5 Napkin Burger Coming to Astoria

[rg]

Both the food and service here are fantastic.

[Ntrain]

Just tried 5 Napkin Burger and have nothing but good things to say.  And that comes from someone who is still mourning the loss of Cup!  The 2-person burger is not only huge (2 8-oz. patties) with a giant bun to match, but easily feeds 2 if not 3 people.  Five people at our table were very full eating two of the 2-person burgers...and at $19.95 each, they were an excellent deal.  Burgers were cooked to perfection and 5-Napkin sauce and toppings were delicious.

Ambiance is excellent -- a very good use of the space...one warning it that the music is a bit loud but not as bad as other places I've been.

Overall I welcome 5 Napkin to the neighborhood and hope with the Museum of the Moving Image, Frank Sinatra School, and Studio Square beer garden all nearby they will have plenty of business.  I imagine food service at the beer garden will take a bit of a hit.

Does anyone know if they are open for brunch and, if so, what their brunch menu looks like?

[newell the jewell]

Have only heard rave reviews about this place. And the more I read here, the more I need to set aside time and sample

[newell the jewell]

Last Friday a friend and I decided to splurge and patronize 5-Napkin Burger.  The place was packed.  We split the 10 oz. Original 5-Napkin Burger at a cost of $14.95. We ordered it Medium-Rare, and it arrived perfectly cooked and extremely delicious. We also ordered beers, which seemed pricey for the neighborhood.  The Bear Republic Racer No. 5 I ordered cost $9.50, $3.50 more than is charged at Sunswick, one block away.  Bravo Supermarket sells a six pack of this same beer for $10.

Overall, it was a good time.   

The fact that the burger was perfectly cooked is the main reason I will return.

[King of Long Island City]

Is it OK to bring kids here, for lunch or early dinner? Family friendly?

[pineapple]

Totally family friendly. 

[Jazzcdburner]

The Five Napkin Burger is priced at $13.95 in Astoria even though the website lists the Manhattan price of $14.95.  Also note that it does not come with lettuce and tomato as pictured.

But I LOVE it!!!!  Its an awesome burger if you like that style.  Reminds me of Cozy Coffee Shop on Broadway and Astor, or Paul's Heavenly Burner on 2nd Ave between St Marks and 7th - where they cook the burgers on a flat griddle with a metal lid on top.  I suspect Five Napkin does the same.

Agree that the beer prices are WAY too high.  But I love the free refills on Soda.   

[rg]

Is it OK to bring kids here, for lunch or early dinner? Family friendly?

Absolutely.

[AJTNYC]

Spinach artichoke dip...yum.  Veggie burger delish.  Very good, attentive service.  Great addition to the nabe.

[Christine]

Screw the tweety/booko'face/iphoneapp chatter. Based on the veggie burger recommendation alone, I had to give this place a shot, as I had yet to experience anything but pre-made, thawed-out patties. So we went this evening.

Just like you guys already described: Decor was unusual and interesting; music a bit loud but liked the mix; great drink selection, if a bit pricey; service exactly as described- friendly and attentive w/o being cloying.

Veg burger was outstanding- love the presence of beets!  Roll a bit dry but also flavorful. Fries were terrific- shoestring style, not too greasy, didn't leave me with a guilt trip. In fact, I didn't even add salt, which *never* happens!  Perfectly fine as they were.

John had the inside-out burger (no bun, just a lettuce wrap) which he deemed very good. Got creamed spinach on the side, he didn't think it was as good as at Peter Luger's, but who knows what Luger's puts in their spinach.

He had the Mother's Milk stout, like Guiness but a bit more of a kick somehow; I had the pear cider, which was too expensive for what it was, but it was nice to try something different. Shoulda tried the citrus cooler!

Beer prices and hipster marketing nonwithstanding, we'll be back. 

[holyfrjole]

Question about the veg burger... have you ever had the one at Houston's/Hillstone? Kind of oatmealy with beets, a bit sweet, and very good. Wondering if the veg burger at 5 Napkin is like that. My partner is very picky about her veggie burgers and loves the one at Houston's/Hillstone. If I can convince her that it's that good, I may be able to get to try 5 Napkin after all!

[Doughnut Hole]

I really feel like I had a freakishly different experience than everyone else.

Tuna burger - The tuna itself was high quality and well-seasoned with some soy-ginger flavors.  It was covered, front and back, with giant slabs of mayo (uh, wasabi aioli?  tasted like mayo to me).  That was it - a hunk of tuna, a bun, and a giant slab of mayo.  Once I took the mayo off, I had a dry tuna sandwich for $14.

Fries - Okay, maybe I have a mayo problem.  But that doesn't excuse the fries: these tasted like McDonald's fries to me.  Now, there's nothing wrong with McDonald's fries flavor-wise.  But after eating the fries at Tournesol, Bistro 33, Sparrow, Bareburger, Bistro Les Minots, and about 20 other places in Astoria (not to mention Manhattan), McDonald's fries don't really cut it for me anymore.  And at these prices? 

