7th Street Burger

 

7th STREET BURGER

"OUR NEW FAVORITE"

JUST LOVE IT !!!

7th STREET BURGER

Original location - East 7th Street between 1 Avenue & Avenue A

7th Street Burger ? "Yes, My New Favorite Burger. I Just LOVE It" !!! Tasty & Juicy. A single is $6.50, and $10.50 for a double. The first two times I went, I got a single, but it's just not enough. Not for someone who weighs 200 pounds anyway. Gotta get the Double. So good, and always consistent. These Burgers taste the same, every time. Delicious !!! And that's not easy. You get to thin 2.5 oz. beef patties, "Smashed" with a good amount of Salt & Black Pepper, which is key. Sautéed Onions and Yellow American Cheese on a high quality potato burger bun. And nice and Greasy, the way ELVIS liked them. I'm sure it would be a favourite of "The KING of ROCK N ROLL" if he was still with us.  Anyway, if you want one of the undisputed Best Burgers in Town ? And for me, "it's my New # 1," go to 7th Street BURGER for a nice tasty Cheeseburger. You won't regret it.

Daniel Bellino Z

JG MELON

"BURGERS DONE RIFHT"

JG Melon, "Burgers don Right." Yes that's correct. The've been doing it a long time, and they know what they are doing. No Frills, just a Tasty Burger, just the right size, cooked on a Flat Top Grill, and "Done Right.

Go and get a tasty Burger, and stay for the nostalgia, as JG Melon has been a tavern on the corner of East 74th Street and Third Avenue since the 1920s. Jack O'Neil and George Mourges (J.G.) took it over in 1972 decorating the restaurant with green and white checkered tablecloths and watermelons, thus the name.

If you don't want a Quick in & Out, like 7th Street Burger, or Smacking Burger, and you want to sit down and relax. Maybe have a Beer or Cocktail, JG Melon is the place for you.

CHEESEBURGER

At JG MELON

UPPER EAST SIDE MANHATTAN

"WE LOVE IT" !!!

GOTHAM SOCIAL BURGER

On MANY FAVORITE LIST

"YES WE LIKE IT" !

Gotham Burger Social Club (GBSC) has a small-town-diner feel that blends seamlessly into the hustle and bustle of NYC, exemplified by their always-busy atmosphere. It's a good sign whenever you see a chef running the show in the front-of-house, and that’s exactly where you’ll find Mike Puma. There he is, ensuring that every burger (beef or Impossible) with grilled onions, American cheese, and housemade pickles is smashed to perfection, and that each order of “frickles” (fried pickles) comes with tasty homemade sauces. Don’t miss out on their vanilla or chocolate egg creams to maximize that nostalgic feel, and make sure to drink yours while sitting at the counter looking out on an iconic New York City corner.

The BROOME STREE BAR & GRILL

BROOME at WEST BROADWAY

The Broome Street Bar & Grill's Burger is a Sleeper. No-one really knows about it. Well not literally, yes there are some who know of it. Just not the masses. It's not a Big Hit on Instagram. I'm actually having reservations about writing this. Should I let the Cat Out of The Bag? Will I ruin it, by writing this ? Will it be inundated with Instagramers ? Hope not. Well, Write I must.

Yes, I believe their Burger is one of the City's Best. And when it comes to Price - Quality Ratio, it for sure is one of the City's Best. They use the best Burger Meat there is, in the Burger Blend from Pat LaFreida Black Angus Beef Brisket, Short Rib, & Shoulder Clod. And the Burger only cost $17, and with a choice of Potato Chips or Salad. "Nobody does that." Such high quality meat for under 20 Dollars a Burger ? That's unheard of ! Yes, but not at The Broome Street Bar & Grill, and in "High Priced" Soho, no less.

