Sunday, January 2nd, 2011—Bar 357
Day 357—Saturday, January 1st, 2011
Mel's Burger Bar
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Mel’s Burger Bar, with a special guest appearance from my friend and downstairs neighbor, Deloy. And featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty. Ladies and gentlemen, Mel’s Burger Bar!
Here we are at my friend and downstair's neighbor Deloy's door. Hey Deloy, Christmas is over, you might want to pack up the trees till next year.
And here she is, my lovely and beautiful neighbor, Deloy. A woman who once helped me pick up chicken wings off the stairwell after I tripped head over heels and about broke my neck. It's a long story and yes, I had been drinking.
Through the miracle of the internet you're spared us getting on the wrong train (my fault, of course), and then ending up in midtown in a throng of tourists where it's impossible to get a cab. Deloy saved the day and miraculously hailed a cab for us.
Hooray for Deloy!
And here we are, uptown at Mel's Burger Bar.
There's plenty of seats at the bar. Don't worry there fellow, we're not here to bother you, you just keep talking on your cell phone.
Justin was our friendly bartender and he quickly served up a couple pre-dinner beers.
Cheers from Deloy and I!
The back of Justin's shirt is adorned with a quote from Hunter S. Thompson. I'd have preferred this HST quote, "The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon." But I guess it wouldn't be fitting for a family restaurant in this day and age. Too bad.
There's tables and red leather banquettes opposite the bar.
Just in case you forget where you are, there's a subtle reminder on the back wall.
In addition to a fantastic burger selection, Mel's has a great beer menu.
Here's the informal back dining room.
Brooke's the friendly and pretty manager. She suggested I try the Broadway burger and I told her I would. It's a done deal.
And for the record, this guy is still talking on his cell phone.
Okay, it's Cheeseburger Saturday Night, time to order some food!
We started out with an appetizer of friend pickles. Neither Deloy or I had ever had one, so it was time to try them out.
Deloy liked them and so did I. Both of us agreed that anything fried can't be too bad.
And before we had a chance to get too pickled, dinner is served!
Deloy got the Kobe Sliders...
I got the Broadway burger that Brooke had suggested. We also got fries and onion strings and everything was delicious! If you're a cheeseburger lover, you have to check this place out.
Okay, dinner's over and he's still talking on his cell phone. Sheesh! Goodnight, everybody!
Review
If you’re looking for a place to unleash your inner Wimpy, Mel’s Burger Bar is the spot to do it in. There’s over a half dozen original variations on the burger to be had here. If eating at the bar is your thing, there’s a large semi-circular bar to dine and enjoy a drink or two. There’s tables and chairs opposite the bar and a dining room in the back. The bartenders and waitstaff are friendly and more than willing to assist you in choosing a burger of your choice.
There’s a full bar including a large selection of draft, canned and bottled beers. They also have four specialty house drinks, homemade punch cocktails and a Bastard Series including a Suffering Bastard, the Dying Bastard and the Dead Bastard which is Jack Daniels, Brandy, Beefeater, Bacardi, Lime Juice, Bitters and Ginger Ale. If you’re going to be a dead bastard, might as well go out with a smile on your face.
There’s plenty of burgers to choose from here including: The Original, a burger served on white toast with lettuce, pickles and tomatoes; The Cadillac Burger which is a bacon cheeseburger served on a potato roll; The Nurse Betty is a veggie burger with Monterey Jack Cheese and it comes with an onion focaccia roll and The Broadway which is served on sourdough rye bread and topped with melted Swiss cheese, bacon and jalapeno’s. In addition to burgers, Mel’s also offers Rotisserie Chicken, BBQ Ribs, Chicken Meatballs and Spaghetti and a French Dip sandwich. Brunch is also available Saturday and Sunday from 11pm to 3pm.
Mel's Burger Bar
2850 Broadway (Between 110th and 111th Street)
212-865-7100
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Bonus “Thought Glasses” Photos!
My friend Joe Freedman sent me a New Year’s gift. The gift is a pair of “Thought Glasses” he made from his production and design studio, Leafpdx in Portland, Oregon. The Thought Glasses subtly add subtext to your conversation and let’s people know what you’re really thinking about. Check them out below. Thanks, Joe and Happy New Year to you!
California dreaming on such a winter's day.
Hey, that reminds me, I need to check my Mega-Millions ticket!
1 Reference
Reader Comments (19)
A really nice and beautiful neighbor in Deloy, and I can't remember the other bars she went with you on the crawl. How great it is to have her join you again. Mel's has a really cool backbar that turns and keeps going,,very unique. Deloy's Kobe burgers looked really good and your burger was on Rye bread, I think. Oh I think that guy at the bar is still on his cellphone,,,,LOL.
