With a kitchen open til 1am, a cozy ambience and TVs playing The Game, whatever that might be at a given moment, makes this a go-to neighborhood spot. The elevated American menu, wine program and great cocktails are all cherries on top.

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There are two beef burgers available on the menu plus a non-meat version with an housemade veggie patty! The Royal Burger ($15 single / $22 double) has Happy Valley Meats patty, smoked gouda, caramelized onions, chili mayo, bacon, and pickled long hots while the Nic Mac burger has the same patty and bun plus lettuce, Mac sauce, banana peppers, American cheese ($11/$16). It was a decision between smokey and salty and light and fresh and I decided on going with the former.

I also decided to go for a double, blithely unaware of the size of these patties.

This guy was HUGE. Monstrous. I lowkey had to unbutton at the afters (watching a movie on my friend’s couch).

The patties themselves were tall but so were the mounds of bacon and long hots between them and the pillowy toasted bun - my grip was at full capacity. The first bite was super juicy but not too greasy. The bacon was well-cooked and lent a nice crunch - the only big textural contrast outside of the toasty sections of bun.

The long hots and chili mayo both gave reprieve from how rich the rest of the burger was with some acid and heat, but I wish the peppers were cut a little more. The bigger pieces ended up getting mushy throughout the course of dinner and I think having more of those guys per bite would pack more flavor AND keep them a little more sturdy. And you already KNOW I love caramelized onions, especially when they’re kept neat and tidy and intermixed with the sauce.

NOW for the big news: this officially marks ten burgers of Philly which MEANS ranking BELOW:

10. Good Dog Bar (no review…because I did get very sick after)

9. Lucky’s Burger Bar

8. Pub & Kitchen

7. Middle Child Clubhouse

6. Philadelphia Distillery

5. Pine Street Grill

4. Bloomsday - a shout out here but she needs her own write up soon!

3. Royal Tavern

And a TIE FOR FIRST!

1. Fountain Porter and a.kitchen

The next morning I saw an unfamiliar meeting on my calendar called Org Updates, with just me, my director and an HR team member on the invitation. Within an hour, my job and my plan were up in smoke.

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Just twelve hours prior, I had unwittingly caused the monkey’s paw to curl. The major thing tethering me to New York and complicating my move was suddenly severed. Sandra Bullock in space realness. But while my perfect beautiful plan was no more, the timing was pretty ideal. The duration of my severance ran up through the end of my lease and I didn’t know it then, but this winter was the perfect hibernation period - just me, my family and our Costco membership.

This wasn’t the first time I contemplated leaving New York. In 2019, upon returning from a trip to New Orleans, I became disenchanted with the city. Something about the colors and the vivacity and the drinking in the street led to a real shock to my system once I got back to my 9-5 in 3 World Trade. I decided I wanted to go to a smaller city, one where I could try and rent a house with a friend and use a spare room as a photo studio and try to hack it on art alone. I visited Nashville in January 2020 and thought I could see myself there. I was chosen for the SXSW photo team that upcoming March and wanted to see if Austin was another contender for me. You can gather from the timeline that none of this happened.

This move, the one that’s actually happening, is different. That 2019 plan was a move motivated by escape, by desperation for change, by ennui. Now, it’s for community, for growth, for love.

In preparation, I picked up a copy of Goodbye to All That, a book of essays about people leaving New York named for the Didion essay on the same topic. Even if you’re not planning on leaving, at least any time soon, I recommend it, if only for some of the batshit crazy stories of an older, cheaper, by-the-seat of your pants NYC. These people were getting married and buying property and selling property and divorcing and doing it all over again like it was nothing! But so many of these essays lived on either end of a spectrum - I overdid it or I didn’t do enough. And some sat where I am: perfectly satiated with an outstretched hand leading you somewhere different.

Just three years ago I had no real reasons to move, to Philadelphia or otherwise. This year I threw two separate birthday parties to accommodate my Philly contingency of friends, which only keeps growing. When I first started seeing Kirby and booked that first train, I considered applying for an Amtrak credit card but worried that was too presumptuous. Now almost two years later, I’ll be moving in a few blocks away. More than two years of balancing my social calendars, figuring out what concerts I’d attend in which city, whose birthday party I could make it in for. The pull became too much.

At the end of the day, I think it’s uncontested that New York City is the center of the universe. But when I took an Amtrak down in April and we approached 30th Street Station, I felt something new. I felt the same emotional swell seeing Philadelphia in the distance as I did when I’d cross the Williamsburg Bridge in a late night Uber. And I thought maybe Philadelphia is the center of my universe.

I’ll be back plenty, for friends, for burgers and most importantly to get my roots done. And Burger Diva isn’t going anywhere, but it might slow down a little as I get adjusted, so thanks in advance for sticking around. It’s a lot of change, but you can be comforted by two things: I will still be rooting for the Mets and I will NEVER call it a hoagie.

I’m typically penciling them in, but this mid-May day that was forecasted to sit in the 60s and ended up feeling like a perfect 75º without a cloud in the sky practically begged me to have a burger al fresco. And who am I to deny nature?

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I went through my list of burgers I’ve yet to try and landed on Corner Bistro, a fixture of the West Village that was open for lunch with some outdoor seating on a beautiful corner. Corner Bistro has been open on West 4th Street since 1961 and started serving up their current fare in 1967. I loved reading all about the many lives of the space in this piece from Airmail!

It’s still cash-only, so I swung by the nearest Wells Fargo for some crisp twenties before claiming my outdoor table in the sunshine. The nearby family inspired me to add bacon to my standard burger - the weather was beautiful enough to ignore an upcharge ($3 on top of the $13.75 hamburger, another $3 for cheese).

The burger came out quick on a paper plate, with fries on their own plate. I can appreciate a serious serving especially for $7. The burger at Corner Bistro is served on a toasted Martin’s potato roll, with a slice of white onion on the bottom and iceberg lettuce, tomato and a healthy helping of dill pickle chips on the side. They didn’t skimp on the bacon here; the well-done ribbons took up about half the plate. The patty itself was hearty and pink on the inside. All of the heft of the burger flattened the bottom bun before I could even pick it up to take my first bite.