I've been going to The Broome Street Bar & Grill for Years, but mostly just for drinks. It was until, 5 years ago when I first started eating the Burger. My friend Peter told me about it, how good it was, and the price. Not a Rip-Off, which is what I call Burgers priced at over $20 a pop, as by the time you pay $24 or more for a Burger, plus tax, Plus Tip, and you usually would be getting a drink, it ends up costing you 450 or more. Not at Broome Street. That top quality Burger, a soda or beer, with tax & tip, and you can walk out the door for just about $30. Not bad. 

So take my advice, and get one. The best Price - Quality Ratio Burger in all of New York. How's that for a mouthful ? 

Note : little HistoryA 

Located in a landmarked building that might be the oldest structure in Soho, dating back to 1825, the Broome Street Bar opened in 1972.

There's been a bar here since the 1850s. According to The Historic Shops & Restaurants of New York, the stained glass windows and panels around the bar come from the time when it was a German beer hall in the 1880s. I don't know where the lion heads come from -- they're on the sign that hangs outside and they flank the bar, a pair of them above the brass rail, with signs that read, "Last Man's Chance."

CHEESEBURGER at The BROOME STREET BAR & GRILL

They Serve it on PITA BREAD - Hope You Don't Mind

But That's How They DO IT !

You also Get a CHOICE of SALAD or POTATO CHIPS

All for Just $17 - "A BARGAIN" !

WANT to Make BURGERS at HOME ?

AMERICA'S FAVORITE RECIPES

SECRET RECIPES

TACOS BURGERS BURRITOS

SOUP STEAKS MEATLOAF

And MORE ...

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Caffe Reggio Greenwich Village

Caffe Reggio

Greenwich Village

New York

CAFFE REGGIO

The Movie

MACDOUGAL STREET

GREENWICH VILLAGE

DOMENICO PARISI

The Founding Father of CAFFE REGGIO

Domenico Opened Caffe Reggio in 1927

He had a Barbershop there before, but it was always his dream to open an Italian Caffe. He scraped together the money to buy an Italian Espresso Machine that cost $1,000. A huge some in 1927. He opened the caffe, which was the 1st caffe in America with a coffee machine like they had bacck in Italy, but America never had one, not until Domenico purchased his and brought it to Geenwich Village, New York.

Domenico Parisi was from Reggio Calabria in Calabria, Italy, near Sicily. This is where his caffe gets its name Caffe Reggio from.

Dominico's Magnificent Machine

Mr Cavalacci

With DOMENICO'S MAGNIFICENT MACHINE

The CAVALACCI FAMILY bought Caffe Reggio from the Parisi's in the late 1950s.

CAFFE REGGIO

Circa 1950s

NYC

CAFFE REGGIO

Photo Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Caffe Reggio

Painting from The SCHOOL of CARAVAGGIO (Upper Right Corner)

A RENAISSANCE BENCH

From a MEDICI PALACE

FLORENCE

This bench is a Museum Piece, but it is not roped-off as one would think. You can actually sit in it, sipping your Cappuccino, people watching, as you admire a painting from The School of Caravaggio and other antiques and artwork. It's just magnificent, and only in New York, as they say, could you sit in a Renaissance Bench.

"And not only that. Look what;s Next !"

A CEILING FAN From CASABLANCA

The GREATEST MOVIE of ALL-TIME

Starring : HUMPHREY BOGART , INGRID BERGMAN

SIDNEY GREENSTREET,  PETER LORRE

and CLAUDE RAINES

Interview with FABRIZIO CAVALACCI

Owner of Caffe Reggio Since 1972

His Family bought the Caffe in 1955

Fabrizio tells the hsitory of Caffe Reggio. He said that before Dominic Parisi opened the caffe, he had a Barber Shop in the space. A Haircut was 10 Cents and took about 20 minutes to do one. Fabrizio says that Domenico's customers demanded a cup of Espresso with their haircut. After a while Domenico figured he'd open a caffe, as he could serve many more customers and make better profit than doing haircuts which he could only do 2 or 3 in an hour. And so Caffe Reggio was born in 1927 on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village, New York.

