Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

i had the tongue sandwich at txikito, but i thought it was lacking...the burger looks amazing, but i really thought the tongue sandwich could've used a little fine-tuning

i am currently on holiday in nyc and i was told by several friends and posts that i would be difficult to get into minettas at the moment , anyway i walked in last night , sat at the Bar and ordered the black label , medium rare ..
i havent eaten a burger more perfect than this , ever !! everything was in perfect balance , initially i thought there where too many fries on the plate , but that was not the case .. damn it was good .. plus the house pickle was delicious too .

@Burger Bob The butter is drizzled on it during the cooking, not after. You do not taste it. Secondly the Black Label is designed for griddle cooking, the superior method for burger preparation.

just had one of these bad boys this past sunday night and it was UNREAL. best burger i've had in recent memory. worth the $26 price tag. it was still all i could think about while tasting the benjamin burger and other great burgers at today's burger challenge.

"The ribeye used in the Black Label is the same cut that is on the menu at Minetta Tavern for $90 (and is worth every penny)."

Is just the $90 ribeye worth every penny?

Good points about beef blend and the bread -- agreed.

@BPstyler Please show me where I said anything about the price being justified. I happen to think it is but I don't see how you could have garnered that from the piece. And the photos do not tell the whole story, not even close. Take for example the beef blend - can you really deduce that the patty has dry aged beef by looking at it? How about the bread - does the picture reveal that the brioche has extra butter and salt to over come the inherent sweetness of the bread? I got paid to write the story alright - by Serious Eats. As for your spurious and frankly tasteless comments about "blowing" - I will leave them alone except to note that you obviously have an oral fixation.

Wow...I wish most of you drank at MY bar!

I have been a bartender for almost a decade, and am working for the first time in a very upscale establishment ($11-21 for a martini-style drink). All of our drinks are handshaken, use fresh fruits and fresh-squeezed juices and premium spirits. An average bloody mary takes a while to make, as we grind our own celery salt and grate our own horseradish. A mojito or a bramble can take even longer, what with the hand-selection of the best mint and berries and the muddling. I take a lot of pride in the drinks I serve, I love my job, and I always serve them with a smile.

You would be appalled (or if you're not, I may be describing you) at the stingy tips I get. Many people even use the higher price of a drink as the reason for not tipping better! As though I set the prices! I make minimum wage, and don't expect a lot from a patron if all I'm doing is pouring a glass of wine or a pint of beer. But if I'm making you a $16 bramble with fresh mint, limes and blackberries, I damn well expect more than a dollar!

And for those of you concerned with the poor service of cocktail waitstaff adversely affecting your bartender, you're absolutely right. I work where there is a generous "tip-out" from the servers, and I still get only 8% of their total liquor sales at the end of an evening (usually works out to $15-20 per server). So if they screw up your table and you tip them 10% on the total bill, I'm seeing 30-80 cents on that table. If your drink is great but your server sucks, by all means, stop by the bar on your way out and TIP THE TENDER! We will remember and be appreciative...and you'll probably not get sat down in the crappy section ever again (yes, we can influence these things).

Phew...glad that's off my chest.

@foodie09: Does Trader Joe's really carry burrata? Does anyone know if the Trader Joe's in Manhattan does? If so, my week has just been made.

Drinks aren't all that expensive where I live. I drink Chivas rocks, my hubs drinks Jack rocks - occassionally we branch out to "with water". If we go out to eat, we order wine with dinner. One dollar per drink. Our drinks don't take a whole lot of effort.

Re: free drinks: i worked at a high-end martini bar, and drinks that we as employees would buy would be 50% off up to a point, and we'd get a drink for ourselves at the end of the night anyway. i'd occasionally count my "shift drink" as one i "bought" for a customer. note that the one time i did this for customers, they were [EXPLETIVE] and extremely ungrateful, so i never did that again. way to ruin it for everyone else...

anyway. our regular customers were fantastic, but at times overstayed their welcome. so. don't just assume that because you tipped $50 on a $70 tab the night before that your bartender will just let it go when you "forget" your wallet.

since i worked in food service, i have left a bad tip ONCE. i felt terrible about leaving 10%, but he wasn't even worth THAT much. my usual is 20% for average service.

I tip 20% in general for wait staff, bartenders, stylists, etc. I really wish resturaunts would pay their staff decent wages and we could just do away with tipping. Yes, I know it would make my dinner price rise. I don't care. I'm so tired of the tipping conversation. If the waitress sucks, then just fire her. Whatever.

I open a tab and tip 20% (or a little bit less or more based on service).

So they made something complicated....
Does anyone care that I'm a chef and I've never received a tip?...Still, don't be stingy to those that offer good service.