This was definitely among the messier burgers I’ve tackled. I ended up fully removing my tomato for the sake of structure, while simultaneously trying to cram as many pickles as the surface area could allow. I could’ve done with less lettuce (lesstuce?) but since the weather was so nice, the watery crunch wasn’t as offensive as it could’ve been. The burger itself was tasty with a perfect cook temp but could’ve had more of a char. I’m ultimately glad I added the bacon, both for the sake of texture and salt. Similar to JG Melon, I’d argue that it really ties everything together.

Towards the end of the meal, I had fully lost my bottom bun and had a surplus of lettuce, so I got crafty and used the extra veg as a makeshift wrap #proteinstyle. An homage to my celiac baddies.

I’m ranking the Corner Bistro burger at 36, between Dram Shop and Corner Bar. Unfortunately Corner Store doesn’t serve a burger or else I’d be chasing that gimmick down.

@nickislaneCan’t stop thinking about Fountain Porter’s $6 burger it’s a classic #phillyfood #philly #burger #fyp

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Pub & Kitchen, on the border of Rittenhouse and Graduate Hospital (pLEASE correct me if I am wrong, thank you), is an airy, wood-trimmed gastropub which was perfectly cozy for a walkable spring day.

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We both got a glass of buzzer beater Happy Hour white wine and burgers, mine without cheese and hers with Cooper Sharp (cheesesteak teas). Our burgers were $21 and came with a large side of fries, not too bad on the price per bite. The rest of the burger specs: double smash patty, shredded lettuce, dill chips and a classic little burger sauce all on a snowflake roll.

Nicki and I had both never heard of this kind of bread, and both of us honestly thought it was ciabatta. In a vacuum, the roll was great and would go crazy with some salted butter but I don’t think it’s a match for a burger, especially given the patties. While I was impressed with the thin patties at a.kitchen that were cooked to temperature and stayed juicy, the P&K double smash was on the dryer side and browned all the way through. The combined textural deficiencies between those two main components made eating this a little bit of a chore.

I think the shredduce, sauce and pickles brought life and flavor back to the burger. I’ve grown fond of a shredduce, especially when it’s able to stay in its assigned seat and not just coat the plate with each bite. Nicki got a side of aioli with her fries since they were out of ranch and she hates ketchup (we listen and we don’t judge) and that sauce alongside the burger sauce added back some great moisture and tang.

I think it’s awesome that they have a happy hour special inclusive of their burger - a single patty version it plus a lager runs you $15, but I’m curious how their already-imposing snowflake roll would fare against 50% of the meat.

Since I’m not at a full 10 burgers tried I won’t be hitting you with the ranking quite yet, but that’ll change by the end of May. In the meantime, give Nicki a follow and see if she’ll be able to find the milkshake+burger combo she’s been chasing since she moved from LA.

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In this edition, I sat down with Colleen Allerton-Hollier. Colleen led a wine class I attended at Leon & Son all about pairing wine with food, where we tried wines alongside super concentrated flavors (straight up MSG, salt, sugar, and lemon) to understand how food has the power to change a wine and how we can use those changes to our benefit which we immediately tested out with an amazing spread she prepared.

We went a little long on this one, but the full conversation is available here! If you’re a free subscriber you should be able to use a one-time unlock and honestly I’d recommend using it for this.

Burger Diva: Tell me a little about you and your background!

Colleen: I am the director of education and events and Leon & Son in Brooklyn and I used to be a chef. I come from back-of-house in New Orleans, I was in restaurants for a long time, which is why I can’t use a computer. But what I lack in technology, I make up for in wine and hospitality. Over the last several years I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hours studying wine and now I’m in a place where I get to host wine classes, beginner level or very specific. We host wine makers. You and I met during our pairing class, Wines for the Table which is the most joyful experience for me. Every time I throw that class it’s like I’m throwing a party.

My main experience-bank professionally is in food and when I moved to New York I became a full time wine professional and I never don’t think about food when I’m thinking about wine. It’s kind of the cornerstone of why I like wine. I‘m thinking about what I’m going to be eating next with it.

BD: I’d love to know more about how you made the jump from back of house to work primarily in wine. It’s funny because my friend Spencer who I recently spoke to went the retail route and then became a sommelier and dove more into food and wine whereas you come from the other direction: food as the foundational knowledge and then translating it into wine.

CAH: I feel like every back-of-house person knows they’re on borrowed time. Your knees can only do so much. At a certain point you’re like how do I get a job where I get to sit down. I realized working in kitchens that half the joy is what people are sitting down and drinking with what you’re making.

When I was a line cook I lived down the street from what was once called Spirit Wines on Magazine Street in New Orleans. Shout out to Darryl and Emily, the owners at the time. I’d come and buy the cheapest bottle and take it to the dome. Darryl and I would talk all the time about wine and what we liked and he was like, “if you spend one more dollar and get this this is gonna be better,” or “if you like this, when you get paid spend two more dollars on this” and as I lived there I developed more taste and more experience with wine and loved it and it became something that was important to me, that I wanted to invest time and knowledge in.

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And now that shop is a bar and retail spot called Really Really Nice Wines. Miriam and Darrin own it, they bought it from Darryl and Emily. It changed what I thought was important about wine, it being $9. It made me want to know about wine. From there another place, The Independent Caveau, Jim and Joanne own it. Joanne teaches all the levels of WSET, and that’s what started me wanting to get serious and really learn.

I took my WSET Level 1 through 3 there and at the time was also running a catering company with my best friend Camille. I realized I could be pairing wines, so I started offering that as a service when we did private dinners for people. And I was like, wait a second, this is the stuff. This is what I love. I should be focusing on this. I was so interested in becoming a wine person. But of course, food was like the catalyst for it.

