Anthony Bourdain smiling

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Although he traveled all over the world, Anthony Bourdain was a lifelong New Yorker. He was born in the city and spent formative years working at Brasserie Les Halles, a French cafe on Park Avenue. The city’s eponymous magazine, The New Yorker, published the essay that vaulted him into stardom as he was slinging steak frites. He knew NYC well, so when he said the French cafe, Minetta Tavern, had the best hamburger in the city in his New York episode of “The Layover,” it meant something. The setting is both cozy and electric. Tables are close together in the dark wood room. Lively conversation from nearby parties fills the air. In the episode, Bourdain shares a table with a group who argue with him over sushi in New York versus Los Angeles. It’s a scene.

It’s all about the meat and the restaurant. The episode is from 2011, when master butcher Pat LaFrieda was behind many of the great burgers in New York City. Shake Shack was still small and had been using his meat blend for some time. When the butcher created a high-end burger blend he called Black Label, the team behind Minetta Tavern bought it. The mixture uses high-end beef, making it more difficult to cook consistently. Luckily, the chefs at Minetta were skilled enough to turn the burger into an instant classic. 

How to order Bourdain’s favorite NYC burger




block of nyc street with minetta tavern

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Bourdain’s favorite was the Black Label burger, and it’s expensive. At the time of the show it was $26, but these days it will set you back $38. The well-traveled chef advises you order it medium-rare, calling it your “patriotic duty.” Anyone refusing to sell you a burger under medium temperature, he says, “is basically on the side of the terrorists.”

If you want to eat the delicious burger (and feel like you’re in an episode of “Mad Men”), Minetta Tavern is on MacDougal Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Bourdain recommended you go early or late to get a table. The advice still holds up, especially after 10 pm. If you don’t want to risk it, however, Minetta Tavern still takes phone reservations.

If you can’t make it out east to try a Black Label burger, Bourdain had another burger love: In-N-Out. He never failed to get a double-double first thing after he landed.