Sunday, March 13, 2011
Joy Burger Bar / 9:19 pm
East Harlem
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Joy Burger Bar and featuring the ready for prime beef player, Marty Wombacher. And now, from East Harlem in New York City, please welcome tonight’s host, Joy Burger Bar!
And here we go, off into the night.
Down into the bowels of the New York subway system.
This guy was great! Love the Tokyo Circus and his "Your Smile is beautiful" sign.
Alright, there's a decent crowd down here, that means a train will show up at any minute.
And sure as shit on a shingle, here it comes!
Wow, it's surprisingly empty on here for a Friday night.
This ad has me obsessed. First off, what's with the grammar? If this weird kid is so excited about ordering burritos online, shouldn't there be an exclamation point after the word, "Fantastic?" I'm not a fan of over using exclamation points, but when you use a word like, "fantastic," it's almost a given. Next, why is he wearing a tie around his head? Is this the reason that he's so fucking thrilled about ordering burritos online? Because he's never learned to dress in a manner that's socially acceptable, thereby making him terminally housebound? And look at his eyes. Those are Manson Woman eyes and they are screaming, "Helter Skelter." And the father and daughter are doing some sort of weird F-Troop dance. Plus, look at the daughter, one half of her left leg is cut off and she has no hands. How frightening is that? And the mother is escaping out of a box in the back. This is one fucked up ad campaign, and weird family, but it made my 10 stop subway ride go by in a breeze.
See, we're here already.
Just a few blocks and we are there.
That's one cheap-ass chicken!
And irony unbounds as I see it's sold at the Pioneer Supermarket. Whenever I see the word, "Pioneer," I think of the genius lyrics in Warren Zevon's song, "Carmelita." "Well, I pawned my Smith Corona, and I went to meet my man, he hangs out down on Alvarado Street, by the Pioneer chicken stand." I love that song.
And here we are at the Joy Burger Bar, let Cheeseburger Saturday Night begin. Would someone please sound the trumpets? Oh, the horn section called in sick tonight. Sorry.
I decided to start out with a beer and Frank happily served up an ice-cold Corona.
There's tables in the front area of the burger bar.
And there's stools over here with a window's view of the neighborhood available as you eat.
But I chose to sit up at the bar, close to where the action is.
Here's Frank and his front-line crew, making the burger magic happen.
Lots of action is going on here. He's taking a bowl of freshly cut fries...
And turning them into individual orders.
These two heard me telling Frank about my blog and came up to say hello. From left: Hisham and Moa, nice to meet you, guys!
Here's a vintage Heinz Ketchup ad on the wall. I'm guessing Kari will like this.
Here's the beers available at Joy Burger Bar. Hey, what's that card in the holder?
Huh, how'd that get there? Golly-gee willickers.
Condiments!
I'm starvin' like Marvin over here. I hope that's my burger being fried.
Ask and ye shall receive! Here's my burger, I got cheddar cheese with chimichuri sauce.
It's one tasty burger!
After my dinner I met Trey and Jonathan who were waiting for burgers.
They have a Travis Bickle painting in the bathroom. You talking to me? I'm the only one here.
Okay, time to hit the road. Over and out. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Review
Joy Burger Bar is a comfortable and casual burger restaurant in East Harlem.There’s tables up front, stools at a window bar overlooking 101st Street and a small bar in the back near the kitchen and grill. You place your order and pay at the register here and you’re called when your order is ready. The staff are friendly and efficient and happy to explain any questions about burger options or anything else on the menu. The decor is vintage Coca Cola and Heinz ketchup art on the walls and a giant menu hangs over the grill. There’s piles of paper menus as well, if you’d like to get a drink and study them at your table or stool.
There’s a couple things that make Joy’s Burger Bar unique. One is they offer ten different kind of sauces to top your burger with at no extra charge. The second is that the burgers come in three sizes. The Munch is a three ounce burger, The Midi is five ounces and The Maxi weighs in at 8 ounces (save your Kotex jokes, fork in the road beat you to it, see “further reading,” below.) Some of the sauces available include: garlic mayo, bbq, chimichuri, pesto, sweet chili and spicy mango chutney. The fries are hand cut and the onion rings are as big as Rosie O’Donnell’s head.
There’s five beers available as well as shakes, smoothies and fresh lemonade. Happy, happy, joy, joy, burger, burger, burger!
Joy Burger Bar
1567 Lexington Avenue (Between 100th and 101st)
212-289-6222
Further reading: NY Times, fork in the road and 89th and Broke.
24 Comments
Reader Comments (24)
Great Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Always love the subway scenes and that looked like one great burger! Love the Dino/Rat Pack video too. You always have a great musical selection at the end. Keep them coming!
Yay for ketchup! That burrito ad was definitely weird, didn't make me want to order a burrito online so I don't think its effective. I love chimichuri sauce, never had it on a burger but looks yummy. I love thin burgers, so I would stay away from the pink maxi.
Harlem is where I'm hoping to be in NY so this gets me excited :)
yummy looking burger...
too pink for me though. ha!
like mine dead...
want the travis pic for myself..
and i expecting the little circus dude to get up and sing that song by the bloodhound gang where they are dressed in the almost exact same outfit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xat1GVnl8-k
awesome little place Marty.. thank you for taking us with you.
