Bison, Elk or Ostrich Burgers? Oh My!

One of my go-to restaurants in Astoria is Bareburger.  Now before you roll your eyes and think this is another Astoria review, Bareburger also just launched a location in Greenwich Village.

Now as you can probably tell, Bareburger is a burger joint.  The Astoria location is always packed, so best if you have a party of 4 or less.  There is plenty of outdoor seating too, which is a nice option on warmer nights.

One of my favorite things about Bareburger is the beer selection.  There are a lot of different craft beers on tap, and it’s not too expensive.  I went with a Lionshead Lager the other night, which was similar to a Bud Light, and for $4.75, I got 25 ounces of beer.  Usually I find restaurants to completely mark up a beer, more so than if you went to the bar, so to get 25 ounces for less than a price of a beer at a bar on a Saturday night is a great savings.

Bareburger Supreme

I also like that Bareburger goes beyond the “bacon cheeseburger” and offers some different options.  First, there are 12 different burger options – from your traditional burger to a burger with grilled pineapple.  Plus, Bareburger advises what type of meat goes best with the burger and they have meats like lamb, bison, beef, turkey, ostrich, elk and more.  For the vegetarians, they have veggie patties and even a portabella mushroom option.

I’ve been to Bareburger three times, and of the three things I’ve tried (portabella burger, Bareburger supreme and Swiss turkey bacon burger), the Swiss turkey bacon burger has been my favorite.  The toppings on it were obviously Swiss cheese and turkey bacon, but also mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms and fried onions.  You were able to taste the flavors of each individual item, and it paired nicely with the bison.  I switched up the ranch sauce on the burger for the chipotle mayo and believe this dipping sauce would make anything taste better.

My advice if you go to Bareburger is ask that they serve your fries with your meal.  See, fries don’t come with your burger – and for the record, burgers are around $11.  You can get a basket of fries and onion rings for the table for about $4.50, which we usually end of doing.  Most times though, this comes out before your burger, as if it was an appetizer, and you end up filling up on this stuff rather than your meal.  I’ve learned to ask for it to arrive the same time as our burgers.  While I like the different dipping sauces served with the fries (ranches, mayos, curry ketchup), I think the fries tend to be a bit soggy, so I’d personally rather fill up on my burger and have a few fries on the side.  Also, my roommate claims his burger has been overcooked a tad when he’s asked for it medium rare, so you may want to order your burger a little rarer than you normally would.  If you follow this advice, your meal may be close to perfect!