Boy, that Broadway burger is a juicy looking bastard, and it would be fitting to wash it down with a dying and/or dead bastard, wouldn't it. And everybody needs to have at least one friend in life like Deloy who would selflessly help pick up your chicken wings as you lay broken and dying at the bottom of a flight of stairs...to Deloy!
@Jaws: TO DELOY!
Oh, by the way, I went looking for those glasses at the leafpdx website and couldn't find them. Must be a new design not offered for sale yet. Too bad, I wanted to buy a pair. Say, if you want to, send Mr. Freedman my e-mail address and a couple examples of my stuff from your files. I could have myself a blast and a half doing some thought balloons for him if he's interested...it's right up my alley!
@Jaws: I don't know if Joe's selling these or if he just made them for a New Year's gift, you can email him from his website.
I remember Deloy from the summer, great to see her back on the bar crawl. I'd love to hear that chicken wing story sometime! The burgers look great! One more week to go! Those Thought Glasses are very cool too!
Nice to see return guests. Love the barn wood look on the walls and the food looked great. To the final countdown!
How awesome is Mel's! Cheeseburger saturday always makes the stomach rumble. Broadway burger...mmmm. It's a massive slab of meaty grease and, Marty, your dead right all fried food is good.
Howdy Deloy!
I had a great time at Mel's - warning to anyone joining Marty - Ask him where you are going before you get on the subway.
I want the Kobe sliders:)
no fricken way on fried pickles though.
i didnt even eat pickles when i was pregnant. yuck...
woowooooooowwooooohoooo
getting closer marty! yay!
to deloy...good to see you back on the crawl...LOL..."warning to anyone joining Marty - Ask him where you are going before you get on the subway."...great suggestion but i sometime wonder "does 365 know where he's going?"...that food looked no short of great...still say 365 eats a whole lot better than i...damn my list of cheeseburgers to check out is overwhelming...glad "mel's" has a reminder on the back wall cause sumthimes i forget where i am even when i'm home...KOC
rr
Holy Crap. Did that guy on his cell phone realize he was OUT in public and supposed to have fun? What an asshat
@Deloy: Ha ha ha! Sorry for getting us lost and thanks for getting us out of the jam!
@Gidget: The fried pickles ruled!
Marty, you are lucky to have a neighbor like Deloy !! I could not expect from my neighbors to help me pick up my chicken wings!! But I always try to help them, like 3 weeks ago, we had a black out in my neighborhood, and as I could hear people talking in the staircase near my door, I got out of my appart with a burning candle and asked if someone needed a candle... Well the dentist looked at me so bad and told me : "That's fine, we have some technology called flashlight...." Well !!! ok! ok! I felt like I was from the middle age and went back in my middle age appartment! ha! Fucking asshole, gonna shit in his mailbox and show him how people from the middle age would answer to despotism!!!!! hahaha
So cool the glasses! :D
Is the Mel's sign a giant Light Brite ?
Fried Pickles Yum , Love Pickles !!!
How many times you went the wrong direction when going to one of the Bars ?
How many times you got refused ?
How many early Bar's you went to ?
How many Female Bartenders did you meet so far ?
What was the Beer you had the most of ?
Did you ever lied to us & skip a Bar Crwal ?
Did anyone say bad things about what your doing & you never mentioned it ?
So what I am getting at is that when this ends , you need to transform it into a kind of How many I did of what or something , just don't want to be like TMWS , which is in cyber lembo .
@Zioum Zioum: Good luck with the mailbox project! Ha ha ha!
@Jason: I'd love to answer all those questions, but I have to go put up today's post. But no, I've never skipped a night here, somebody would've busted me in the photos if I would've.
First of all, those are some big-ass chalkboards hanging off the walls! Second, I've had fried pickles (and love them), but I've only seen them in spear format. The chip format would probably make them easier to eat AND give you a better pickle-to-batter ratio. By the way, I've never before said "pickle-to-batter ratio," but I like it and will now try to work it into my daily vernacular. This would probably be easier to do if I were, say, a baseball player. Or a pickle grower. I'll get back to you on my progress. Anyhoo, Mel's looks like a cool place. I really like that subtle reminder and their food looks DE-LISH! I'd probably want to try 3/4 of their menu, so maybe I'll have to gather 12 of my closest friends to share dishes with. Or go at 11 am and stay til midnight. If only I had some thought glasses, they could tell me what to do!
It's nice to see Deloy out on the crawl (those sliders looked great)! Only 8 more days, Marty! HOLY SHITBALLS!!
@Biff: HOLY SHITBALLS, indeed!
Nice bar and the burger looks awesome!!!
And for the bastard on the cell phone: GO HOME TO TALK AT PHONE!