Josh and I both love burgers and have hit up most of the famous spots in the city – Corner Bistro, Shake Shack, Burger Joint, and JG Melon, to name a few – but we had never been to P.J. Clarke’s. When we lived downtown, they opened up a branch in the World Financial Center, just a few blocks from where we lived. When we moved uptown we saw that there was a branch close by near Lincoln Center. But I purposely avoided both locations because I was adamant that we eat at the original location on the east side first. And for whatever reason, we never got around to going.
Finally, one Saturday afternoon, Josh was tired of my excuses and dragged me across town to the original P.J. Clarke’s for lunch. Even though it was late in the afternoon, the place was packed. There were tons of people lined up at the bar having beers and watching sports, and there was a line for the dining room as well. Fortunately the wait wasn’t too bad, and soon we were seated in the back room, which was larger than I had expected. The decor was rustic, with lots of dark wood, red banquets, dim lighting, and brick walls. It had an old-time saloon feel to it, refined, yet casual.
The menu is actually pretty extensive, featuring raw bar items, soups, salads, and a variety of steaks, entrees, and sandwiches. We were here for the burgers though, so that made our decision pretty easy. The only thing we had to debate was which side items we wanted to try. We ended up with an order of french fries and an order of onion strings. The french fries were fantastic, served piping hot and crispy. They were the thin kind that I like and were nicely salted on the outside, soft and potato-y on the inside. It was a generous portion served in a metal container but I wish that I had gotten my own serving!
Thin and crispy french fries
If the portion of fries was generous, then the portion of onion strings was ginormous. A huge tangle of thinly cut, breaded, and deep fried onions slices was piled on a large plate. When the strings first came out they were warm, flavorful, and crispy, but as they had time to sit they got really greasy and soggy. We barely got through half the pile before we had to give up. Too bad, because they started out great.
Huge tangle of onion strings
The main attraction, however, was of course the burgers. Josh opted for “The Cadillac”, a burger topped with bacon and cheese. The burger was cooked medium rare upon request and very juicy. I took a bite and thought the bacon overpowered the burger patty, but Josh really enjoyed it and inhaled it quickly.
The Cadillac burger (bacon and cheese)
I stuck with a plain hamburger, garnished only with some raw onion and ketchup. My patty was equally juicy, and you can see in the picture the bottom bun turning red from soaking up the juices.
Juicy plain burger
My burger was also perfectly cooked to medium rare, though I thought the meat was a bit mushy. The patty didn’t have a nicely charred outer crust so the texture was uniformly soft throughout. I also wish the patty had been seasoned a bit more but flavor-wise, it had sort of a nice dry-aged steak quality to it that really set it apart from other burgers that we’ve had.
Autopsy shot
Overall Josh and I both enjoyed the burgers we had at P.J. Clarke’s, though neither of us thought it was our favorite burger in the city (currently we prefer Corner Bistro). The burgers have good flavor to them and while the patties aren’t huge, they’re a decent size. The prices, however, are on the higher end, though that seems to be the trend lately. A plain burger runs about $9, and The Cadillac was around $11.50. Sides cost extra, generally about $5-$6 each. So while $15 isn’t outrageous for a burger and fries, it’s not exactly cheap either. But you can take heart in knowing that you’re paying for a quality burger, and if you go to the original location, you’re experiencing a NYC landmark. I’m glad that I held out in making my first P.J. Clarke’s burger one from the original, and now we can enjoy the closer Lincoln Center location in the future.
P.J. Clarke’s (multiple locations)
915 Third Ave. at 55th St.
New York, NY
Tags: Burgers, Fries, Midtown East