BLT Burger

Profile

This venue is closed.

When Laurent Tourondel opened BLT Steak—the flagship of his burgeoning BLT empire—food snobs took one look at the glorified meat-and-potatoes menu and winced. What's a fine French chef doing serving stacks of onion rings and hunks of unadulterated USDA Prime? Giving the people what they want, bien sur. And Tourondel, who made his name at the French seafood specialist Cello, built a booming industry doing just that, with variations on a crowd-pleasing theme at BLT Fish, BLT Prime, and the opening of BLT Burger.

Tourondel is no longer affiliated with any of the BLT restaurants, but that same fiendish junk-food frame of mind that gave rise to BLT Fish's jalapeño poppers remains here, yielding such unabashed Americana as saucy chicken wings, waffle fries, adult floats, and a modest array of burgers served with all the fixin's on soft, squishy buns. The "classic" combines sirloin, brisket, chuck, and short rib, but high-rollers and contrarians can opt for the $18 eight-ounce steakhouse or the flavorful salmon, served with pickled red onions, avocado, and arugula. The drink list features spiked milkshakes and fruity house cocktails, while the beer selection is especially fine, with distinct categories for not only draft and bottled, but canned as well. Gimmicky, yes, but tasteful too, in the case of Dale's Pale Ale, an award-winning Colorado brew.

Related Stories

Best of New York Awards

• Adam Platt: Best Mid-Priced Burger (2007)

Featured In

• The City's Best New Burgers (7/30/07)
• Stuffed: Taxidermy in New York Restaurants (4/2/07)
• NYC Restaurant Picks for Lamb Lovers (1/22/07)