features that the others do not. First of all, you can choose to “Like” the business, location or event that you are checking into. Secondly, Facebook Places allows you to allows your friend’s friends e-stalk them but tagging them in your Check-In. It’s like creating a virtual tea party (in this case, cheesesteak) with friends that may not even be in the same city as you. So if you’re out cheating on your significant other or playing hookie from work, beware, Facebook likes to be a tattle tail.

How to use Facebook and earn Check-In Deals
1. Open the Facebook app
2. Sign In
3. Tap “Places”
4. Tap “Check In”
5. Select a location in the list that appears or type in its name in the “Find or Add a Place” field
6. “Like,” type in a description of what you are doing, Tag Friends With You and then tap “Check In”
7. Add photo
8. Unlock a Check-In Deal if the business has one.

Bierhaus NYC does indeed have a Facebook Place on the network, which to establish, only takes one person to check in. However, they have not claimed it and therefore there is missing business information, no profile picture or deals. Local business owners can claim their Facebook page by clicking “Is this your business?” and going through the somewhat rigorous process they require. Be sure to be using an email address that is yourname@yourofficialbusinessname.whatever or have a scan of a utility bill from the business or you will not be able to claim.

There is one MASSIVE problem with Facebook places. If you’re like Idle Hands, my bar in New York’s East Village, you created a Facebook page for your business ages before Facebook started their Facebook Places campaign. Now what? You’ve spent all this time building up Likes, activity, events, photos, links, connections, etc etc and you’re supposed to abandon it all just so you can give out a free whatever? After many, many Google searches, I have yet to find a way to merge the two. It seems at one point you could according to this post from CDG Interactive. I reached out to Facebook directly to ask and got the following reply;

“Unfortunately, the Place/Page merge functionality is currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we do not have a specific date for when this issue will be resolved but hope to fix it as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.”

FOODSPOTTING
-Socially connect by eating food

I love, love, love, love, love, love, love (x ∞) Foodspotting. Simply put, Foodspotting is Foursquare for food. You can check into the food item you are currently consuming, share a photo and a mini-review. Others can view it, add it to your “WANT IT” list or give it a virtual thumbs up by selection to “NOM IT.” The idea is that you can learn about places and or food you weren’t aware of from new or trusted connections in the network.

Much like Foursquare, Foodspotting also uses game theory by allowing you to score points and unlock badges. My favorite one is the OFFICIAL Burger Conquest Best Burgers in NYC badge. Eat all the Burgers on my Best of NYC list and you will unlock the badge. So far there have been zero unlocks which leads me to believe people just aren’t checking in because the guide to the badge is consistently one of the most trafficked pages on Burger Conquest.

Foodspotting is all about the sharing because they know, sharing with strangers is half the battle. You can share your photos, reviews, thoughts and the best part, you can also share your Check-In on Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Flickr & Instagram. That means with one Check-In, you can update and alert your friends on 6 different social networks at once. Perhaps I should re-write that as “over-sharing is caring!” Or is that “over-sharing is multi-tasking?”

How to use Foodspotting and update multiple social networks
1. Open the Facebook app
 2. Sign In
3. Tap the “Spot” icon
4. Tap “Take A Picture”
5. Your camera will come up. Take a picture of the food you are about to eat.
6. Move and Scale the photo so it fits nicely in the frame. Then tap “Use”
7. Tap the name of the restaurant. If you can’t find it, type it’s name into the “Restaurant or location” field
8. Tap on the name of the food you are eating. If you can’t find it, type it’s name into the “Food or Dish” field and tap “Add New Item.”
9. Type up a short or long review into the “What did you think?” field.
10. If you absolutely loved what you ate, tap “Loved It? Nom It!” to let other know that this is something worth checking out.
11. Assuming you’ve connected your Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook and or Flickr accounts, you can tap each of them into the “ON” position to share on each of the networks.
12. Tap “Upload.”

Once you are done a Foodspotting guide will appear that will show a recommended guide based on your upload. Foodspotting guides are curated not only by Foodspotting themselves but also by well known media, businesses and bloggers like myself. You have the option to follow them and even maintain a check list of items inside their guides. Like I said above, if you eat and Check-In to all 7 Burgers in the Burger Conquest guide you’ll earn a badge. Once you are in the app you can browse other eater’s findings, add them to your list and make your own comments.

I found only a few pictures of food on the Bierhaus NYC Foodspotting page. In fact, my Burger photo upload was the ONLY Burger in the gallery. Now granted that unlike some of the other networks mentioned in this already lengthy blog entry, Foodspotting does not have an option for business to claim their page. The network is 100% user driven activity. However, when I wearning my social community management hat and advising my clients, I always suggest they set up a Foodspotting account for their business so they can easily share photos of the food they are so proud of with the rest of us using the network.

GOOGLE PLACES
– Find a location, get directions, read and write reviews, download Offers and more

In the 80s and 90s there was a trend of brand names being used as nouns. Names like Kleenex, FedeEx, Post-It Note, or Walkman, which are all registered brand names belong to corporations, became used in replace of the items actual descriptive name. Now in the internet age, website brands are turning into verbs like Skype, Twitter, Youtube and the biggest of the bunch, Google.

On June 15, 2006, the word “Google” was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb. It’s meaning “refers to using the Google search engine to obtain information on the Web.” It’s a part of our every day lives and it’s no surprise that they have recently decided to get into the deal space by adding in Google Places and offers. As if they weren’t already seen as one dashboard to rule them all, now your business can actually harness the power of Google Maps to draw in new and repeat customers.

Once a savvy business owner claims their Google Places page they can control the information, directions, images, directions, events and just about anything but the reviews. Reviews are pulled from a number of popular review locations like Yelp, Timeout, Citysearch and most importantly, from Google users. Business owners can also use their Google Places dashboard to create special Offers for Google Users. These Offers can be printed up from a computer or redeemed via smart phone.

