On Cinco de Mayo, while you were taking tequila shots off of God knows who's God knows where, Burguesa Burger was opening its ventanas to the public for the first time. Just a little orange shack next door to Sonny Bryan's and down the street from the Salvation Army on Inwood, Burguesa is cute, cuddly, cheap as hell and comes to us from the same dude who brought us Which Wich (a place that I appreciate in concept but always end up disappointed with in reality because my check-every-box-on-the-ballot compulsion does not a delicious sandwich make).
The restaurant concept for Burguesa is simple: Mexican burgers. Once they thought of that, everything else about the place was pretty much a no-brainer. Burguesa accepts U.S. dollars as well as pesos. Yes, really. You can add ham to any burger wthey offer are made from sugar cane and everything on the menu seems to have a little spicy kick added to it. I ordered Combinacion Dos, which was a burguesa con queso, fries and a drink. (If I'd had any balls at all that day, I would have ordered "La Monumental," which is two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, no pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun—plus a slice of ham, tomato, a crunchy orange tostada, refried beans and a jalapeño on top. Yeah, McDonald's, you just got served.) To drink, I ordered a cola and received a lemon-lime drink instead, but I'm glad something got lost in translation because that sugar-cane Sprite was delish. The fries were really floppy and greasy and served with a fork, which kinda mystified me. Why turn a finger food into a fork food, Burguesa? I don't see the need for tines to have to enter into this potato-to-mouth transaction.
But the burger was really interesting. It was garlicky and spicy and not-at-all fast-foodie. I enjoyed it very much and would highly recommend it to anyone who shares a cube with someone they hate (the monster garlic fart breath and nuclear indigestion will send your frenemy packing for the afternoon, leaving you with the rage-free cube you always wanted). Next time, I'll pass on the fries and go Monumental. I'll also pass on the caramel-wafer-fortune cookie. It tasted like toilet paper and cat butt (don't ask).
