Burgers Ordered: Brad, Matt, Mary & Vanessa – The Everything Burger; Kate – Bleu Burger; Anthony – Chelsea Burger.
The Experience: The Burgermeisters were alerted to the Chelsea Grill by Time Out New York’s massive best burger search in the summer of 2012. Brad was a little embarrassed that he didn’t know about the Chelsea Grill’s renowned burger beforehand because he once lived one block away from the place. He was also embarrassed when he showed up to this Burger Adventure in what would be considered by most to be pajamas, and all of the other Burgermeisters arrived looking respectable.
The staff at the Chelsea Grill was very accommodating of the Burgermeisters, quickly pushing tables together to get this party of six seated immediately. There was a bit of an argument over who would get the Chelsea Burger and the Bleu Burger, since everyone was interested in the Everything Burger. For the sake of the Little Meisters, Anthony and Kate bit the bullet.
The Taste: Kate made sure to let everyone know that she’d gone for a run the morning of the Burger Adventure, and had been chomping at the bit to get to her burger. She said that the Bleu Burger was exactly the kind of meal she wanted after an entire day of obsessing over dinner. While she didn’t find the patty to be particularly flavorful, the bacon and bleu cheese made her burger delicious. The patty was enormous and juicy, however. By the end of the meal she had enough grease on her dress to fry potatoes in.
Sadly for Anthony, problems with his order had him regretting that he took one for the team and got the standard Chelsea Burger. Though the menu led him (and everyone else) to believe that the Chelsea Burger came with cheese, the burger came out lonely on a bun with no toppings. The waiter told the Burgermeisters that this had confused a lot of people in the past, leading everyone to wonder why he didn’t mention that when Anthony was ordering it. Anthony swallowed his rage and his burger. Though the patty wasn’t amazing, the burger was messy and fell apart all over his plate, he enjoyed it despite it all. Anthony might be the most forgiving Burgermeister of all time.
Vanessa’s Everything Burger (Everything = bacon, cheddar cheese, American cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and onion) was so fat ad juicy that the bun almost couldn’t handle it. She loved the mushrooms especially.
Mary got her Everything Burger without cheese. She found the patty to be almost overwhelming as well. She liked the sauteed onions and mushrooms so much that she put them aside and ate them at the end of the meal.
Matt and Brad agreed with the Guest Burgermeisters that the bun was a little bland and far too hefty to be supported by the weak bun. They too left with messy hands. But they made special mention of the flavorful bacon and delicious cheese and mushrooms.
The Verdict: Anthony asked the Burgermeisters to make special mention about the Chelsea Burger’s confusing menu listing. Beyond that, the burger at the Chelsea Grill is a solid NYC Burger Adventure in that the delicious toppings make up for the bland (albeit big) patty and weak bun. Just make sure you wash your hands afterwards.
Chelsea Grill of Hell’s Kitchen is located at 675 9th Avenue between 46th Street and 47th Street.
