B & B.

New York is littered with restaurants all claiming they are the "best." Best pizza, best falafel, best Chinese, best burger joints are on every corner of the city and beyond. While I'm not trying to eat the "best" every time I dine out, I am looking for quality and delicious food (especially at these prices!) My dad came into town, which means lots and lots of posts to come and me trying to cleanse my body of all the delicious (but fattening) food we ate... Anyways, while my cousins and I couldn't decide what to eat, my dad requested somewhere with a good burger. Sounds simple right? I think wrong because many restaurants can screw up a burger. Luckily, my cousin knew of a place right by his apartment (again, he never fails!).

We went to B&B (Burger & Barrel) on West Houston Street. It was dark inside, but has a great gastropub vibe that seemed upscale, but where you can also relax and enjoy a beer and food. They also have other tasty looking food on the menu like fried chicken, steak, pork chop and various small plates to share. We started with warm shrimp and artichokes (leeks, tomato, onion, basil). One of my favorite food combinations are shrimp and avocado, but I love artichokes as well. The shrimp were perfectly cooked in a flavorful sauce that was constantly dipped in with the bread provided.

All four of us ordered a different burger. One of my cousins ordered the B & B Classic (lettuce, tomatoes, sliced pickles, american cheese), the other cousin ordered mushrooms and gruyere, my dad ordered the Bash Burger (caramelized onion, bacon jam, american cheese-also a "2009 NYFF Award Winner) and I ordered the Puebla Burger (roasted chili, red onion relish, queso fresco). Not only do I enjoy a juicy burger, but that the toppings accent the juicyness. After enjoying green chiles on my Grill 'Em Burger in L.A., I wanted to try this combination again. The burger was cooked well and I really enjoyed the ingredients accenting the meat and its tenderness. The queso fresco cheese was nice and gooey and stretched out when I took a bite. I also had half of my dad's Bash Burger and who doesn't love the combination of bacon and caramelized onions? Though it is a bit pricey ($14 for burger and fries), it is the quality of the burger that matters and this is definitely worth the price and knowing you'll get something good.


It was a dark place with only candlelight and my iPhone to try and get some pictures! Shrimp and Artichokes.


My Puebla burger with substituted sweet potato fries. I strangely don't like baked sweet potatoes, but love sweet potato fries. I guess it's really true: everything is better fried.


My cousins mushroom and gruyere.


Half of my burger and half of the Bash Burger. I wanted to showcase the pink insides with the perfectly gooey cheese, but the lighting is bad!

I'm always a happy camper after a good burger :)!