Prime Burger
5 East 51st St., Midtown, NY
Our Classic NYC Establishment tag was created for spots like Prime Burger. This place is as old school as it gets. Prime Burger is a throwback diner – not a pub like fellow geezers Old Town or P.J. Clarke’s. It’s entirely possible that this joint hasn’t been touched since its inception back in 1938, and that’s all part of its charm. The waiters all have white hair and nicknames and hearing aides and serve you food on plastic plates. There are few actual tables, so either grab a stool along the bar or land your behind in one of the strange solo swing-out tray seats that line the walls. I know that’s probably hard to envision, but it’s kind of like eating at the desk you used to sit in back in elementary school.
We come to prime burger for two things and two things only: burgers & turkey clubs. Since our office is around the corner, we’re here a lot. It’s a perfect Midtown lunch solution, especially for a quick, low-key meeting with a friend. Unfortunately it’s not as packed as it should be, and you can always count on Prime Burger for open seats during peak hours. We wouldn’t suggest making this too frequent a destination, but for nostalgic purposes alone, it’s absolutely worth a trip if you’re in the area. Don’t be surprised if you see Roger Sterling and Joan Holloway stumbling out of the bathroom together.
Photo Credit: Robyn Lee/Serious Eats
Food Rundown:
Burger
This right here is the ideal lunch sized burger – a pint sized puck of Master Purveyors beef that’s perfectly pink on the inside, and served on a standard, soft, grocery store burger bun. It’s small enough that you can actually work post-burger session and it won’t knock you out for the rest of the day like most burgers tend to do. As we learned from Ed Levine’s in depth Serious Eats post, the secret to ordering here is making sure you specifically ask for your burger to be cooked from scratch for maximum juiciness.
Turkey Club
The other viable option at Prime Burger, and one of my favorite turkey clubs in the city. Why? The Russian dressing. I don’t know if it’s homemade or what, but it’s incredible. On its own, the sandwich is just ok. But once bathed in their glorious Russian, the whole game has changed. Oh yeah, and the bacon is really good too.
Fries
The regular fries suck. Skip those. The curly fries aren’t bad – they taste like the ones that come in the red freezer bag.
French Fried Onions
This is where it’s at. Onion lovers will be delighted with this beautiful mess of fried goodness.
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