How to use Google to get Offers
1. Open a browser on your smart phone and go to Google.com
 2. Tap “Places” or just enter the name of the business into the search bar
3. Once the places you are looking for appears, tap on the name of the business
4. From here you can see photos, read review, get directions, etc
5. Scroll down to “Offers”
6. Tap on the name of the Offer
7. Once the Offer appears tap “Redeem” and show the offer on your phone to someone who works at the business.

When I went to Google Bierhaus NYC I encountered the biggest #FAIL of the day. Bierhaus NYC was NO WHERE to be found in Google Places. It’s been a week since I dined at Bierhaus and another Google Places search reveals that it is still absent. I was actually dumbfounded because a regular Google search took me right to the Bierhaus NYC URL. Clearly this isn’t the fault of Bierhaus NYC and sucks, because I’d love to see a great Offer…that didn’t require the adornment of odd outerwear.

TWITTER
– Socially connect with business and share with friends

We all know and love Twitter. It’s a great way to share in real-time what you are doing or thinking. No matter what it is you are up to or what you want to share, you have to do it in 40 characters or less. Some may call this form of online communication micro-blogging while others might call it a friend feed while some may just say it’s plain old silly. It couldn’t be easier to create, update and use Twitter. The social network has revolutionized the use of the “at symbol” or “at sign”, tiring out the shift +2 key combo and any number of computer keyboards. In fact, the frequency of usage in both emails and tweets has upgraded @ to it’s very own key on most smart phones.

Most importantly, Twitter is meant to be a conversation. A two-way street of information, sharing and communication. Friends use it tag each other in life-moments while smart business use it as a means of connecting to their customers. Not to be confused with an RSS feed, which is how many business unfortunately mistreat the network, Twitter is meant for you to engage. That’s also why I chose to write about them last in this social networking review based around my adventure.

Twitter happens in real-time  which means no matter what I post in my twitter feed, to expect an immediate reaction on any level is unrealistic. Twitter is more about sharing and a conversation that happens over time so even if I posted a tweet about Bierhaus NYC while I was there, the chance of immediate interaction was slim and none. However, on an inspection scale, much like I have done for all the other networks listed above, I can see if they have an account and are using it in the correct manner.

I’m happy to say that as far as Twitter use is concerned, Bierhaus NYC goes #FTW with their Twitter account! Not only is Bierhaus NYC on twitter but their account has all the basic info like URL, logo, location and description but they are also actively updating and engaging people in Twitterific conversations!

THE REV METER FOR SOCIAL COMMUNITY
– Asses the overall social community of a business

Let me guess. You aren’t familiar with this subject. That’s because I made it up. In fact, I made it up for the sake of this blog entry. It’s the reason why this post is so damn long. Originally it was intended to be just a trip to the barber that turned into a Burger Conquest using social media and networks. However, I realized as I went through my Check-Ins and THE CONQUEST portion of my blog entry developed, that there was no grading system I could find to measure the social community of a business. As a result you have a ridiculously long and in depth entry that shows you that the only thing I am more addicted to than Burgers and Craft Beer is my socially networking on my iPhone. So with that, I proudly debut The Rev Meter for Social Community.

Ten simple check point items is all it takes to give a business a basic grade. 1 point per each of the Questions can be earned for a total of 10 points.

SCORING:
4 points or less    You’ve missed the 5 basics and are less than optimized
5 points                 You’ve covered the basics, which is better than most but far from optimized.
6 to 9 points        You’re doing better than most and on your way to becoming a well respected social community whiz.
10 points              Congrats on a perfect score! Are you hiring?

You can actually download the excel sheet yourself by clicking on this:
The Rev Meter for Social Community. While you are using it, feel free to grade my bar, Idle Hands on The Rev Meter and see how we do. All the links you need can be found in the excel sheet.

So how did Bierhaus NYC score on The Rev Meter for Social Community?

With that, I am going to apply The Rev Meter to my Burger Conquest reviews from here on out as a way of grading the social community that these places are building around their businesses. My hope is that I can teach people how to build, grow and optimize an active social community to help grow their business.

THE REV METER
Bierhaus NYC scores 5 points: You’ve covered the basics, which is better than most but far from optimized. So halfway there and the only thing that really saved them was an active Twitter account.

And, without further ado, to put us back “OT”…

THE BURGER
While I was getting my social networking on, I pleasantly sipped away at my delicious German Bier enjoying the upbeat German drinking music that filled the air. I’ve heard that the Bierhaus NYC can get pretty busy during happy hour but on this particular Sunday afternoon, there was room a plenty to grab a seat and enjoy. My overall experience was made that much better by the extremely attentive and friendly natured server, Maureen. She kept everyone at the bar well taken care of while keeping the over imbibed frat guys in check.

The only Burger on the menu, a 1 oz grilled Sirloin Patty, is named after the establishment and comes with Romaine Lettuce, Apple-Wood Smoked Bacon, Tomato, the Bierhaus NYC homemade Bier Cheese and Fried Onions. It all comes precariously over stacked on a German Kaizer Roll. Overall, a pretty decent pub style Burger but once dissected into it’s parts, the magic starts to unveil. No wonder the Bier Cheese comes as an option with many things on the menu. It is fantastic, light, fluffy, creamy and not too over powering. My only problem; there wasn’t enough. More Cheese lovin’ please!! The Bacon, OH the Bacon, was so good,  it would be worth it to add to the menu as a side or appetizer. Bursting with savory and smoky goodness, it’s cooked neither too chewy nor too crunchy. The Patty has an mistakable Sirloin taste, fit for any back yard BBQ.  While the crispy shoe string French Fries left a little to be desired, the rest meal makes for a delicious meal fit for a foodie or someone who badly needs a Sunday afternoon hangover cure.

 


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
361 Burgers

Apr. 17, 2011 – 2:47 PM

Posted in Bar, Beer, Burgers, Gourmet Burgers, Hamburgers, New York | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

That Burger Tent At Idle Hands – I Do This Because I Love You

Posted on 04/22/2011 by Rev

That Burger Tent at Idle Hands Bar / Billy Hurricane’s
http://thatburgertent.com/
http://idlehandsbar.com
25 Avenue B, Downstairs
New York, NY 10009

If there’s two things I love (besides my Mom and my wife) it’s Burgers and Beers. But because my Mom taught me to share, I now have the opportunity to share them with you!

