Take a Bow for Bowery's Burgers

This burger surprised me. It was juicy, cooked just to my liking at medium-rare and had a very pleasant meaty taste. I liked this burger so much I'm going to go out on a limb and add it to my Top Five LA Burgers alongside the other hall of famers Houston's, Burger Kitchen and Rustic Canyon, in that order.

I also liked the fries that can be ordered as a mix of regular and sweet potato fries. I had it with "the works" and I chose cheddar cheese, avocado, caramelized onions and bacon. I was debating between bacon and fried egg, but in the end, think it was the right choice. I had wanted fresh red onions but apparently all the onions they had were either in confit form or caramelized.

What I didn't like was the bun, which was an English muffin that didn't hold the hefty interior very well. It quickly fell apart upon my cutting the burger in half. The patty was also too round as opposed to flat so that made it even harder to bite into. As much as I like meaty patties, this one could have used a tad of flattening.

I also have a problem with burgers priced at $9.50 that charge you for everything, and I mean, everything you decide to add to it, such as 3 toppings for additional cost or a lousy 50 cents for a side of thousand island dressing. Really? 50 cents for a side of "homemade" dressing? Come on.

As if that weren't enough, the side of fries alone was $5, and considering places like Houston's serve their burger (albeit costing more in the high teens) with fries included, I somehow felt robbed.

I didn't think much of the overdressed Bowery salad that came with greens, lentils, asparagus, beets, goat cheese and hazelnuts. Sounds good, right? It was drowning in dressing, which is not good. The salad would have been a lot better otherwise but it was hard to taste anything.


The vibe is ok but a bit noisy and crowded (or maybe I'm just getting old). It's tight quarters. It doesn't have any beers on draft, which is weird for a bar, but at least it has a decent selection. I chose a delightfully bitter Stone IPA that went well with my bloody burger.