BD: Something that I kind of knew but really learned more about from your class was that a lot of people think of pairing food and wine with the framework of: what goes well with chicken and what goes well with beef? Where it’s actually: this is a really salty, citrusy dish. What goes well with that? This is going to be spicier, more savory. What goes well with that? How do you communicate that to someone who’s a little newer to wine and is looking to pair with a dish?

CAH: In class, I say they’re tools, not rules because they’re not always hard and fast rules. But just knowing what the basis of something is, what is this dish going to taste like and feel like? What are its components? What makes it work? And then look at the wine and say, what does it have to give? Does it have enough acid? Does it have enough structure? You know, whatever it is, or does it have too much of something?

So it’s like looking at them as dance partners. And like I say, in the beginning of class, I come from both the food and wine world. Somms love to blame an unsuccessful pairing on the food and chefs love to blame an unsuccessful pairing on the wine.

And I’m like, can we just get along? Let’s meet in the middle. If you approach it, like we’re going to make these things dance. How? Maybe they don’t, maybe they just don’t jive together. Maybe this isn’t the right dance partner for this dish or this wine.

How does acidic food affect wine? What does salty food do to wine? Those two things are usually considered positive interactions. Like they’re going to make the wine seem more fruit forward, like have, have more positive attributes.

Umami is another one that people are like, “Ooh, that’s tough, tough to pair wine.” And it can be, but as long as you’re not choosing a really overly oaked, huge tannic, super full wine that has no business being with a delicate soy tuna or super spicy gochujang highly flavored dish, those aren’t going to party well together.

You do better off with something that’s more light body, less tannin, no oak influence, more fruit forward. Cause then everyone has enough stuff to bring to the party to not bum everyone out.

BD: Tell me a little bit about the wine that we are having right now and why it’s your go-to burger wine.

CAH: This is the Souteronne from Hervé Souhaut. This is the 2023 vintage. [Diva’s Note: Leon & Son currently has the 2024 vintage available] I have loved this cuvée from Hervé Souhaut for years. Every bottling is just so much fun to drink. It is a hundred percent Gamay, which is interesting because, you know, Hervé works in the Ardèche, kind of right above like the Northern Rhone and they grow a lot of Syrah. He makes fabulous Syrah. They do Roussanne-Viognier as well, but his Gamay plantings are on really old vines so the fruit is super concentrated.

It’s just always really special. It never feels mundane or diluted. It’s a very punchy, delicious red fruited wine. You can see the color in the glass is kind of ethereal. It’s just so, so light. You can see that it is going to be a light bodied, refreshing wine. There’s so much acidity but there’s plenty of fruit. It has got all the red fruits that you think of when you think of Gamay, but it’s also got this really lovely, plummy, figgy, like a blue-fruitedness to it. There’s just so much going on that pairing this with something that’s very savory, salty, meaty, like a burger is just heaven.

It has all the stuff that it needs to be perfect for burgers. It also does have a savoriness too that’s almost like bacon-y. I have so many good memories of this line, especially with burgers! Swoony’s has a great burger and I saw that they had like a bottle left on the list. And I was like, this would be so good with everything we ordered. Obviously we got it and we had just had a sublime experience.

BD: So you like Swoony’s for their burger but what are your other favorite burgers in New York?

CAH: I’d say the burger that we get the most is from Home Frite. I have what I call “emergency burger time” where the minute I think about it, like, Oh, I’m really craving a burger from Home Frite. If I don’t have a Home Frite burger with bacon and caramelized onions, I will die. I could die. So I send out the alert, text my husband and be like “emergency burger.”

And Bernie’s. My husband and I, our first trip together to New York was in 2019. Danny had never been to New York and I’ve been a few times and we had friends living here. Bernie’s had just opened because our friends were living in Greenpoint and they were like, Oh, there’s this new place that’s kind of by us that I think y’all would like! So we went right at 5pm to Bernie’s and had a wedge salad and the burger and it was just a transcendent experience, Bernie’s is a perfect restaurant.

I have to mention another burger in my life that is now statistically probably up there Home Frite. The Canary on Franklin. Let’s get into it. They are the best pub maybe ever. We treat The Canary like it’s our living room. The staff is amazing, the owners are amazing, the food, everything on the menu that we’ve had is so good. They are cooking for real there. Everything is fresh and delicious, and they use Pat LaFrieda. They get the beef from a really reputable, expensive source, but this burger is still very affordable.

It’s a smash burger, double patty, American cheese, which I do think is important, grilled onions. I know this is probably very controversial. I don’t want raw onions on my burger. I just don’t. For me, I want a grilled onion badly. Caramelized, amazing. But at the very least I want it to be grilled. There’s something about the savoriness of onions when they’re grilled that is incomparable to me.

BD: Do you have any last Burger Thoughts or recommendations?

CAH: There are two places that I want to talk about in New Orleans. Burger culture there is kind of different. Bud’s Broiler is like a very small chain in the greater New Orleans area, more and more of them are closing all the time. All the ones that I used to go to as a kid are not there anymore and that’s a bummer because Bud’s Broiler is incredible. They do a flame broiled, very thin burger. The Hickory sauce is insane, but they do cold grated cheddar cheese and it rules because it’s such a thin bun, thin patty and so much mayonnaise. I want there to be so much mayonnaise that it forms this paste of cold cheddar cheese that is texturally so good. Like I know I’m wrong. I know I’m disgusting for that. That is not everyone’s preference. Usually it’s American cheese on a burger, melted, but there’s something about this cold cheese that does it.

Similarly Port of Call, very famous burger place. It’s almost a genre of burgers. Because there’s a Lakeview Harbor, Ground Pat’i, other New Orleans area burger places where they do this goofy, thicker burger, flame kissed. So much mayonnaise and cold, grated cheddar. Port of Call is famous for their big goofy burger and a giant baked potato. And these other places almost do it better because Port of Call is kind of always crowded. But places like Lakeview Harbor and Ground Pat’i do the same thing with a dumb, dumb burger and a huge baked potato and there’s just so much grated cheddar on that whole plate and I love that. It doesn’t make any sense but it’s so good.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

But time and time again, trusted food writers and friends alike count this UES burger as one of their favorites, while I have it ranked at a measly 56/66. In my initial ranking, I shared that I wasn’t impressed by this oft-lauded spot:

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I found myself needing to pencil a burger in (a real conundrum I face when making my calendar) and realized I’d be on the Upper East Side both days of this past weekend, just a few blocks from the cash-only tavern. I decided I’d give them another shot.