Starting Monday, April 26th at my bar, Idle Hands, in New York City’s East Village “EVILL,” we’ll be welcoming Dan and That Burger Tent from Brooklyn into the bar to give out FREE MINI BURGERS.

YEAHMAN!!!

Yeah, you read that right…FREE with ANY $5 (or more) drink order. Or you can nab ’em for $2 each.

What else would expect from a bar where one of the owners runs Burger Conquest? That Burger Tent was so well received at Idle Hands during the Thrillist Rewards East Village Bar Crawl and at our very first Active Minds Team Trivia Night that we had to bring them back!

Dan from That Burger Tent gets his meat directly from Pat of LaFrieda Meats. Dan’s blend is a proprietary secret and the mini versions are ONLY available at Idle Hands.

Mondays
Free Mini Burgers
Idle Hands Bar
That Burger Tent
DO IT

Posted in Bar, Beer, Best Burger in New York, Burgers, Event, Gourmet Burgers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bareburger – Smarter Than The Average Beer Menu

Posted on 04/17/2011 by Rev

Bareburger
http://www.bareburger.com
535 Laguardia Place
New York, NY 10012

THE CONQUEST
When you write a blog about your Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers, you get a lot of suggestions from people on where to eat them. In fact, that’s how I found out about of lot of the great Burgers out there and love it when somebody turns me onto something new. Got one to suggest now? The Burger hot lines are always open at  beeftouchdown@burgerconquest.com.

One such place that’s been put on my burger radar screen by several people is Bareburger. Ever since they opened their first location in Queens, Burger friends have been asking me if I had tried them yet. So when my buddy Will from Beer Menus suggested we catch up over a Burger, I knew it was finally time.

Beer Menus is a fantastic website that started out of two brothers’ love of craft beer. The concept is simple, if you’re looking to find a waterhole that’s serving a beer you’ve been hearing about or missing, you type it into the search field, hit enter and a list of bars and restaurants that are serving the beer appear with prices and sizes. For bars like the one I own, Idle Hands, it’s an amazing way to let the craft beer community know what’s currently on our 50+ list of rotating beers. Their open API allows bars to pull their own beer menu into the bar’s website to make it extra easy.

Beer Menus also works with bars and restaurants to offer out special deals that help the craft beer world to promote to the unique audience of craft beer enthusiasts who, like me, use Beer Menus regularly. We work with them to sell tickets to our weekly Learning To Beer class at Idle Hands. For only $35, craft beer fans enjoy a 2-hour event with tastings of 3-5 different beers from a brewery representative or a beer expert pouring and teaching about the brand & style. The class also comes with 2 full drafts of beer and appetizers. It’s a great event and we love working with Will his brother Eric at Beer Menus to help spread the word of quality craft beers.

If you appreciate the finer qualities of craft beers, chances you also are a fan of quality food and the restaurants that serve it. If so, then it’s time you knew about Bareburger. With 2 locations now open and a 3rd in the works, they’re serving up tasty Burgers, all made from fresh organic ingredients sourced from local farmers. Start off your sandwich with your choice of Beef, Turkey, Lamb, Veggie, Portabella Mushroom, Elk, Bison, Ostrich or Grilled Chicken with our without Cajun Spices. From there you have a selection of buns and toppings so big that there are 250 different ways to build your Bareburger. Sound to daunting to create a Hamburger, not too worry, they offer a suggested menu of Burgers, Sliders, Wraps, Salads, Breakfast items and even “Cubby” Meals for the Kids. The concept also extends to Bareburger’s drinks menu with a selection of wines, craft beers and sodas to wash it all down.

I’d love to tell you which beers they have but unfortunately they aren’t listed on Beer Menus…yet. Will – do your magic. Burger and Beer fans need to know where they can get a fantastic Wolaver’s Organic IPA while dining at Bareburger.

THE BURGER
I’m a HUGE fan of wild game, eating it that is, not hunting it and when given the chance to do so, I almost always do. Without even perusing the toppings menu, it was a guarantee from the onset that I would be ordering the Elk. The idea became written in stone when I saw that the Jalapeno Express, with Pepperjack, Romaine Lettuce, Red Raw Onion, Jalapeno Relish, Horseradish Mayo and Chipotle Ketchup, comes recommended for Elk. Pop all that into my choice of a Multi-Grain Roll and you got a Burger worth talking, errr, blogging about!! The sandwich was not short on taste, in fact, there was so much going on that each and every bite had it’s own unique taste profile. For a guy that eats as many Burgers as I do, it was great to have one made from Elk which has a slightly sweeter taste than beef. Surrounded by all the savory and spicy toppings, this is one interesting and unique Burger.

On the way out, I noticed they had Yogi Bear playing on the TV and if it wasn’t intentional, it should be. Bareburger is better than the average Bearger, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?


8 out 10 ounces
-Rev

THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
358 Burgers

Mar. 28, 2011 – 2:03 PM

Posted in Beer, Burgers, Gourmet Burgers, Hamburgers, New York | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Burger Conquest Challenge For National Hamburger Month 2011

Posted on 04/13/2011 by Rev

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Burger Conquest’s Rev attempts to eat 31 Burgers in 31 days in May 2011 in support of National Hamburger Month.

April 13, 2011

New York, NY – Self-proclaimed Burger Lover, Reverend David Ciancio, the man behind the hamburger blog, BurgerConquest.com, has announced that he will attempt to eat 1 Hamburger for every day in May of 2011, in support of National Hamburger Month. To help promote the most “Burgeriffic” month of the year, “Rev” has created a public event calendar to help promote National Hamburger Month events taking place all over America.

Burger enthusiasts, restaurants, bars and the like are encouraged to submit their National Hamburger Month Events to Burger Conquest which will be included on a Google Calendar at https://burgerconquest.com/national-hamburger-month. Users have the option of submitting event information via an easy-to-use form, or they can send a calendar invite to therev@burgerconquest.com to add their event.

