Anyone that follows this blog on a regular basis knows that I am a huge fan of cheeseburgers. When I was in college, there was a McDonald’s right outside my dorm window - everyday after class, my friend Susanna and I would order the number 2 (two cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink) with no onions, extra ketchup, and a diet coke (hey, let’s try to keep it healthy here). When the McDonald’s closed (their service was absolutely terrible and sometimes we’d wait half an hour to get our order) I would make my best friend, Brian, drive me to Chili’s so I could indulge in their cheeseburger with seasoned French fries. Brian doesn’t eat cheeseburgers anymore, he lives in Chicago, and I don’t know of any Chili’s’s in New York, so I’ll explore other burger joints around the city (woe is me). On Saturday, Chris and I hit up Rare Bar and Grill.

After reading numerous positive reviews and hearing that it’s great from Chris himself, I decided to indulge a little. I haven’t really been eating too many burgers this month (I’m still trying to work off THANKSGIVING). We decided to order two burgers and share the fries sampler (with no dessert, even though they have FRIED OREOS).

Our M and M burger:

I read a lot of positive reviews about the burger and it sounded like the most popular burger that Rare serves (well, next to the Murray’s cheese burger, but the two sounded very similar). The M and M burger is Rare’s classic burger flambéed in whiskey, topped with caramelized shallots, cheddar cheese & apple smoked bacon. I didn’t taste any difference in the meat because of the whiskey, but the caramelized shallots brought all of the ingredients together. The apple smoked bacon was all fat and salt (yay!) and the cheese was another salty item, but the caramelized shallots were sweet enough to give the burger the kick it needed. Chris and I DEVOURED the burger.

We also shared the Rare classic burger (with American cheese):

I really like the classic cheeseburger; the meat is juicy, the cheese is perfectly melted, and each bite is almost the perfect size to fit into my mouth…the only thing I disliked was the top bun - it was a little too tough for me.

Fries sampler:

The fries sampler is $10 and comes with all the different fries Rare serves (waffle/cottage, sweet potato, and regular shoestring). For an extra $1, you can switch the shoestring fries to the truffle oil fries, but we decided against it. The fries sampler also includes four dipping sauces:

L-R, clockwise from top: regular ketchup, chipotle aoili, honey maple dip, and New Mexican Chili Ketchup. The sweet potato fries worked well with the honey maple dip, which reminded me of Clinton St. Baking Company’s maple butter. Mmmmm sweet butter. The New Mexican Chili ketchup tasted like it had tea leaves in it (Chris said he didn’t think it did but he knew I was going to write it in my review anyway). The fries were really good (my favorite were the cottage/waffle fries).

After our meal, Chris and I were discussing the experience and the overall rating (we always do this so I can bounce ideas off him). Initially, I was going to give the place four Grace faces, but then he said, “Yeah, I was thinking four Grace faces too… but then I was like, ‘Why not five? This place is really good!’” The service was good, the restaurant is cute, and the food is delicious. The place is pretty expensive (in my opinion). The M and M burger will set you back $15 and the classic cheeseburger costs $10 (with cheese). A little expensive, but definitely a treat.

How to get to Rare Bar and Grille:

Rare Bar and Grille
228 Bleecker Street between 6th and Carmine
New York, NY 10014
212-691-7273