On the approach from the bus stop, I saw there was already a crowd in contention for one of the limited tables in the dining area. I was heading in solo, hoping this would give me a competitive advantage.

The host let me know my best shot was at the bar which was first-come-first-served. I watched and waited for a couple minutes before he circled back to confirm that I was looking to dine and had the cold-hard cash needed here before whisking me off to a table. I’d like to think it was because I was standing quietly in a corner like this:

I grabbed my seat against the wall with a gorgeous view of the dining room before me and ordered a soda, cottage potatoes and a bacon burger. My last and only trip found the burger to be pretty dull so I was curious how adding a little salt by way of bacon would change my judgement.

I got out my copy of Metropolitans (if you like the Mets, baseball history and organized labor/class consciousness, I recommend) but only got through a couple pages before my lunch arrived.

The JG Melon bacon burger is $15.25 and comes on a white bun with a slice of raw red onion and pile of pickles on the side and I added a dollop of ketchup. Credit where credit is due: the sheer volume of onions and pickles they plate up for you is crazy - I’m a fiend for both and I still had extra on my plate after assembly.

I have to say getting the bacon on this burger was absolutely the right call. It delivered the salt and smoke that was lacking from the original burger. In the bites without bacon, its absence was notable, but in those moments were all of the elements could co-mingle I had a great time!

Ultimately this is a solid burger: filling, with pops of acid and crunch but I still thought it came up a little short. I ordered my burger medium and found it to be a little past pink, though with the rate that it fell apart, I wonder how a burger closer to my desired cook temp would’ve fared on the plate.

With the bacon added (and $2 more dollars spent), the JG Melon burger moves from 56 to 40, nestled between The Snail and Donovan’s.

Have you tried this burger? Do you think it lives up to the hype? Have you tried a meal or restaurant again and done a full 180º? Let me know!

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When I saw how the temperatures were climbing (and subsequently declined, writing this from the other side of fake spring number 2), I reached out to fellow Outside Girlie Arianna to eat a burger como se dice, outside. To me, seasonality extends to the kind of burger I crave. As we shed our layers, hike up our hemlines and feel the sun on our faces (and buns), brioche turns to sesame, tavern turns to smash, and lettuce is a welcome topping.

burger diva

Montague Diner

If it is so cold that a fifteen minute walk has me near tears, I do not want lettuce anywhere near my dinner plate. Yes, that includes on my burger…

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4 months ago · 9 likes · 2 comments · Christina Casillo

Arianna often told me about the burger at Leroy’s, a laidback spot perched on a corner near the Greenpoint ferry terminal. We walked up with our fingers crossed, hoping to get an outside table to people watch, but it seems like everyone in the neighborhood was similarly excited to dine al fresco. We pivoted to sitting at the beautiful circular bar inside. It was airy, flush with pale wood and rattan and natural light and all the doors open so it still felt like we can soak in the abnormally warm evening air.

We both ordered burgers alongside a ginger tarragon smash to continue the fresh energy. The Leroy’s burger comes with healthy helping of fries for $23 and were topped with caramelized onion, little gem lettuce, dill pickle chips, and special sauce. The double smash patties (not too thin!) are served on a heavily sesame seeded bun.

This was the perfect burger for some perfect weather. The patties, like the ones at a.kitchen, were thin enough to be a lighter bite while still getting cooked properly to temp and feeling substantial. I think this could be the first burger I’ve had with little gem lettuce and I’m surprised more places don’t take advantage of this Pre-Smalled veggie. I loved that this fresh pop shared bottom bun real estate with the generously cut pickles.

My biggest wish for this burger was for more of the caramelized onions on top; they seemed to be concentrated in one spot, albeit a delicious spot, but I found myself missing them otherwise.

I’m ranking this burger at 24, between The Seneca and Diner. If it was at a lower price point it’d be a spot I’d return to frequently but for now I’m happy to have it serve its role as a spring celebration destination.

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But when the team behind Dame opened this British bistro in late 2022, they weren’t setting out to have that kind of notoriety. In fact, in a piece by Erika Adams at Eater previewing the soon-to-be opened restaurant, she explicitly says of the menu that “there’s no honking burger or glistening, plate-sized roast.” When the Lord’s burger came into the picture about a year after opening, it was and continues to be off-menu (at least for dinner), joining the ranks of the IYKYK burgers of New York.

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I was very blessed and fortunate to have my friend Spencer assist with acquisition after our interview, but trust and believe I’m always down to get down to business aka stand on a line to get the job done. I rushed Pippin when Patina Miller was in it, I know what it takes!

Claudia and I started with tiny tinis and the sausage roll with pear ketchup (!!) before getting down to business. The Lord’s burger is behemoth but built on simplicity. A fresh pretzel bun, a tavern-style prime beef patty, a hefty slice of raw white onion and for those of dairy experience, a Welsh rarebit cheese on top, each for $26. We both got our burgers medium, alongside some wine recommended by Spencer.

I took one bite and wanted to put my head in my hands, but they were too covered in burger juice. Sweet, salty, buttery with the bite of a barely steamed white onion slab. I’m sitting at a coffeeshop and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The thing about an expensive, limited burger is that it’ll make you angry if it’s good or bad. If it’s bad - what a waste of money, so overrated. And if it’s good, you react like I did at Lord’s, in shock and awe that it lived up to the barriers of entry, and upset that you may not ever experience it again.

Without a drop of sauce, it was incredibly flavorful while still letting the meat shine through. It was dense and juicy without leaving me overstuffed, tender while holding onto a salty char, boarding on encrusted. The side of proper English chips was similar - $14 and worth every bite. We were brought housemade ketchup and miso dijon but I didn’t even want them, just the pillowy potatoes.