The Rev, known as The World’s Most Socially Connected Burger Blogger, is now accepting invites for National Hamburger Month events. “There are so many delicious Burgers out there and it’s my civic duty to crush as many as I can! This is a challenge I’m putting on myself and Burger lovers across the land. I will bring my Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers to your restaurant, bar, club, truck, grill or where ever you plan to celebrate this most awesome of months! Just remember something, I live in N.Y.C. and while I’m willing to travel almost any distance for a juicy Burger, I’m limited by time and finances. If you cover the cost my travel, I will definitely go ANYWHERE to support National Hamburger Month!” All Burgers eaten by Rev on his Conquest will be written up on BurgerConquest.com with pictures and a story.

To invite Rev out for a Burger during National Hamburger Month, email him at therev@burgerconquest.com.

Put In Mouth PR can be reached for any promotional materials, information or media opportunities.
therev@putinmouth.com
http://putinmouth.com
http://twitter.com/PutInMouth


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Thrillist Rewards “WilliamsBEERg” Craft Beer Crawl

Posted on 04/10/2011 by Rev

Thrillist Rewards Williamsburg Craft Beer Crawl
http://rewards.thrillist.com/deal/1209/thrillists-williamsburg-craft-beer-crawl

New York City is an amazing place with a lot of uniquely different and interesting neighborhoods. There is a wider array of cultural diversity found inside it’s 5 boroughs than any where else in the world. It doesn’t matter if your Asian, Jewish, Gay, a rock and roller, Banker, Mormon, Hispanic, Short, a Red Head, a Rhodes Scholar, Chef, Celebrity, Ukrainian, Married, a Hipster or avid Swimmer, there’s a place for you in the Big Apple. While most hoods accept all kinds, there is a tendency for like-minded folks to flock together, helping to define each neighborhood into it’s own incomparable destination.

Amongst all this diversity, there is one commonality that each neighborhood shares, which welcomes each and everyone of us into it’s boundaries. That magical key is beer and there is no more fun way to introduce yourself to the cultures of another neighborhood like a good old fashioned bar crawl. But to make it more awesome and uniquely New York, make that a bar crawl revolving only around craft beers and that’s known as a Thrillist Reward!

Earlier this year, the fancy folks at Thrillist started teaming up with local merchants to create unique New York only, cant-miss experiences known as Thrillist Rewards. They came down to my bar, Idle Hands, to pitch me on the idea which turned into me pitching them to help them. Thus was born the Thrillist’s East Village “EVILL” Craft Beer Crawl, a one day event which gave 500 people the chance to try out 11 craft beers & 11 food bites at 11 super cool bars and restaurants in New York’s East Village.  It was a massive hit and a ton of fun that not only had 500 Thrillist Rewards’ purchasers trolling around the EVILL but nearly 3000 more people requesting to take part.

A few days later at our weekly Thrillist Rewards brain storming session, it was decided that this amazing event needed to be done again but this time in a different neighborhood. Not only did we want to create another awesome experience for the Thrillist subscribers, but also, we the staff wanted to use our love of craft beer as a passport to explore the diversity all over this great city. Thanks to a very positive response from those and the crawl and a TON of help from S.K.I. Beer, one of NYC’s premier craft beer distributors, I was able to create … Thrillist Rewards “WilliamsBEERg” Craft Beer Crawl!

For only $25, purchasers would receive 1 – 8 ounce pour of craft beer redeemable anytime on Saturday, April 9th, from 1 to 6 pm. All 500 tickets sold out in a flash and Rewards buyers could look forward to a craft beer at all of the following great places:

Banter
Brooklyn Ale House
The Charleston
The Cove
Full Circle Bar
The Gibson
Loreley
Luckydog
Mugs Ale House
Trash Bar



THE CONQUEST
As luck would have it, The Cove, where we started off the crawl, is located around the block from the new location of Brooklyn’s favorite outdoor Burger, That Burger Tent. Dan and his amazing proprietary blend of Pat LaFrieda beef made Burgers teamed up with us at Idle Hands for the EVIILL craft beer crawl and as a fan of tradition, I could think of no better way to kick off the WilliamsBEERg edition. Dan opens up That Burger Tent at 10 am every Saturday and Sunday right outside of Artist & Fleas on 7th Street between Wythe & Kent and serves up made-to-order Burgers until he runs out.

That Burger Tent, now in it’s 2nd year, operated with only 3 Burgers on the menu and received unbelievably positive reaction from Burger fans (like me) and the local community. With only 2 weeks into a new season, That Burger Tent has not only opened with a new location but also with a new look and a much, much bigger menu including the all new “Porto Party,” an Organic Portabello Mushroom Cap covered in Mozzarella Cheese & Quacamole as well as all new Sweet Potato Fries. Looks like it’s going to be a tasty summer for flea market shoppers in Brooklyn!

THE BURGER
For those of you still fixated on the thought of “who eats a Burger at 10 am?” allow me to answer that question; “THIS GUY!” It’s especially easy to do when That Burger Tent offers “The Wake Up,” A Burger topped with a Fried Egg, American Cheese and Bacon! Because Dan loves me, he also added some Fried Onions and Jalapenos to the sandwich to guarantee the “Wake Up” portion of the sandwich! His deliciously savory patty is made from high-quality, all natural Short Rib and Brisket Beef. The two types of beef come together to make a juicy and savory Burger that is just slightly sweet on the backside of it’s flavors. Topped with the magical food triumvirate of Bacon, Egg and Cheese, and you got one amazing Burger. While the “Wake Up” doesn’t normally come with Dan’s sweet grilled-in-Butter Onions and freshly chopped and Grilled Jalapenos, I heavily suggest them. If you’re gonna eat a Burger for breakfast, you may as well not monkey around  with it!!


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

When I showed up to The Cove, everyone is jealous but thankfully for them, That Burger Tent, much like the awesome bars in WilliamsBEERg, will be there next weekend too.

THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
360 Burgers

April 9, 2011 – 10:45 AM

THE CRAWL

THE COVE
108 N. 6th St
Brooklyn, NY
http://thecovenyc.com

Beer: Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat & Sea Dog Apricot Wheat
(Drink separately or combine for what has been named the Sea Dog Fruit Salad)
Additional: Coffee from Brooklyn Roasting Company and Fresh Bagels With Cream Cheese.

Loreley
64 Frost Street
http://loreleynyc.com

Beer: Weihenstephan Hefe Weiss
Addtional: Pretzels and Mustard

Full Circle Bar
318 Grand St
http://fullcirclebar.com

Beer: Stone IPA
Additional: Pretzels

Banter
132 Havemeyer
http://banterbrooklyn.com

Beer: Founders Red Rye
Additional: Black Forest Ham& Swiss Cheese Panini Bites

Luckydog
303 Bedford Avenue
http://www.luckydogbrooklyn.com

Beer: Hofbräu Maibock

Trash Bar
256 Grand St
http://www.thetrashbar.com

Beer: Coney Island Lager

The Charleston
174 Bedford Ave
http://www.myspace.com/thecharlestonnyc

Beer: Harpoon IPA

Brooklyn Ale House
103 Berry St.
http://brooklynalehouse.com

Beer: Radeberger

Mugs Ale House
125 Bedford Ave
http://www.mugsalehouse.com

Beer: Bear Republic Racer 5

The Gibson
108 Bedford Ave
http://thegibsonnyc.com

Beer: Coney Island Albino Python

If you aren’t signed up yet for Thrillist Rewards, I suggest you get off your lazy patoot and do it now! (Trust me, I know what is coming next!)

In the meantime, go check out all these awesome WilliamsBEERg bars using the Thrillist Map as a guide

Cheers

 

Posted in Bar, Beer, Burgers, Event, Hamburgers, New York, Thrillist Rewards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jimmy’s No. 43 – FAB Neighborly Nerdiness

Posted on 04/09/2011 by Rev

Jimmy’s No. 43
http://www.jimmysno43.com
43 E. 7th St
New York, NY 10003

THE CONQUEST
There’s an area of Manhattan that I like to call the “EVILL.” It starts South of 14th Street, is East of Broadway, North of Houston and extends to the East River. It’s more commonly known as the East Village and includes Alphabet City but I prefer “EVILL.” It’s one of the most lively neighborhoods boasting some of the interesting bars, restaurants and shops in the city. While it isn’t devoid of larger corporate chains, it certain has a lot of great Mom and Pop style businesses, including my bar, Idle Hands. (Wink wink).

It’s a great neighborhood to be associated with and with the rise of websites like NearSay and their East Village section, it’s becoming a tighter knit community every day. It’s a neighborhood where bars and restaurants are happy to team up for fun events like Thrillist’s East Village “EVILL” Craft Beer Crawl, a spectacular event that brought hundreds of people into our neighborhood to get a great sampling of what 11 bars and restaurants have to offer New York.

The EVILL is also the home to the Fourth Arts Block (FAB); “a non-profit organization founded in 2001 by cultural and community groups to establish and advance the East 4th Street Cultural District, between 2nd Avenue and Bowery.” They’re a fantastic organization who have made it their duty to help keep arts and culture alive in our neighborhood. They are also the folks behind the East Village Eats Tasting Tour, an amazing event which brings together some of the best bars and restaurants to create a walking & tasting tour of the EVILL. The last event which took place in October of 2010 was a huge success and plans have begun for another one to happen soon. In fact, the fine folks at FAB have asked Idle Hands Bar, Burger Conquest and Yeah! Management, to be involved and that was met with a resounding “YES!” We’ll be joining forces with them as well as Food Karma and Jimmy’s No. 43 to bring you the 2011 edition of the East Village Eats Tasting Tour.

If you’re a beer and or food nerd, there is no where you should have on your “to do” list above Jimmy’s No. 43. This gastropub can be found on 7th Street between the Bowery and 2nd Street. It’s downstairs in a space that looks like a medieval wine cask storage and dungeon. Once you’ve settled up to the bar or one of many wooden tables in the 3 rooms that make up Jimmy’s you’ll find a rotating beer list that is far from the norm. Jimmy himself has a wide appreciation of craft beers from around the world so expect to see everything from a Scotch Ale to American Pilsner to a French Sour or a Belgian Abbey and everything in between and beyond. But the happy mouthing doesn’t stop there. The food menu at Jimmy’s No. 43 is an ever changing selection of seasonal Meats, Sausages, Breads and Veggies, most of which are sourced from local farms and as organic as possible. Fans of the unique establishment also enjoy Oyster nights, Brisket Cook-Offs, Duck Dinners, Craft Beer tastings, Whole Hog participation and all sorts of foodie and beer nerd oriented Nirvana.

It’s also the location where we all met up to discuss the East Village Eats Tasting Tour, of course, while eating a Burger.

THE BURGER
The Burger at Jimmy’s No. 43, thankfully for my Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers, is a menu main stay. It’s a Grass-fed Beef Burger from Dickson Farmstand with Horseradish Crème Fraiche and Greens.  The Dickson Farmstand describes themselves as “a purveyor of a unique selection of artisanal meat and meat products. Our beef, lamb, pork, goat and poultry are sourcedfrom local farms , hand-picked because of their commitment to producing natural, humanely-raised, high-quality and distinctive meat products. You’ll find them located in the famous Chelsea Market in New York City’s Meat-Packing District.

I’ll admit openly admit a preference for the less-healthy-for-you corn-fed beef but as a true fan of the Burger, I respectfully appreciate each kind for what it is. I often find restaurants serving grass-fed Beef to rely on the beef itself to carry the taste, neglecting to pay attention to seasoning or preparation methods. Such is not the case at Jimmy’s! This is one high-quality, full-flavored, perfectly cooked and juicy Burger clearly prepared by a kitchen staff and Chef who understand the value of taste. The greens give a nice texture and fresh feeling to the overall sandwich. No need for Cheese or sauces with this tasty Burger, the Crème Fraiche does the trick using a subtle taste profile that coddles the beef.

