BRGR is a burger joint that has been popping up all around NYC. I just happen to work near BRGR and one day for lunch I headed out to fill my hunger. BRGR has the open viewable grill. That means when you go into BRGR you leave smelling like BRGR. All grass fed meat with a choice of bun, I went whole wheat, but they even have the Iceberg lettuce bun for you carb watchers or gluten free eaters.

Ok the burger itself was pretty good and really hit the spot. It was a good size burger. I added onion hay on the side for a couple bucks but for a burger joint it’s not the cheapest burger. It did fill me up however, there are many times I go to burger joints and need to buy 2 burgers because 1 is just too small. I liked it enough to go back.

A buddy of mine and I had not seen each other in a long time and wanted to catch up with some lunch. We hopped in the car and headed from Greenpoint Brooklyn to Bed-Stuy. We had a few choice on our list of places to go but we ended up at Dave’s Brisket House Deli. The name alone sounded like some good eats. The shop was a typical deli. You can get all kinds of sandwiches but they specialize in corned beef, pastrami and brisket sandwiches. We got one of each, what else is new. The Pastrami was the best of them all (see above). Really good taste and the perfect amount of mustard. The corned beef was all right but I have never been a huge fan of corned beef. I’d rather go pastrami.

However, the name on the sign is Dave’s BRISKET House. The brisket was good and tasty. The sandwich came with a dipping sauce. I was not expecting this with the brisket. It was a watery sauce almost like a beef broth.

You can find Dave’s Brisket House at:
533 Nostrand Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11216

The other day I headed to Long Island for an over night stay at the parents house. I had a few things to do and I had not been to their house in a while. Whenever I go home during the summer my mother and I take the day to run some errands and go to lunch, a little mom and Ant time. We went to Fanatico for a couple salads. We were thinking of keeping it light and healthy and their salads are really good and filling. However, the healthy thing went out the window when my mother brought up the Chicken Marsala Roll. Mom said it was great but I wanted to keep it healthy….. I caved very easily.
It was really good and I could not finish it all because of the big salad. I should have started with the Chicken Marsala Roll. The taste was delicious and had the right amount of chicken and sauce. Pizzeria’s should make these. They make chicken parm rolls.

The Southerner and I had a tough morning trying to figure out the perfect place for a Brunch/Lunch. The first place we thought of was to far away, the next place was BYOB, the next place was cash only, ugh! We decided to head to Il Bambino which you may remember from our Wich Hunt episode 2. We finally both agreed and were off and we were starving. Then all of a sudden on our way to lunch we hit a street fair. Shopping is to tempting for the southerner to not go. This takes us way off track to Il Bambino. However,there is a restaurant I have wanted to go to and it was at the end of the street fair. What a perfect opportunity to go to the Burger Club. As my hunger pains grew it seemed the southerner took forever to look at each and every booth to see what they were selling. Finally we arrive and there is tribal indian music blasting at the street fair and I think the speakers were aimed directly into the Burger Club. Not that there is anything wrong with the music, it’s actually kinda soothing but it was not what I wanted to listen to while I eat a burger and try to enjoy the restaurant. It was just way way way to loud. I felt bad for the staff because they had to listen to it all day. It was hard to even hear and talk to the staff because it was so loud but there was nothing the Burger Club could do.

The Burger Shop had a good variety of burgers on their menu along with a beer and wine selection. The southerner got her signature blue cheese burger with shoe string onions as seen above. I went southern and got the Carolina Burger topped with pulled pork.

Both were good burgers and I really like how they serve things. The burgers came on wooden plates and our side of shoe string onion rings came in a small frier. I like when places are a little creative.

I liked the garage doors, the chalk boards, and the staff. My only complaint was the menu said all burgers are cooked medium unless otherwise noted however they were cooked through. Although the burgers were good when I think medium I’m thinking pink in the middle.

Burger Club
32-02 30th Ave, Astoria

This morning I woke up with a craving for a burger. I have not had one in a while and it is typically a staple in my food regiment. I was by myself for the day and wanted to go to a spot in my neighborhood that I’ve always wanted to want try but never get a chance to go. We all have a place like that in our neighborhood. Today was my day to go after it. The place I am referring to is Petey’s Burgers. I am glad I finally got off my butt and made it there. Petey’s burger concept originally come from Southern California and was brought over to Astoria (and now also in Long Island City) where the owner, Petey is originally from. These burgers are made fresh and delicious. They have a small to the point menu which I like. It doesn’t give you the headache of having to decide from 15 different burgers. I went with a standard cheeseburger and had them grill the onions. It’s a great mix of softness, burger and melted cheese. The way a burger should taste. I made one mistake when I ordered. I should have went for the double cheeseburger. That is what I’ll devour next time I head to Petey’s.