AL PACINO

At CAFFE REGGIO

Christopher Walken

NEXT STOP GREENWICH VILLAGE

NEXT STOP GREENWICH VILLAGE

In The Movie SERPICO

AL PACINO plays Frank Serpico

Frank Serpico (in the Movie) lives on 5-7 MINETTA STREET

around the block from Caffe Reggio. In the movie, Serpico is taking Spanish Class at New York University, and one of his classmates, a girl says that she works at CAFFE REGGIO ...

SUNDAY SAUCE

ITALIAN IMMIGRANT RECIPES

SPAGHETTI SAUCE alla PACINO

SUNDAY SAUCE

AMAZON.com

CAFFE REGGIO

Painting by ELLEN BRADSHAW

EllenBradshaw.com

Old School Italian New York NY

 

MANGNARO'S GROSSERIA ITALIANA

Was on 9th Avenue in New York's HELLS KITCHEN

Sadly, they CLOSED after 100 YEARS in Business 

TONY with MICHAEL LOMANACO

At MAGNARARO'S ITALIANA

MANGANARO'S

Sadly, "They Are Gone"

MANGANARO'S GOSSERIA ITALIANA, 

was on 9th Avenue in NEW YORK'S HELLS KITCHEN

The neighborhood where Sylvester Stallone was born, and where author Mario Puzzo wrote the Best Selling Novel "The Godfather" as well as the screenplay to the movie.

Manganaro's Grosseria Italiana, commonly referred to as Manganaro's, was an Italian market and deli on Ninth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1893 and operated for 119 years, helping to introduce the hero sandwich to Americans. The family closed the business and put the property up for sale in 2012.

The business was founded in 1893 by Ernest Petrucci as a wine and spirits store, Petrucci's Wines & Brandies, that also sold groceries. Its location at 488 Ninth Avenue near 37th Street was on a stretch of the avenue that remained lined with exotic food stores for decades. After the enactment of Prohibition in the U.S. in 1919, Petrucci's nephew James Manganaro, an immigrant from Naples, took over the store in the 1920s and changed the name; in 1927 he was able to buy the building. Manganaro may have invented the hero sandwich, and played a role in introducing it to Americans.

On his death in 1953, Manganaro's passed to his brother Louis and sister Nina Manganaro Dell'Orto and their spouses; in 1955, with a publicity agent's help, they invented the six-foot "Hero-Boy" sandwich, which was successful enough for one of Dell'Orto's four sons to go on the original version of the TV quiz show I've Got a Secret, and for the family to open a sandwich shop next door at 492–494 Ninth Avenue the following year, while continuing to operate a deli and lunch counter in the rear of the grocery store.

In 1962, Louis Manganaro retired and two of his four nephews took over the grocery store and the other two the sandwich shop, Manganaro's Hero-Boy, and the businesses were separated.

Sal Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the grocery store, and James Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the sandwich shop, fell out over rights to the "Manganaro's Hero-Boy" name, trademarked by the sandwich shop in 1969, and advertising for party sandwich telephone hotlines, which led to two separate court cases. The business' neon sign installed in the early 1930s, which became blinking in the 1960s, was turned off in 2000 so that Manganaro's Hero-Boy could not benefit from it.The grocery store was repeatedly found at fault over the hotline and was ordered to pay damages to the sandwich shop, and the financial drain plus waning popularity, some of it due to the declining neighborhood, led to the decision to sell the building and close. This was first announced early in 2011, but the building was withdrawn from the market; the business then closed in late February 2012.

Anthony Bourdain featured the store, on the episode title "Disappering Manhattan" on No Reservations TV Show.

AMERICA'S FAVOrITE

ITALIAN COOKBOOK

TONY TOO !!!

DeROBERTIS'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

1st Avenue NEW YORK NY

SINCE 1904

Photo - 1928

DeROBERTO'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

Year of Picture Unknown

 

LANZA'S

1st Avenue, New York NY

Lanza’s was an Italian restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan. It was opened in 1904 by Sicilian immigrant Michael Lanza in a tenement built in 1871. Lanza was rumored to have been a chef for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. They closed in 2015. Eater reported it officially closed in 2017 after seizure by a marshal for non-payment of taxes. It is also said to have closed in 2016. The former restaurant's murals, stained glass, and sign were retained by Joe and Pat's, a pizzeria that opened at the location in 2018.