Pair that with some tasty Belgian ales and an unbelievably savory and delicious Skillet-fried Beer Sausage with Dijon Mustard and you have something worth talking about (hence this blog!)

Jimmy’s No. 43 is a fantastic, artisanal and truly unique offering that can only be found in the EVILL. I’m proud to call them a neighbor. Stay tuned to the Yeah! Management Facebook page for more details on this year’s East Village Eats Tasting Tour.


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev


THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
356 Burgers

Mar. 23rd, 2011 – 4:57 PM

Posted in Bar, Beer, Burgers, East Village, Event, Grill Em All, Hamburgers, New York | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mini Burger – An EVILL Bite Sized Bison

Posted on 04/08/2011 by Rev

Mini Burger
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mini-burger-new-york
102 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10009

THE CONQUEST
There’s a lot of great local restaurants and bars in NYC’s EVILL (East Village) including my very own Idle Hands. Walking through the neighborhood several times a week, I am constantly discovering more and more interesting businesses. Fortunately for my Glorious Pursuit of Delicious Burgers, I seem to be finding a plethora (yes El Jefe, I know what that means) of unique and tasty Hamburgers.  My internal Burger-radar is constantly buzzing as I walk through the streets of one of New York’s most diverse neighborhoods. My Burger-sense recently lead me to a a Burger spot where size doesn’t matter.

You’ll find Mini Burger, a tiny little store front on St. Marks Place in between 1st and Ave A. It’s two blocks off the well know stretch of St. Marks made famous once by squatter punks and alternative shops, is now overrun with flashy signs, hip businesses as well as the same old cheap sunglasses and novelty shops that have been there for years. It’s a tiny, no make that Mini, shop with only 2 tables and tiny service counter. The concept is simple, Mini Burgers, Fries and Tots with nothing else needed. Mini Burgers come in doubles, 6 packs or combos and all Burgers come with Lettuce, Tomatoes and Sauce.  When it comes to selection of patty, that’s when Mini Burger throws a curve ball with your choice of Beef, Bison, Turkey, Sausage, BLT or Grilled Cheese. The house Burger patty of choice is the Bison which has a lower Calories and Fat content than any other offering. There’s even a single piece of paper taped up on the wall that compares the nutrients of various meats proving the point. It’s a perfect Burger when, like I was, you are on the run and or just need a little snack.

Before I get into the review of said snack-sized Burger, I’d like to applaud the restaurant on the appropriate nature of their name. If you read my recent guest post on EastCoastGambler you know that I get really, really frustrated with restaurants that call Mini Burgers, Sliders. Technically a “Slider” is a form of preparation where a small patty of fresh ground Beef is steam cooked with onions on a flat griddle whereas a Mini Burger is just a smaller sized burger. I mean c’mon Grubstreet, I love you, but the place is called “Mini Burger” and you still refer to it as a slider??!?

THE BURGER
After stepping into the Mini space, it took all of 15 seconds for my to decide upon a 2 pack of Bison Mini Burgers. Not only is it the most promoted item on the menu but I feel that’s a pretty bold move for such a mini operation and I had to oblige.The store front was being minded by one lady who as soon as I ordered, disappeared into the back to make my Mini Burgers. A few moments later she emerged with a Mini paper tray containing, you guessed it, two Mini Bison Burgers. Check the photo below where I purposely included a packet of ketchup (yuck) just to give you a size perspective.

Each Mini Burger came topped with shredded Lettuce, Tomato & Sauce with an option to add your choice of Cheese. Me, as always, went no Tomatoes and added American Cheese. The Mini burns are lightly toasted, remaining soft on the outside but a little crunchy on the inside. The fresh lettuce adds some nice texture to the bite but not really any flavor. As for the Cheese and Sauce, due to such small size, they play a background taste to the spices of the Bison Meat. As for the Bison Meat, Mini Burger adds a few spices that I couldn’t place that give it a peppery taste. The Patty itself was juicy, not fatty and had a really distinct flavor that I definitely enjoyed. I kind of sort of just a little bit wished it was a full size Burger only because I really did like the meat that much.

The finger sized Mini Burgers at the EVILL restaurant of the same name make for a darn tasty snack although I suppose you could also mow down on a a whole bunch not unlike my friends who live in a White Castle.


7 out of 10 ounces
-Rev


THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
355 Burgers

Mar. 22, 2011 – 5:22 PM

 

Posted in Burgers, New York, Sliders | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thrillist Rewards at Bar Coastal – Be Like The Rev

Posted on 04/05/2011 by Rev

Bar-Coastal
www.barcoastal.com
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, the NYC-Wing Off named Bar Coastal the best medium and hot wings in NYC and awarded the Burger Conquest Hot Golden Cock Trophy. The entire event was 3 years in the making as the NYC Wing-Off crew ate wing after wing in a bracket challenge with a goal to determine where to get the best wings.

Fast forward to April 5th, 2011 and now that I (Rev), fearless and hungry leader of the NYC Wing-Off, work for Thrillist Rewards, I’ve been able to put together an amazing reward package to help you enjoy these award winning wings. For a limited time, you can purchase a Thrillist Reward for only $19 that gets you endless wings and 3 pitchers of craft beers!!! If you love wings and beer, you would be foolish to pass up this opportunity.

Click here to purchase the reward.

Now that you’ve bought the reward, you need to do 3 things;
1. Call Bar Coastal at 212-288-6635 and make a reservation
2. When you get there, ask for Jason and tell ’em “Rev sent me.”
3. Order the off menu “Kerry’s Way” wings (a mix of honey mustard, BBQ and traditional buffalo sauces) that you can only get by executing #2 above.

People say to me all the time “I wish I had your life Rev.” It’s not a bad life I am living is it? Allow me to confirm that it is most certainly is not. But for those of you that want to be like the Rev, here is your opportunity!!

Thrillist is hiring partnership managers in Chicago, Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

If the following describes you, please send a resume and tell ’em Rev sent you.