Turkey Burger - My wife wanted a turkey burger, but without the cheese and sauce (the turkey burger is dressed as "Italian" with Mozz and tomato sauce....quite odd).  The server was extremely confused and (I'm not joking) went beyond gruff when she attempted to order.  Now - she wasn't making additions, she was just asking for no cheese and no sauce.  It literally took over a minute to explain this, and the server was almost aggressively dumbfounded about an incredibly simple order.  Perhaps one reason for this: the turkey burger was seasoned "italian-style" (I tasted tons of oregano) so I assume either the patties or the ground turkey are prepped or seasoned in advance.  Again...at this price point?  Oh, and it was also covered in mayo (I forgot what they called the turkey burger mayo on the menu....but it tasted pretty similar to the infamous 'wasabi aioli" - Hellmanns).  Admittedly, if you like Italian-seasoned ground turkey this would probably be a big success, but if you don't, you are out of luck with the turkey burger.

To sum up.  Gruff service that verged on aggressive.  McDonald's fries at literally 4-5 times the price.  Everything covered in mayo.

Did I just have a bad experience?  I'm not getting the love for this place at all.

[SamScram]

We ordered the wing appetizer.  Really great sauce, hot, but not too hot, with an interesting flavor.  They were reasonably meaty and moist.  My boyfriend (that takes my leftover bones, chomps them to eat out the marrow) remarked that their only downfall was the not so plentiful marrow inside.  I don't eat marrow so I don't know.

He had the original (I think it's called) which he loved.  He said it was cooked perfectly and he's a culinary grad, if that holds more weight to it for any of you  .  I had the turkey burger.  It was moist and tasted wonderful with great seasonings.  I think it was rosemary aioli that was on it.  He liked it too.  The fries were fries.  I wouldn't say they are like McDonalds, they are better than that.  I would've just liked to have seen thicker fries at a place like this.  But who cares, they are just fries.

[lanseaux]

Okay, maybe I have a mayo problem.

You might just have a mayo problem.  I finally made it to 5 Napkin Burger tonight, and your post actually inspired a conversation at the table of how much we love mayo.  We asked for both the rosemary aioli and regular mayo as accompaniments to the almost excellent fries (I am a very serious, and quite picky, French fry addict), and ended up discussing the possibility of wasabi mayonnaise ice cream.  I've had deep-fried mayo at WD-50, and I've had savoury garlic ice cream, and I've heard of olive oil ice cream, and I think Trader Joe's wasabi mayo is pretty good.  Regular ice cream has egg yolk in it -- so why not?  Egg yolk, oil, lemon, salt, a little mustard -- quite a legitimate possibility.  (And they've done it in Japan.)  We asked our waitress to convey our idea to the chef.  Last word was that he will think about it.

 

As for the food - I quite enjoyed everything we had.  We had the deep fried pickles with pastrami, with sauerkraut and mustard oil, as an app - it was excellent.  The pickles and pastrami were rolled together, lightly battered, and fried crispy.  The thickness of the pickles and batter, as well as the general proportions, were better than Sweet Afton's deep-fried pickles.

My companion had the 5 Napkin burger, and I had the Inside Out burger with gruyere (as listed, there is no cheese on the Inside Out burger - I had no problem adding cheese to it, and wasn't charged extra).  Her medium came out closer to medium-rare, but my rare burger was perfect.  The meat was delicious - flavourful, nice and juicy (although it didn't taste grass-fed), and I loved the toppings (pickles, tomato, lettuce, 5N sauce (whatever that is - but yeah, it had mayo in it), although I would also love to try the rosemary aioli that's on the "Original".

The fries were nice and thin, although not shoestring - almost exactly my preferred thickness.  I don't care for thicker fries, as they are usually mealy and pasty in the middle.  I think these were twice-cooked, and they were the right amount of doneness.  My only complaint is that they were slightly under-crisp.  I can't compare them to McDonald's fries because I haven't had McDonald's fries in many years.  However, from what I remember, the only comparison with these fries is perhaps the thickness (which again, is just about my preferred thickness -- proper frites).

For drinks, I had a Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Ale ($8), which was good.  They have Captain Lawrence Imperial ($13.50), and Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA ($10), either of which I would have preferred, but I thought they were too expensive.  The Mendocino was a reasonable substitute for the money, although much less hoppy.  For dessert, I had the "Saki-tini" -- tequila, sake, grapefruit, jalapeno, and I think lemon.  It actually wasn't sweet at all - it had no added sugar; any sweetness came from the tequila and the grapefruit.  It tasted more "green" than sweet, but since I don't have a sweet tooth, I enjoyed it.

Everything covered in mayo.

Yum.  I'm not sure there is any such thing as too much mayo.  But for the record, we found the application of mayo on our food to be appropriately restrained (except perhaps my French fries).  Yes, I think most of their sauces are mayo-based, so if you can't stand anything mayo, you might prefer the food without these sauces.  But if you like mayo, I don't think you'd have a problem.

[daisy]

I think the solution for non-mayo lovers like me is to just ask for the sauce on the side.  Then you can taste it on your own and decide how much you want on your own burger, sandwich, etc.