Audio By Carbonatix
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).