Job Description:

Thrillist Rewards is looking for a Partnership Manager who can quickly identify key targets, and deliver against ambitious expectations by establishing a creative positioning and differentiated point of view for Thrillist Rewards in the local commerce space. More importantly, the right candidate has an expert-level network of contacts in the dining, nightlife, and services industries and embodies Thrillist’s mission of delivering rollicking good times to young, professionals around SF.

Key responsibilities:

  • Prospect, consult with, and close local vendors with compelling offers for Thrillist Rewards subscribers
  • Identify new and creative businesses & activities to be featured
  • Exhibit creativity in establishing unique and experiential offers featuring items not on the traditional vendor menu
  • Present Thrillist Rewards as a unique new customer acquisition channel
  • Maintain sales database with dynamic CRM systems
  • Belief in the company vision, business model and ability to succeed

Experience:

  • Minimum of 7 years sales experience required – preferably in local wholesale, PR, online advertising, direct marketing, local advertising, but will consider all sales backgrounds
  • Track record of success canvassing and cold-calling into various types of businesses

Traits:

  • Entrepreneurial, whatever-it-takes attitude
  • Results-oriented, articulate, persuasive
  • Creative outlook on what people want to buy
  • Excellent time and work-flow management skills
  • Great phone skills
Posted in Bar, Beer, Hot Wings, New York, Thrillist Rewards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Jackalope – Dances With Wolves, Burgers and Portugal. The Man

Posted on 04/04/2011 by Rev

Jackalope
http://jackalopebar.com
404 E. 6th St
Austin, TX 78701

SXSW 2021 Part 2

THE CONQUEST
A wise man in a hat once said  “tatonka” but that’s not the Kevin Costner movie that has any bearing on this story. No, it was “Field of Dreams” in which the words were coined “If You Build It, They Will Come.” He may have been talking about baseball but the rule applies to conferences, bands and burgers too.  With more than 35,000 in attendance at this year’s SXSW conference in Austin, TX, it’s a true example of what can happen in the 24th year of building a fantastic event that draws an audience from all over the world.

With 3 successful years behind Full Metal Texas, an event during SXSW that showcases the best in emerging and established heavy metal acts, that my friend Marc and I put together, it’s easy to show another example of building = coming. The same applies to my Record Breaking Flaming Dr. Pepper Happy Hour. It’s a yearly happy hour that takes place at Touche from 6:30 – 7:30 pm on the Friday of SXSW where a group of us try to break the record for the most amount Flaming Dr. Peppers in an entire evening … in less than 60 minutes. We’re 7 years in and have yet to be bested by the previous year’s record. Click here to see photos, videos and RSVP for 2012.

Truly a fan of tradition, for the last 2 years I’ve held an annual SXSW Burger Conquest, the first at Casino El Camino and the second in 2010 at Dirty Martin’s.  As I started to plan the 3rd, my good friends Catharine and Ashley, who happen to be publicists at Atlantic Records, asked me if I would like to take their band Portugal. The Man out on this years Conquest. I would’ve said yes no matter what because I love the band but when Catharine told “one of the members is nicknamed ‘Hammburger’,” how could I possibly deny?

Portugal. The Man have the unique quality of being from 2 places at once. Some of the members hail from the Beervana known as Portland, OR, where they live now while other members grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. With BLANK albums in their catalog, they are currently out on tour building it like Costner’s field, in support of their latest album “The Satanic Satanist.” The album is a whirlwind of sound played through a cornucopia of instruments all tied into a true soul music gone bluesy rock filter. In a sea of music that all just sounds like assembly line manufactured pro-tools cut, copy and pasting, Portugal. The Man are crafting music that is equally innovative and with a penchant for tradition song writing. So with that in mind, I had to pick a Burger spot that could match their creativity.

The Jackalope, a long running staple of the SXSW landscape is located right smackdab in the middle of all the activity on 6th Street. The “notoriously old school dive bar,” is known for 2 things, good rock and roll and a variety of great Hamburgers. Just past the entrance you’ll find a gigantic Jackalope that you are more than welcome to mount and ride like a static carousel that will only lead you to music and food. But just beyond the silly looking monstrosity is a bunch of tables a horseshoe shaped bar standing in between their backyard smoking patio and live music stage. It’s absolutely common place to see people crushing on Burgs while some punk band is wildly attacking their instruments on the stage.

While offering all sorts of sandwiches, salads and other bar foods, the Jackalope is primarily known for it’s weird Burger and Frank selections. Whether you’re less adventurous and opt for The Jack Basic with Lettuce, Onion, Tomato, Pickle or Mayo or are daring enough to order The Yucatan, a Burger outfitted with slow smoked Pulled Pork, Jack Cheese and Pineapple Pico, they have something for all walks of the rock. In typical “everything is bigger in Texas” style, Burgers come in 2 sizes; Big and Huge.

THE BURGER
After much confusion due to too many choices, we all finally buckled in and placed our orders. The band and I had a chance to play the “get-to-know-me-game” all of which seemed to conversationally circle back to our mutual obsession for the Hamburger, a staple of the rock and roll touring universe.  As we were on the early side of a SXSW Friday, no bands had started playing by the time the food arrived giving us all a chance to compare food notes and bites.

I was torn between ordering The Matamoros, a Flame-grilled burger topped with seasoned Taco Beef , Cheddar Cheese, Guacamole, Lettuce and Jalapenos and the Frito Pie Burger, which comes with “Butt kickin’” home made Chili, Fritos, Cheese & Chopped Red Onion. Our server suggested the former and Ashley offered to get the latter so we could try them both. (Revitor’s note, Ashley rules.) Taking one look as the Burger-Taco hybrid placed in front of me, I muttered out the following, “this is going to be at least a 5, maybe 6 napkin sandwich!” 

 Austin, TX is known for great BBQ and great Tex-Mex so I was excited to see what happened when the two joined in culinary unison.

