Roberta's Cheeseburger (NYC)

Featuring a thick Pat LaFrieda dry-aged beef patty, Brooklyn's most notorious pizzeria serves a knockout five-star cheeseburger for just $16

If you want to chow down on what may be one of the best burgers of your life, then you're not only going to have to take the L train beyond the comforts of Bedford Avenue out to Brooklyn's industrial area of Bushwick (oh my!), but you'd better find a lunch date because the fine folks at Roberta's are serving up their classic Pat LaFrieda dry-aged beef burger for lunch only writes Burgerac NYC correspondent Colonel Mustard...

Known for their Italian-style, wood-fired pizzas and endless dedication to urban farming (most of their ingredients are grown out back), Roberta's can most definitely add burgers to the roster of reasons to make the trek to this mechanics-shop-cum-cozy-pizzeria. 

The lunchtime-only Cheeseburger is cooked to perfection, arriving at your communal table as an open sandwich featuring an ultra thick'n'juicy patty that cuts open to reveal a brilliant pink interior. Resting on buttered buns baked in a converted freight container by breadmaker Melissa Weller, the pared-down cheeseburger comes topped with classic American cheese and garden-fresh tomato, onion and romaine lettuce.

As a native Midwesterner and granddaughter of a farmer raising Shorthorn cows (aka brown cows or beef cows), this is as close as I've come to the burgers I had growing up, which my mom dressed with ingredients grown in our backyard garden. If my grandpa's beef patties had been left in the talented hands of Max Sussman instead of my over-grilling father, it's safe to say I would have been the first 8-year-old in need of Lipitor.

The beauty of Roberta's cheeseburger is that they have kept it so rustically American. There's no need to douse it in fancy sauces or add truffles or tack on the latest in burger accoutrement like so many other restaurants do, because they're starting with a beautiful base layer that only needs showcasing, not enhancing. And when you can so expertly cook a slab of beef to the point where it's aggressively pink but thoroughly cooked throughout, there's simply no reason to confuse patrons with unnecessary ingredients. Let them delight in its natural glory!

You'll know there's no messing around as soon as you see the artful arrangement on your plate, which is composed like a palette for your palate with ketchup, mayonnaise and a few little crispy roast potatoes for good measure. And in just one bite of this most unpretentious burger, you know you've come across the work of a master at the peak of his craft. The burger juice subtly sinks into the buns, the flavor explosion hits your mouth and you find yourself entranced – wooed even – by this perfect example of pared-down burger wizardry.

So the next time you're playing hooky (bunking off) in Brooklyn, you know where to go. Just be sure to cover your tracks! This burger is so bangin' it'll be hard to keep quiet about it!

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Roberta's
261 Moore Street
Brooklyn, NY
11237

Tel: +1 718 417 1118

http://robertaspizza.com/