What is it about this place? Every time I go I'm knocked over by these burgers. I need to get here more often. Jon Schnipper, the man behind the food decisions at the restaurant, is nuts. He's the kind of crazy the burger world needs more of. Every detail of everything on the menu is the result of Jon's intense attention to quality. Their signature burger, the Hickory Bacon Blue Burger, is a perfect balance of expertly sourced ingredients and a kick-ass piece of meat. Although there is bacon, blue cheese, a tiny squirt of BBQ sauce, and the just-right amount of crispy onions, you can still taste the beef in the burger. To me that is the sign of a great burger, when the beefiness is not hidden beneath a pile of overpowering condiments. "We just switched to a sliced blue cheese," Jon told me. That's right, no cheese sauce here. You get the real thing - a slice of actual blue cheese on your burger and it makes all the difference. "It's more expensive but worth it".
What I love about this place is not limited to the burger though. Schnipper's, unlike some of the other fancy-pants burger destinations all over Manhattan, is totally accessible and cranks out high-quality food (I would love to send everyone down to Minetta Tavern for a burger but you can't get a reservation). And the milkshakes are unreal. I still have not ventured into other parts of the menu. With burgers so great it'll be a challenge to stray.
Here's to Jon Schnipper losing sleep to benefit your hamburger happiness.