I’m ranking the burger at Lord’s at number 3, under Le Crocodile and just barely edging out the Red Hook Tavern burger that has a very similar build.

I’m interested in continuing to check off these limited burgers while I still have plenty of free time to show up early - what should I try for next?

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For this edition, I sat down with Spencer Fox, sommelier, rockstar and all-around food fan to chat about which wine to drink with the elusive Lord’s burger and so much more!

Burger Diva: Spencer, tell me a little about you!

Spencer Fox: I am a sommelier at Lord’s in the West Village. I also play guitar in a band called Charly Bliss. Those are probably the two most pertinent things in my life.

BD: Tell me how you got on this pathway to wine.

SF: In the winter of 2023, I was working at another restaurant in New York and it was a pretty slow winter so they were cutting shifts like crazy and I had a few weeks where I was working one day a week which is not enough to pay rent in Bed-Stuy.

I went on Craigslist and saw a listing for a wine store. I’ve always been tertiarily interested in wine but at that point from a distance, I was like, “Why not?” The manager at that job was like, “You seem great. You’re enthusiastic. I will give you this job. If you do not figure out how to sell wine within a month, we unfortunately will have to fire you because you have to know how to sell wine at a wine store.”

So I started reading about it and learning about it first as a means to keep this job that I needed dearly but then it became very clear that this was something that held my attention and excited me. It gradually ramped up to the point where I was very very very much engrossed in it and from there it started really spreading and catching and becoming a dominating force in my life.

BD: What’s your favorite thing about wine and something that you love to continue to learn about?

SF: I think it’s the people and the practices and the way they translate their passion and their care for the craft into the wine itself. I hear about these people who are legendary tectonic forces in wine who run their operation with nothing more than a few horses and very modest equipment and the help of their sons, daughters, and friends and that’s it!

These bottles are being sold for hundreds of dollars and are some of the most revered consumable things in the world and it really is a farmer who works really hard. Hearing stories like that reminds you that this is something that is ultimately quite free of frills but the end product is so miraculous that it makes that feel like such an unbelievable feat.

BD: So you started on the retail side of things and you moved into being a sommelier, working in restaurants. What has that transition been like?

SF: I think the retail background equipped me with an understanding on how to talk to people about wine but also how to communicate things to people who may not have a wine vocabulary. You are ultimately just trying to be a conduit between a person and the wine that they really want. That can be difficult if you’re coming from a place of understanding and knowledge because you want to talk about tannins and textures and all of these things that might not resonate with someone that doesn’t know a lot about the vocation.

Working in retail taught me how to understand wine from the perspective of someone who is approaching it in a very beginner mindset and I love the fact that at a restaurant you can center those sorts of conversations around the food that you’re going to be pairing with the wine. I love food, I love cooking, I love all that stuff so it does feel like a union of the two things that I care a lot about which is really great.

BD: For the Lord’s burger specifically [Author’s note: next week ;)] what would you pair with it and why?

SF: My tastes skews higher acid and lighter in body and I try to direct customers in that direction when I can. Especially with the food here, your palate more than anything wants to be refreshed and renewed and the thirst wants to be quenched because the food is incredibly intense here which makes it great!

Where a lot of people want to match a high intensity food with a high intensity wine, I kind of take the opposite route where I want a wine that can stand up to these bigger richer flavors but also work in conjunction to provide levity from how intense the food is.

I would probably do something like a Tavel rosé. I would do a Cru Beaujolais from a warmer area in Beaujolais like Morgon. A lot of stuff from the Jura could work. Something red and Catalonian would work. But ultimately something with medium body and vibrant acid to really clean up the palate.

BD: Outside of Lord’s, talk to me about your favorite burgers in the city?

SF: Well OG has to go to the dearly departed Trophy Bar. A pandemic casualty. Just the platonic ideal of a dive bar. And the burger - I believe the deal was you could get a cheeseburger, fries and a Miller for $15 any day during happy hour. The thing I liked about it was that it was a thin patty but not a smash. It retained so much juice but was a very compact unit which I think is so integral to a burger. I think it needs to be wieldly.

BD: It’s so important to be able to hold a burger with one hand and talk with the other, especially at a dive bar.

SF: Exactly! A burger is a social food! It’s not a steak or something. Another one is Icehouse in Red Hook, amazing. Oh dude. You know…Rolo’s. I don’t know why it pains me to admit how much I like the burger. It feels cheap. But it’s perfect.

BD: Well you know how I feel about it.

SF: Exactly. I honestly think that the pepper that they pair it with is so spot-on. It’s perfect. It’s like banchan. You take a bite of this little thing and it resets your palate. The fact that it’s cold AND grilled? A stroke of genius.

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BD: With a burger like the one at Trophy Bar, obviously you’d have a High Life with it, that’s the deal. But if you were to do a wine with that compared to the burger here, what would you do?

SF: I think a burger that is a bit more delicate gives you a lot more mobility. I could see a southern French skin contact wine or even a more textural white from coastal Spain could be amazing but I think ultimately when you’re pairing a wine with red meat, you need to have enough body and texture to stand up to the amount of fat that’s going to be on your palate. I do not think it’s confined to red wines.

BD: I agree! When a burger is more rich, I kinda like a zippy white.

SF: Hundred thousand percent! The thing you don’t want is if you’re eating a burger and you have a Muscadet or a Txakoli that is very light, you’re just not going to taste anything. You need something to deliver a bit of concentration and intensity but after that you can kind of go in any direction. And honestly - Trophy Bar burger? Probably it’s gonna go ahead and say champagne. Like the champagne of beers!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Lost & Found in Long Beach was born out of loss. Chef and owner Alexis Trolf’s former place of work just down the road was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy which devastated the town. But just a few years later, he was able to open up shop. Lost & Found boasts 25 seats, an ever-changing seasonal menu that’s written by hand and an open kitchen.