The burger looked good but not as good as some of the one's from other Saturday nights here and at 365. I love the rat pack video and Dean Martin was Mr. Cool. Not really the drinker people think he was, he liked going to bed early, not a late niter, it was for show. Sinatra was the party animal. Cigarettes was his downfall, not booze. I went to his restaurant with my parents back in the sixties, Dino's Lodge, in Hollywood. I was too young to drink, damn it.
Looking at the ad again for burritos.. they aren't a family.. he is the boss and he cut off her leg for ordering a crappy lunch prior to getting burritos which are probably cheaper...
and fuck proper grammer.
The burger looked absolutely great, but having Travis Bickle meet me in the john when I went to take a whiz really would have screwed my appetite. And as for the add with the Manson woman eyes, it's horrifying to think eyes like that were the last thing Rosemarie and Leno LaBianca ever saw (shudder)...
@Barfly: It's always fun getting good subway pictures, glad you enjoy them.
@kari: You also need to check out Sylvia's if you're going to be staying in Harlem. Great chicken and waffles there!
@Gidgie: Thanks for sending the link, the outfits are identical! Hysterical!
@Al: I didn't know Dean Martin had a restaurant! I love the name, Dino's Lodge! If you have any photos of the place please send them my way! Have you ever read, "Dino" by Nick Tosches? Great biography.
@Gidgie again: Ha! You may be right!
@Jaws: I agree, luckily I saw Travis after I ate!
"Enjoy"? "Enjoy"?! Putting "Enjoy" at the bottom of the plate is sinister. The fact that you read "Enjoy" after you've eaten foreshadows a hidden gift. The plate could have said, "Hope you enjoyed", or "Come Again"; but no, the foreboding "Enjoy". Is this some hint to inevitable heartburn? They could have written "Poison" on the bottom of the plate and I would feel less uneasy.
@cp: You're a Poison fan? I had no idea you were into hair bands!
damn almost last my meager breakfast with that "rosie pic"...an interesting stop for MAD,,,just became aware that next saturday is "national corn dog day" are you gonna adapt and honor this great day and go w/ a corn dog, tator tots and PBR instead of a cheeseburger?
that burrito "ad" sign wasn't it make a derogative and not an interrogative thing...if so why the question mark??
oh yeah as always great videos...always welcomed and enjoyed...off topic...was waiting for this guy to go "off topic"...for any followers that are not aware a site—http://bluessongoftheday.tumblr.com/—offers not only a listen to sum great tunes but also the ability to download 90% of the tunes for nada or a donation if you are so inclined...
“Sometimes I thank God ... for cheeseburgers.”
- Garth Brooks
rr
Howdy Marty!
That burger was so good, I took a bite out of me laptop...turns out it wasn't so good after all. Now I'm starving and need to go and find a good burger joint somewhere locally. I had a great burger last night but left me feeling a bit hungry...shit, I'm getting the shakes on. Great night at the bunts...
That Rat pack vid made my day! I wonder if that is available on dvd. That would be a great late night watch.
Since you commented on the poor grammar of the ad for ordering burritos online;
--It's "There are tables in the front area," not, "there's tables"
--It's "There are stools over here," not, "there's stools over here"
--It's "Here are the beers," not "here's the beers"
--It's "There are a couple things that make Joy's Burger Bar unique," not "There's a couple things..."
jus' sayin' is all.
@rr: I will indeed honor National Corn Dog day next week, I know just the place to go! Thanks for the heads up and great cheeseburger quote as awlays.
@Clacky of Bunt's Downunder: Hope you find that burger. I don't know if that particular performance is on DVD, but there are Rat Pack DVD's out there.
@AJournalist: Duly noted, good sir or madam! Oh--It's "Just saying is all." Not, "jus' sayin' is all." Also, I could be wrong here, but shouldn't there be a comma after the word "not" in your corrections? But I'm probably wrong, you are AJournalist after all. Just saying is all. Actually I think it should be, "I'm just saying is all." Okay, I'm driving myself nuts now!
A land of Poles, so it's called Pole-Land. Wait, they call it Poland? Invade!
@Grammar Nazi: Are you any relation to Grammar Moses?
Grammar Mosses is dead, you bastard.
http://punctuauntie.blogspot.com/
@cp: Ha ha ha! Great link! And I'm not a bastard, just ask my parents.
I just finished watching After Hours. All I can say is that the writer of that movie must have dated some messed up crazy bitches. And I feel all anxious now. Not a good before bed movie.
@kari: Probably the worst before bed movie ever!
What's the first rule of Grammar Wars?
You don' talk about Grammar Wars.
Why?
I don't know. I'm not allowed to talk about it.
@Clacky Grammar? I hardly know her.
MAD, here is the uber-link:
http://www.wombacher-blasmusik.de/index.php?id=9
Have a good week.
Lederhausen
@Clacky and cp: Grammar crackers.
Sweet chili sauce! Sounds (and looks) delish. They should've stuck with the cheeseburger theme in the bathroom, though, and turned the Travis Bickle into Travis Pickle. HA HA HA!
@Biff: Travis Pickle? HA HA HA! Great one, Bifferoonie! You still gots it!