5 Napkin Burger

Eric and I met up a couple of weeks ago to grab dinner and catch up on life since we hadn’t seen each other in over a month. Eric has a running list of restaurants he’d like to try and I agreed to go to 5 Napkin Burger because I hadn’t visited yet. Maria said the food was really good and even brought her mom there when she was visiting from Ecuador, so I figured it would be a safe bet.

5 Napkin Burger has a little something for everyone; the menu reminded me of a more casual Upstairs at Bouley because in addition to their burgers, they also have sushi rolls, tuna burgers, and more substantial entrees. We were there for the burgers and somehow I convinced Eric that we should order the burger for two AND another burger to share. We went with the original 5 napkin burger:

All of the meats are from Pat La Freida (also the provider for Minetta Tavern’s Black Label Burger) and the original burger is topped with caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, and rosemary aioli. The burger was greasy more than juicy and the bottom of the bun was too mushy to eat because of the burger grease. Even though it was really greasy, the meat was well seasoned and the rosemary aioli paired well with the ground chuck. We asked for the burger to be cooked medium rare and the burger came out well done (actually, BOTH came out well done) which really annoyed me, but we were starving so we decided not to send both back (and we discovered they were overcooked after we had cut both burgers in half).

The burger for two was a much larger burger with two 8 ounce patties:

The burger also came with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and 5 Napkin sauce:

I was not a fan of the burger; since the bun was so much larger, the meat was pressed into thin pieces and it was really dry (completely different from the other burger). Also, I would’ve preferred a little less bread; it was literally a large loaf of white bread with more condiments than anything. The special 5 Napkin sauce was thousand island dressing (similar to In-N-Out’s), but couldn’t redeem the burger’s dryness.

The burger for two also came with two sides Eric insisted on ordering something on the healthier side, but then I ended up eating all of them:

To give you an idea of how large the burger for two was, here’s a side by side comparison:

So, 5 Napkin Burger wasn’t a complete disaster, but they definitely didn’t cook our meat correctly (which is pretty important for a burger joint). If I ever end up going again, I’m definitely skipping the burger for two and ordering the original burger instead. By the end of our meal, I literally felt like I had to hit my chest to keep my heart beating!