First for the non-burger food items: every table gets toasted baguette coins alongside fresh tomatoes, cucumber with dill and butter. We also ordered a beet salad topped with Cara Cara oranges, pistachio, pomegranate with honey and Greek yogurt plus fried artichokes with a pistou and aioli. I mention all of this solely so I can freak OUT over these artichokes. I think I could’ve eaten them all night and I regret not photographing them for the express purpose of trying to replicate this at home. Super tender, delicious and light! Also including this because I feel obliged to tell you guys I do in fact eat vegetables! Promise! Okay onto this burger.

The bistro burger at Lost & Found comes on a well-toasted brioche bun with a mayo-based sauce (with gruyere but ya know…) and a big helping of fries for $25. I ordered mine medium and it came out very pink, maybe skewing a little towards medium rare but I didn’t mind. It also seems like the burger was topped with a demi glace, coating my burger (followed by my plate) with a deep brown gloss.

The first bite was an explosion of juiciness. This was among the richer burgers I’ve had, just unctuous all the way through. While delicious, about halfway in I found myself wishing for a break in the form of some sort of acid or crunch. A burger this buttery needs a cold pickle, at LEAST on the side but preferably on top.

Relatedly, I wound up choosing a Lambrusco without realizing I’d need something to cut through and wonder if going for a dry Riesling or Chenin Blanc would’ve changed my experience too! More on that topic in the coming weeks though : )

After polishing off a slice of Basque cheesecake (it’s different from regular cheese to ME) I was full and content but still willing to polish off another plate of artichokes if the opportunity would’ve presented itself. I’m not including L&F in my ranking due to geographic constraints but this was a strong performer for me! I’d love to pay another visit after a day in the sun before taking the railroad home to sleep.

My friend Kira and I started with the chickpea panisse that was served with eggplant tahina, grilled broccoli and saffron vinaigrette and it was the perfect app. Crispy, smokey, salty - I genuinely could’ve had two more and it got me very excited for the main event.

The burger at a.kitchen, available on their lunch, dinner AND brunch menus, is $26 and my most expensive burger in Philly so far, but more than ten bucks cheaper than my top price point in NYC. Plus it comes with a pile of thick cut steak fries - a surprise since it’s not listed on the menu! The burger is topped with cornichons (!), dijonnaise and green leaf lettuce. All of that and both thin patties come on a sesame brioche roll sourced from High Street, just a few blocks away.

With a thin patty, I’ve noticed that I either get a crusty exterior and a cooked-through patty or a patty with some pink but a lack of a textural contrast. The burger at a.kitchen is the rare one that can achieve both - a nice salty crunch with a juicy medium inside. The folks here are not stingy with the sauce which I appreciated and the diced cornichons plus the lettuce gave me some fresh snap. The sweet fluffy bun is a great counter to the salt and acid at play here.

I really loved this burger, and told Kira with every bite. I think that the Fountain Porter and a.kitchen burgers are neck and neck for my favorites in Philly - the former is $20 cheaper, so now I feel confident in a high and low recommendation for my Philly friends with more to come!

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Guy Denton at the City Journal did a deeper dive into the multifaceted socioeconomic “Why” but a lot comes down to the cycle of consumer and business behavior. People are less prone to staying out later so businesses shutter earlier. Everyone becomes accustomed to the new operating hours which keeps businesses from experimenting with tacking on an extra hour or two of service. Bars that used to open til 4 started seeing the crowd fizzle by 12:30 and adjusted accordingly.

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Mother’s Ruin is open every day from 11am-4am, the same hours as last week’s Molly’s Shebeen. But unlike Molly’s, the kitchen at Mother’s Ruin stays open til 3:30am. That means that you can get their Cholula wings, breakfast burrito, fig and goat cheese salad and of course the burger in the wee hours of the morn.

When I was 22 I definitely took advantage of these late night bites, but when I tried this burger a couple weeks ago, I dipped in at a geriatric 6pm with my friends Caitlyn and Ally who I’m forever bonded with after our experiences working at a startup in our early twenties. We started small, IPO’d in February 2020 (lol) and went back private all in our tenure.

I decided to upgrade my smash burger to a double ($19) topped with shredduce, diced white onion, dill pickle chips and a burger sauce that leaned more mustard than mayo. All the burgers here come with Old Bay fries and spicy ketchup and I’d recommend asking for their caramelized onion dip, too.

The burgers came out served on TV-ready buns. They were comically perfect: unblemished, pillowy with a sheen I’ve been chasing down for myself by way of Korean skincare. After taking a bite, it seems like they’re a mix between an enriched white bread and a not-so-sweet brioche. I was pleasantly surprised by the bonus pickle spear toothpicked atop the bun.

This burger works really well together, especially as an end-of-the-night bite because it’s so mess-free. The shredded iceberg and fine diced onions stay in their assigned seats the patty is smashed enough that there’s no drippage and the sauce is modestly applied. In other words it’s kind of dry, but not so dry that it works against the meal. That being said, it’s not as thick and juicy as a typical BD top contender, but it hits on my prime toppings, fills me up and is pretty tasty in the process. Who could be mad at that?

I’m ranking the burger at Mother’s Ruin at 25, between Diner and Anchored Inn. Next time I go (probably after my boyfriend plays a 1am set on the 7th tickets available now) I definitely want to try out the falafel burger.

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Molly’s has been recommended by a few folks so I made time for lunch here before riding uptown to catch Hamnet in theaters. A big British Isles day for me! They’re open from 11AM-4AM every single day, though, so I had no shortage of opportunities to come in for a burger.

I dined once again with the always-kind Josh Gondelman, to whom I owed a Burger Diva t-shirt (which are still available and living in my storage unit, bang my line for one!). There was one beef burger to choose from (they also offer a turkey, bison and veggie patty), and you had the option to add some LTO and pickles too. Each burger comes with a side of fries, onion rings or salad. I got a side of half fries and half onion rings and all the toppings ($14 for a 10 ounce patty). Josh went for the turkey burger and fries at $17.