Be sure to fasten your seatbelt before taking a ride on a Burger at this house of Mythical Creatures. As advertised, the patty’s were flame-grilled, giving them that great backyard BBQ taste. They’re made from fresh, never frozen ground beef that is hand-formed and due to Texas laws, cooked to a Medium temperature unless otherwise requested. If you’re like me and desire Medium Rare, there is a little Texas government wag of the finger on the menu that states “consuming undercooked meat may increase the chance of food born illness.” I was dying to write in “as well having an awesome tasting Burger!” Served on a Buttered and Toasted Bun, all of the Jackalope Burgers start from a position of quality. As for the Matamoros, all of the ingredients tasted great, especially the Seasoned Taco Beef but the proportions were all out of line for what I had been hoping to eat. There was very little Taco meat covered in a massive globule of Guacamole and in fact, I would more say this was like a Guacamole covered Burger than a Taco covered Burger. Realize that my opinion here was jaded by hope and not by the quality of the ingredients, all of which were fresh and flavorful.

On the other hand, Ashely’s Frito Pie Burger, now that was exactly as advertised, “Butt Kickin’!” The Spicy Frito Pie balanced against the sweetness of the Red Onions and saltiness of the Cheese just made the natural beef flavors in the Burger do a little Texas style boot-scootin happy dance. I was truly jealous. Feeling bad, which wasn’t necessary, the Portugals let me try one of their Bacon and Brie Burgers which was totally awesome and unique, which of course, is what they ended up ordering.

As the meal was coming to an end, the band leaned over and said “Rev, this is the one thing our press schedule we were most looking for and it was awesome.”

Of all the artists performing at SXSW that I could’ve broke Burger with, let the following note from Zach “Hammburger” Carothers, bassist, Portugal. The Man, tell you why I there were none more appropriate.

Dear Cheeseburger,

It’s been a long time, old friend. I have fond memories of meeting you in the spring of 2006 at the Jackalope in Austin, Texas. You were my first meal in that amazing city, and you kept me going through our first experience of the beautiful chaos that is SXSW. I was so excited to reconnect with you this year!  It was early Friday afternoon when we met with Dave Ciancio AKA The Rev, from Burger Conquest. We hit it off immediately due to our shared love of the sandwich and his idea to lunch at your establishment. We chatted at length and reminisced of great times with others of your kind. It was his first time dining there, and he seemed very impressed. As a matter of fact, our entire table of 11 was in bliss. With so many options on the menu, our table was filled with different and interesting burgers. Although I could never forget you from several years ago, I could hardly recognize you. I ordered you medium rare, piled high with bacon and smothered in brie. You, my friend, were savory and delicious. Flavors I have never had the pleasure of tasting on a burger. I have missed you and will continue to do so until our next visit to Austin. I won’t forget you.

Love,
Hammburger

8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

THE BURGERCOUNTQUEST
354 Burgers

Mar. 18, 2011 – 1:00 PM

Posted in Bar, Beer, Burgers, Gourmet Burgers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Grill ‘Em All Truck – The Cooking Channel’s Eat Street

Posted on 04/02/2011 by Rev

Grill ‘Em All Truck and The Cooking Channel’s “Eat Street”
http://grillemalltruck.com

THE CONQUEST
When I sent an email to the Grill ‘Em All guys on December 2nd of 2009 to tell them how excited I was to learn of their business, I had nothing in mind other than a simple introduction and a plan to eat their Burgers. I had no idea I would end being such good friends with owners Matt Chernus and Ryan Harkins. I also had no inclination that one day I would be brought on board as their business manager and I certainly wouldn’t have even imagined that I would end up on the Travel Channel and Food Network just because I enjoyed their AMAZING food.

Well, the surprises keep on coming. The Food Network (Canada) & The Cooking Channel have teamed up to create an all new TV show entitled “Eat Street.” The basic concept is to show the world that the Chefs behind gourmet food trucks, shacks, carts and the like are just as a creative, determined and innovative as the top named Chefs at highly regard top noted restaurants. Great food can be found anywhere and if you watch No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, it’s been drilled into your head that local street food is where the heart of culinary movements exists. “Eat Street” aims to take the camera out to the culinary geniuses out there banging out gourmet food in the most nontraditional of places, including, Grill ‘Em All!

The day started off at their prep kitchen when Chef Ryan, Kenny Smith and the rest of the crew do the heavily lifting of the Grill ‘Em All menu. Ryan walked the crew through the creation of his DELICIOUS Beer Soaked Onions. For those who don’t have the patience to wait for the TV show, watch episode #4 of the Grill ‘Em All “Victory Lap” where Chef Ryan demonstrated how to make them at Whisk in Brooklyn.

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From there we loaded up the Son of Beast and headed out to do a regular lunch service. The crew interviewed a bunch of Ghouls who came out to crush Burgers and even shot a little piece about the Ghoul’s School Fan Club! Congrats fellow Ghouls, you’re Burger Famous! On each stop of the show, the production crew picks out a local expert to be interviewed about the food. For the Grill ‘Em All Truck they selected Zack who is more commonly known as “The Unvegan.” Zack documents his meat-centric quests through the “People for the Ethical Eatment of Animals” on his website. Turns out that the love of Meat and Burgers is not the only The Unvegan and I have in common, he too is a native Detroiter. After much “I think we’re about to be best food friends forever” talks, the camera crew called us over to chow down in front of the lens.

THE BURGER
Zack, another Ghoul and I took it upon ourselves to take on a Molly Hatchet, a Behemoth, and a Waste ‘Em All, respectively. I crushed my Waste ‘Em All on camera with all the passion and fury that Municipal Waste brings to their stage show, earning their namesake on a Grill ‘Em All Burger. The new TV series is set to air early Spring with the Grill ‘Em All episode featuring Burger Conquest and the Unvegan somewhere closer to summer. Stay tuned to the Burger Conquest Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on our Burger Fame. In the meantime…

TAKE IT TO THE FACE!

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8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

THE BURGERCOUNTQUEST
351 Burgers

Mar 8, 2011 – 1:26 PM

Posted in Burgers, Gourmet Burgers, Grill Em All, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment