Where's the Beef? Burger Joints Running Wild in Downtown Brooklyn/Cobble Hill

Today was the 5th Ave Park Slope street fare filled with the typical attitudes including beer, sterling silver jewelry, calzones, crepes, and stroller mania. Blue Ribbon was doing sushi outdoors which was uber tempting.

I had a wonderful smoked brisket sandwich with some chipotle cream sauce, greasy good. As we ended our loopy walk, we passed by the new Five Guys location right in the Metrotech. It seems like they've realized that this is becoming a residential area as it's open on the weekend and doing good business it seems. To me it's really exciting to have food options north of the Fulton Mall; not that there aren't any (fried fish and souvlaki are available on Saturday) but especially on lazy Sundays it's a welcome change for me (I can still do without the Aeropostale and the idea of redoing the mall, but the Arby's was a good try, everybody loves food).

Of course, with the new Five Guys in Cobble Hill, it's like a Five Guys party since there's one on Montague. I have a feeling this is overload, but Metrotech could use an established franchise that's good.

However, it's not just Five Guys. We have the new Shake Shack coming to Fulton Mall. Moo Burger opened up on Court. There's another burger joint on Atlantic by the Brazen Head that's getting going. Heading into Carroll Gardens you have Dubuque and I'm pretty sure there's even another new restaurant specializing in bun/patty/bun on Court or Smith. I can smell it. Atlantic's also got Jake's Way Back burgers and I just really can't wrap my head around it right now. Oh and all this about Smash Burger opening up multiple locations in Brooklyn. When has Denver been highly anticipated in Brooklyn?

Checkers across the street from the Court Street United Artists. JB Burger I think opened up not that long ago right on Smith. Am I saying this is the pinnacle of burger heaven such as the highly respected 67 Burger in Fort Greene? No, but the choices of stuffing your face with ground meat is getting beyond tempting.

Maybe this summer we'll have to see who has the best fries in the neighborhood as well; if there was only a place that did Belgian-style fries on the regular...

Photo from the Brooklyn Paper...Five Guys has a littany of toppings, unlike Shake Shack. And they overload on the fries. It's too good.

Crab Burger? Point me to the horseradish....

The friends at Eat It: The Brooklyn Food Blog have taken the time on this Excellent Friday to totally eat meat at Apt 138 in Cobble Hill. Steak Sandwich? Check. Burger? Check. Seriously, if you click on the burger picture and stare at the fries, which you can see the hot grease on, you can smell them. Smell the greatness. Not only that, the burger, which appears normal here, can actually be made up of crab. There's nothing like lump crab, except maybe lump lobster...

Tasty pictures! Good Friday....more like Steak Sandwich.

For the full article, go here.

Bar Spotlight (Football Season Edition): Reade Street Pub

The Reade Street Pub is a downtown/Tribeca establishment complete with neon red "bar" sign fairly centrally located and a provider of some of the best, most delicately tender burgers in the city. Their fries aren't my favorite, but the burgers more than make up for it. I try not to look beyond the apps when eating at the bar during the game; it's an unnecessary cost (I mean, you're already out and about when you could be home watching the game instead, you know, not spending money). The new TVs are fantastic and a huge improvement.

Oftentimes the pub isn't filled with much of a crowd, but the loyalty is unquestioned. A lot of downtown suits come here to relax and kick back, and it's decidedly an unattractive bar in a sense. However, it's one of the few bars that's lit so you can actually see the person you're talking to, a la Limerick in Chelsea, which is a nice change of pace and there's a warmth although it's not the most crowded place. The burgers were really the key, and the fact that it's not loud like the Patriot Saloon, has more bar space than Walker's, and less cheesy than Tribeca Tavern, and certainly more casual than any number of lounges in the area. The only real competition in the immediate area is something like Puffy's or Kenn Broome.

The one oustanding thing about this place is also the beer is as cheap as it gets; there are very few places that are always on the lookout with 3 dollar mugs and as far as I can remember PBR for dirt cheap, comparable to the Patriot, which is probably one of the top 5 cheapest bars in the city.

Back to the brand new large HD TVs that they have behind the bar at a low level so it's very watchable, they have 3 or 4 along the bar, the projection in the back, and a couple more along the walls (the space behind the bar isn't much so you can really get a homey close up with the games). There were TVs before but were replaced and now it's just actually a good pick to go for the games. The tables on the restaurant end in the back and off to the side are good but the bar is really inviting, everything is just more open here, less stiff. The food sits on place settings with the same old Gaelic ad/history bit, and no one here is afraid to start up a conversation with someone else at the bar. The 'tenders are fairly chatty but always attentive as well. Photos are all around of times gone by.

It's a hop skip to Brooklyn from here, accessible to the A,C,1,2,3 and R trains.

The official site isn't much, so might I suggest the Yelp page here for more info: Reade Street Pub on Yelp.