Through the wait for food and our conversations about the general state of the world, each topic was punctuated with what I can only call 5th grade Jock Jams. Not full on anthemic tunes for a stadium, but ones that would particularly amp up the pre-middle school crowd, at least in the 2000s. Kung Fu Fighting, Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and the YMCA among them, every time a new song started, Josh and I were on the edges of our seats waiting for what could be next.

It operated in a high contrast to the reality around us. Scattered people taking their lunch breaks, maybe having a beer and some light conversation, walls covered in dark wood and decorative photos, brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Visually and culinarily, we were at the pub. Auditorily we were at a bar mitzvah in 2006.

Our burgers came out on bulky brioche buns and stood tall, mostly due in part to the thickness of the raw red onion and dill pickle chips. I’d argue they dwarfed the patty by at least a quarter of an inch!

The burger itself left much to be desired. It was a tavern style patty and it fell prey to what happened at Montague Diner, where the patty fractured and led to a sort of DIY slider situation. But unlike MD, the overall flavor didn’t balance out this infraction. I was missing salt, I was missing char. The veg on top was a bit too big and bulky, same goes for the bun, which I was left with long after the patty and its accoutrement were consumed.

I’m ranking the burger at Molly’s at 54, between JG Melon and Long Island Bar. The burger might be a miss, but I’d come back here for a spice bag, a pint and perhaps the Macarena.

Coming up in the next few weeks here - a late night burger available til 3:30AM, a very hard to get burger, and some fresh editions of Perfect Pair.

When I went to Montague Diner for my friend’s birthday, I had the choice between the American Burger (LT and raw O with burger sauce) and the Montague Burger (caramelized onion, bacon and smokey mayo). With the snow banks still piled high outside, the choice was a no brainer. Yeah it was four dollars more ($21 vs. $25, both with fries) but my wintertime strength has no price.

Side note, this was my first time at Montague Diner and I loved it! Each table had bud vases and tea lights, everything coming out of the kitchen looked fantastic and that red partially enclosed booth up front just begs for an impromptu photo. I got a perfect cup of diner coffee to start things off and it was refilled before it was even halfway gone.

If the summer is made for sesame buns then brioche buns are winter’s domain. The burgers were all tavern style and since over half the table went Burger Mode, our spread was sizable, as it should be at a diner!

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From the first bite, I knew I made the right call. The bacon was my ideal thickness - enough for a bit of a chew but not so hefty that I felt like I was fighting against it. I adored this smokey mayo. It had a slight kick but more than anything it lent a creaminess that bound everything together. The caramelized onions here were a step up from the ones that topped last week’s diner burger, diced finer so you got some in each bite instead of long strings that kept jumping ship.

My only notes - the tavern style patty was a bit too loosely packed and fractured about halfway through and I found myself wishing this had pickles on it instead of a side spear that I nibbled on to inject some acid into the mix. But these were minor issues that didn’t detract from the flavor and experience.

Once we were all adequately fed, including a some pie, cake, and singing happy birthday, we were on our way to see The Moment at the Angelika. It was funny, it was a little self-serious at times and a fight broke out that was so goofy I thought it was part of the movie. It was perfect.

I’m ranking the Montague Burger at Montague Diner at number 14 between Virginia’s and Margot - a great antidote to wintry woes.

I put together a quick list of resources below, including rent funds, action network donations and how to learn how to keep your neighbors safe - a more comprehensive list including GoFundMes supporting specific families can be found here.

• CANDO Rent/Grocery Assistance

• Immigrant Rapid Response Fund - A general fund that allocates donations to the most urgent needs

• Know Your Rights Guide

• Bystander Action Guide

I will be donating January proceeds from Burger Diva to a community fund supporting families on the west side of St. Paul and will be participating in the national strike action tomorrow 1/30 - no school, no work, and most importantly no spending! If you’re in a position to do the same please join me.

“There is nothing more political than food. The things that we eat are the direct reflection of our histories. The ingredients, whether they are dried, they are pickled or preserved, these are reflections of long, often painful histories.” — Anthony Bourdain

Something about hitting a city diner, especially on a weekday, makes me feel SATC chic. Nursing a coffee in a ceramic mug, getting something fried, gabbing with my friends where I can actually see them and hear them, save for the low din of my fellow diners and the occasional clinking of silverware around me.

I’m hitting you with two diner burger reviews, one this week and one next, comically with the same friend. Like the ladies of SATC, we are both ~mysteriously~ available during the week to hang out. Kidding, we’re both unemployed! But based on what Carrie would actually be making on a weekly column in 2026, maybe we’re more aligned financially than you think.

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I came across Sal and Cookie’s Ultra Fine Diner (S+C also own the nearby Macosa Trattoria) from my friend ’s weekly Instagram story roundup. I saw a pile of pancakes and a peanut butter cortado and made a mental note to add it to my list, especially because it was a nice stroll away from my apartment.

I went a few months ago but was in a purely breakfast mood and sampled both the buttermilk and masa pancakes (both very good) but lingered for a moment on the burger, which I knew would be a task for another day.

I returned a few weeks ago for a Thursday lunch (they’re closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and only open 10AM-4PM) and snagged a booth with a portrait of Columbo watching over me dutifully.

The menu features three burgers: a double smash ($22), a bistro burger ($22) and a house made veggie burger ($18) all served with fries. I went for the double smash since the toppings (grilled onions, pickles and dijonnaise) align with what’s usually on top of my favorite burgers.

The burger arrived at the table on a Martin’s roll with a mountain of shoestring fries and a little gravy boat with ketchup. Both buns were heavily sauced with onions on top and pickles on the bottom. The patties were juicy with well cooked onions and you can never go wrong with a Martin’s roll. I also loved the paper thin dill, almost shellacked to the bottom bun.

I was hoping for more of a crust that I’ve come to know and love with diner burgers made over a flat top, though. Between that and some missing salt, I thought this burger was good but not great, but I’d be interested to try out the other burger offerings, especially the veggie varietal that’s NOT an Impossible or Beyond patty! Huge!