They were known to be a favorite of Lucky Luciano, Carmine “Lilo” Galante and Joseph “Socks” Lanza. 

LANZA'S

SINCE 1904

The DINING ROOM

Sadly, LANZA'S Closed in 2017

SINATRA SAUCE 

The COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

"STILL GOING STRONG"

JOHN'S of 12th STREET

CUCINA ITALIANA

Since 1908

Thankfully, JOHN'S is open (2024) and going as strong as ever, and will be around for many more years to come. 

Photo by Italian Cookbook author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

At one point in his long restaurant career, author Daniel Bellino worked as a waiter at JOHN'S for 7 years.

At the time, he worked as a cook in Italian Restaurants in New York. He worked 2 jobs for 7 years, cooking at various restaurants full-time, while working as a waiter / bartender at John's for 3 nights a week.

RAO'S

SINCE 1896

EAST HARLEM, NEW YORK

Charles Rao bought a small saloon from George Ehret Brewery at the corner of 114th Street and Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem, New York City. It was 1896. He called the place Rao's. 

Rao's is still a family owned restaurant.  It is owned by Frank Pellegrino Jr. and Ray Straci, dependents of the founder Charles Rao. They say Rao's is "The Hardest Table in Town," meaning it's hard to get a table there. Actually not impossible, but "Almost Impossible." Rao's has a very unique reservation system. Tables are actually owned by loyal long-time customers who are close to the family. Rao's only has 10 tables, and they are highly coveted. Former owner Frank Pellegrino Sr., father of current partner Frank Pellegrino Jr. was known as "Frankie No." Why? Because if you asked him for a table, 99.9% of the time, his answer was "No," thus the nickname. 

Yes, they have only 10 tables and they do not turn them over. Each night, those 10 tables have one owner for each table, every night. Rao's is only open 5 nights a week, Monday to Friday. The restaurant is closed Saturdays and Sundays. 

Vincent Rao is the person who put Rao's famous Lemon Chicken on the menu, which was one of the things that put Rao's on the Map, so to speak. It was around 1970 when Rao's started getting popular with the general public of New York City. That's about the time that Rao's started giving table rights to their loyal customers who had been frequenting the restaurants for decades. Anyway, it is very hard to get to eat at Rao's. If you happen to know somebody who has a table and invites you, you might get to eat there. If you hang out at the bar hoping to get a table for whatever reason, it's highly unlikely you will, but not totally impossible. There's always a remote chance, if you are lucky, and happen to be there on the right night, and right time, that something somehow becomes available. highly unlikely, but you never know.

Basta !

MONTE'S TRATTORIA

SINCE 1918

Monte's Trattoria is one of the few remaining Old-School Italian Joints left in New York City. 

Terragni Wines & Liquors

1912

Monte's was opened in 1918 by Italian immigrants Louis & Sylvia Medica. They took over the storefront of Terragni Wines & Liquor on 97 Macdougal Street in New York's Greenwich Village.

Louis & Sylvia Medica

1918

CHEF PIETRO MOSCONI

CHEF PIETRO & His FAMILY 

HAVE OWNED MONTE'S Since the EARLY 1980s

And STILL RUN The RESTAURANT TODAY

MONTE'S is Known for its wonderful Italian Food, Cozy Ambiance,

and Friendly Service. 

Well loved dishes are : Cannelloni, Fettuccine Bolognese, Manicotti, fresh made Gnocchi, Baked Clams, Stuffed Artichokes, Veal Valdostana, Chicken Parm, Eggplant, Spaghetti with Clam Sauce, Bisteca (Steak), and Chef Pietro's famous Tiramisu Mi Su, which many say is "The Best in Town."