I also ordered their Greek Veggie Burger. I usually don’t even think about veggie burgers but I read a write up about how great the Greek Veggie Burger was so I had to check out the hype. It was equally delicious. There is a lot of spinach, mushrooms, onions in that patty so all you vegetarians don’t think for a second you can’t go to Petey’s with your carnivorous friends. For you carnivores that like to be a little healthy and order a side salad to get a little greens with a meal, at Petey’s, you can order Veggie Burger on the side as your, in quotes, side salad. What a great way to get your greens. Oh and I would double patty that too.

New orleans is a town filled with great people, great music, and even better food. It is such a great town to eat your way through. One of the more popular dishes to eat in New Orleans is the Po-Boy Sandwich. There are many po-boys to choose from along with many place to choose from to get your po-boy. The southerner and her family joined me at one of the more famous restaurants for po-boys at Mother’s. If you have never been make sure you get their on a week day when the line may not be out the door and down the street. I have been to New Orleans a few times and I love a good Oyster Po-Boy. Mother’s does it right as seen above. There is so many Oysters falling out of the sandwich mixed with a great sauce to make it a great sandwich. I don’t even like raw oysters but when fried and put between two pieces of bread, I can’t say no.

Since someone else was getting the Oyster Po-Boy I wanted to get something different. I usually go for some sort of shellfish Po-Boy but this time I when with the Famous Ferdi Special. This sandwich is Mother’s baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, see below. This was a great mixture of meats and the gravy gave the meats the perfect moisture and taste.

We also could not resist a Shrimp Po-Boy. I’m kind of known for making sure everyone in the party orders something different so we can all have a try. I just think that is the best way to get the real feel of the food at a restaurant and everyone is satisfied. When I dine alone it’s tough for me. I want to order so many things.

I knew Jay did a post on Chicago’s deep dish pizza but I didn’t realize jays post was at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. His post was called Pizzacake. I did my own take on my first Deep Dish Pizza while I was in Chicago recently. Jay and I have similar taste when it come’s to our pizza.   Sorry Chicago good but not the best!

While in Italy I realized that there’s a lot happening around the world between two slices of bread. Anthony and I have travelled the world eating everything from Balut in the Philippines to blood sausage in Argentina. In every destination there has always been a sandwich shop. Some were good and some were bad but they all had their unique take on this ubiquitous meal. The origin of the sandwich is highly debated and we’ll dive into that on our journey as we discover, taste and debate the best sandwiches in the world.

Recently the southerner and I moved into an apartment in Queens. It was a big move day because I had to basically take my entire life that was sitting in storage and move it to the new apt. We were lucky we only had one flight in our walk up apartment. The original place we almost got was a 5 story walk up. I almost could not make the one flight with all my stuff.
It started out great picked up the u-haul truck drove down to storage and loaded the truck to the max by noon. Drove slowly as all my stuff was bouncing around all on the drive from brooklyn to my apartment in Queens. Everything was running smooth. I even found a parking spot right in front of the apartment. What a miracle day, and then….

….we go upstairs and open the top lock and then try the bottom lock but the bottom lock would not open. I tried and tried. It was not opening and I pretty much freaked out. I had my whole life outside in the truck and now I could not get in the Apartment. Talk about a monkey wrench in your day.

I called the landlord and he came in about 45 minutes. He had to go to the roof of the building and climb down the fire escape, climb through the window and then open the door from the inside. The day before the Southerner and I when inside and measured the rooms and locked the apartment when we left. What my landlord forgot to tell me is the bottom lock of the door only locks from the inside. Kind of an important thing to tell your tenant don’t you think?
After we were able to finally get in we thought it would be a good Idea to power up with some lunch before moving all my stuff up to the apartment. We went to Queens Comfort, right around the corner from my place.

The Southerner had a english muffen with bacon and cheese

My mother had a cheeseburger animal style.

My father had the pulled pork over grits and gravy

And I had the fried zucchini coleslaw sandwich.

The southerner and I have wanted to go there for a while now. The food was great and they served huge plates. It definitely gave us the full belly to take on the move, which was a success and has been coming together as the weeks pass. We can’t wait for it to be done so we can finally have some guests for to …EAT.