I’m ranking the smash at Ultra Fine Diner at 38 between Au Cheval and E’s Bar. I’d personally explore the rest of the menu’s gems for a lunch date here, but the burger is still a solid choice.

Peek behind the curtain: I’m in Puerto Rico! Yes right now! #YourUnemployedFriendOnATuesday

I wanted to do something a little different so in spurts between packing, I jotted down some goals, aspirations and verrrry loose plans and scheduled a post for my time away. Symbiotic procrastination, everyone wins!

During my self-help book era (they come and go really) one idea really stuck with me: to share your hopes, your longshots, your plans in motion. A lot of us are hesitant to do that out of fear. Fear that things won’t come to fruition, fear that you’ll fall short, fear that your goals sound too lofty or god forbid Silly. But when you don’t share your hopes, you can’t share your celebrations. Conversely, when you don’t share your hopes and things don’t work out, it feels harder to ask for help, for consolation. So here’s what I’m shooting for in 2026:

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Sure, this means you know you’re competing with real live people who are actually able to eat at that restaurant on that night, but not many people are able to clear their schedules and get to a restaurant at 4:30 on a weeknight. I mean I can because I don’t have a job, but I’m trying to be inclusive here.

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One of these walk-in only spots is The Snail in Greenpoint, right across from McCarren Park. It opened in November 2024 and by spring 2025, word spread and folks were lined up outside the slightly sunken-in bistro over half an hour ahead of opening. When Eater paid them a visit in March, they were quoted a wait of 1.5 hours at a quarter after 5. But when I swung in last Friday around 5:45, I was sat straight away, probably helped by the fact that I dined on what is traditionally the slowest week of the year for restaurants.

My friend Madison and I started with some drinks and a salad to share for the crucial post-holiday vegetable and both of us got the burger, mine sans cheese and hers with. The burgers here are double smashes on pillowy brioche buns, topped with pickles, onions and a mustard aioli for $19.

Pickle girls take note: not only do you get a HEAPING pile of thinly sliced pickles on top of this burger but you also get TWO spears on the side.

Within two bites of my burger I had a moment of deja vu. Why did this burger taste so familiar? The buttery sweet bun, smashed salty patties, super thin pickles and very finely diced onion, the scantly spread slightly mustardy sauce. It hit me - McDonald’s. I am eating gourmet McDonald’s. The flavor profile, the textures. Le McDonald’s. Don’t get me wrong: Good McDonald’s! The McDonald’s you’d get after dance practice or your soccer game as a kid.

Obviously, this burger was juicier and more flavorful than a McDouble but I couldn’t let go of this revelation. I’m ranking the burger at The Snail at 35, between 4 Charles and Donovan’s. Delivering a hot take to you in spite of my title: while the burger here was good, almost everything else I saw come out of the kitchen looked delicious. I would throw recommendations and hype by the wayside and explore the rest of the menu. And word to the wise, get the sticky toffee date cake.

Do you work in event production? Or with bars and restaurants doing their PR and branding? With wine and spirits to partner with businesses? Or anything remotely in this realm? I want to talk to you! I’m using 2026 to do a hard pivot and want to just talk to people, or even better, shadow or contract with folks! Don’t worry, Burger Diva isn’t going anywhere but this Diva has to pay the bills. Drop me a line! Ok back to the action.

As is my three-year deep tradition, I journeyed into Chinatown on January 3rd to get my aura read. I (stupid) forgot to account for the fact that January 3rd fell on a Saturday this year, so when I pulled up to Magic Jewelry on Centre Street between Canal and Walker, there was a line waiting for me. Ultimately things moved pretty fast, but after waiting around in the cold outside of the tight storefront, I eagerly awaited my burger, just a few blocks east on Canal and Eldridge at K.O. Burger.

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My friend Kit told me about K.O. Burger. They moved to NYC in 2024 and have similarly been tracking their burger intake and put this on my radar so it’s lived on my spreadsheet since around the inception of this Substack.

I hustled over after having my aura photographed and analyzed (we’ll get to that later), and realized that the burger spot I was so excited to find refuge in was…a walk up window. Stupid. Strike two! But I didn’t back down! Partly because I was really hungry. Mostly because I was stubborn after some French tourists blocked the entire menu for a few minutes only to see me and trudge down the block in defeat to look up an indoor location for their lunch. Weak! I am Strong! I am New York!

Speaking of STRONG (I swear I didn’t plan this, I just looked back at the menu in this very moment) every item on the menu is named with a boxing theme, down to the drinks categorized under Throw in the Towel. I was torn between getting a standard-ish burger (the Knockout Burger with onions, K.O. sauce, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and pickled jalapeños, $7 for a single) and something a little funkier. I ended up going for funky - the Thrilla in Manila, with Hatch green chile, raw diced white onions, pickled jalapeño, and green chili yuzu mayo ($9 for a single).

First of all I could drink this mayo. Bright, slightly sweet, with a kick. Need this on a BLT stat!! It really worked well with the sharp and spicy toppings as well as the potato bun that’s featured on all the K.O. options. This burger does not shy away from the spice level. My nose was running and it’s definitely not because it was sub-20 degrees out. I wish all the chiles were diced more finely though, as I was struggling to get some well-composed bites and not make a mess.

Now for the not-so-great: the patty itself. I thought it was smashed too thin and was overcooked to the point of dryness. Everything about this burger, including the standard Martin’s bun, outshone the beef. I guess I was justified in getting one of the more zhuzhed up options to make up for that.

I’m rating the Thrilla in Manila from K.O. Burger at 46, between Hamburger America and Smashy Burger.

Now for the aura photo:

Awash with indigo for the third straight year, a third straight year of the person performing my reading going “you’re sensitive and you loooove to overthink!!” The exact opening sentence of the person who helped me this year: “You think and you think and you think.” A nice bright turquoise arch plus some bright light over my throat chakra is all about my communication and more specifically self-expression. From that, I was told to focus on journaling and externalizing my feelings and plans for myself. To be with myself to plan but more importantly, to execute!