Last night, I went out searching for the best-rated burger closest to where my boyfriend and I were in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. I found a 4 star yelp review for The Burger Bistro. I was encouraged by the fact that this place had 2 other locations, and one of these locations was around the corner from where we happened to be so we decided to head over.
Burger Bistro is on 5th Ave in Park Slope. Vintage shops and other small eateries surround it. The entrance is rather unassuming and I probably wouldn’t have noticed it had I not been looking. When we walked in the restaurant was empty except for one guy at a table to the side. It was 6pm on a Monday so I am fairly certain my experience could be different on say a Friday at 8pm. The hostess/waitress told us to sit where we wanted and I chose one of the four-tops in the back corner away from the door. I was looking for a little privacy and that little nook was it. The place is small but not uncomfortably tight. The décor is pretty simple and there isn’t anything spectacular but it is efficient, clean and comfortable.
The niche at The Burger Bistro is their menu. Their menu is laminated and you use little crayons to check off boxes for what you want to order from appetizers to dessert. You can choose things like Buffalo Tater Tots with celery & blue cheese, mesclun salad, and other random appetizers. We chose the Fried Artichoke Hearts with Horseradish Cream. Most of the appetizers cost $7. The fried hearts had a thin and crispy coating and were perfectly salted. They made an awesome pre-burger snack and they gave you a ton. In a picture posted below you will see them in the background and that is half of what came!
Next you move down to the burgers. Each burger starts at $8 except the organic lamb, the shrimp, and whatever the daily special is. They offer beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, shrimp, and veggie options. The beef and lamb are cooked to your preferred temp, although the waitress did mention they tend to cook closer to rare then not so if you want medium you may want to order medium well. From there, anything you add to the burger is $1 extra. This is where things can get pretty expensive. They offer 10 different kinds of cheese, 3 of which are actually $2, and they offer 10 toppings also some of which are actually $2. Lettuce, tomato, and raw onion are by request and they are free. If you didn’t think you had enough choices to make it is time to choose your roll from 6 different options. You can also choose an additional sauce for $1 each and 6 options. You can choose a side, all of which are $4 and include things like potato chips, French fries, and tater tots. Oh and did I mention there was dessert? We will get back to that.
I ordered a beef burger, medium rare, with pepper jack cheese, applewood bacon, fried egg, and frizzled onions on garlic brioche bread (extra 1 for garlic bread) with tater tots and jalapeno mayo. What I didn’t know before it came out was that they serve ½ lb burgers. I wasn’t ready! The food came out quickly and was DELICIOUS. My boyfriend got a beef burger with bacon, pickled jalapeños, sharp cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato on brioche with Cajun fries. I wish I could have photographed his joy. It was like Christmas. The burgers were huge but didn’t fall apart after the first couple of bites. They were juicy, cooked perfectly, and every item was recognizable and yet cohesive. The garlic bread brioche bun was buttery and full of garlic. The tater tots were perfectly fried and not at all greasy. These were two-handed burgers and took all of my effort to make a dent in. The only thing I would change about this burger is making it smaller because I just can’t fit 1/2 lb of meat in my stomach. I definitely feel that the $18 price tag for my burger alone sounds crazy but is totally worth it. It would be reasonable to split one burger with someone if you didn’t want to spend that much..
The Burger Bistro only offers one kind of dessert, ice cream sandwiches. You can choose between a chocolate chip cookie, Belgian waffle, and shortbread, and then you can choose between Vanilla, red velvet, or mud pie ice cream. I chose the Belgian waffle with red velvet ice cream. A small wedge of a fresh Belgian waffle with 2 scoops of ice cream topped with the other wedge of waffle came on a small plate dusted with powdered sugar. This is NOT the sort of thing you actually eat as a sandwich. I dug my spoon down each layer popped it in my mouth and immediately thought I was in heaven! The waffle was warm, fresh, light, and the right amount of chew and crisp. The ice cream was subtle, creamy, and had chunks of cake folded into it. Now I don’t know if the ice cream is made on premises but this was more delicious than I had anticipated. I would come back for the burgers but I would ALWAYS have to order dessert.
Bottom line is I don’t know if this is the best burger in Brooklyn but it is certainly the best burger I’ve ever had here and I would say if you haven’t been it is more than worth it to go!
http://theburgerbistro.com/Home.php
177 5th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217
