Big Nick’s Burger Joint – Plate 53

We are not hungry. Yvo and I just came from splitting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-NINE PASTRIES at Bouchon Bakery (link) and we were looking forward to sugar coma onset in minutes. Forging ahead, we decided to go to the Burger Joint on the UWS instead of the Pizza Joint. Luckily for us, they served both.

This place is charming as all hell. You walk in and are barraged with a number of interesting slogans, children’s drawings, cartoons, phrases, credos, and rules. Burger Joint ain’t got nothing on this place as far as authenticity goes – Big Nick’s takes the cake. The person that told me there were no good diners in NYC has never been to Big Nick’s

We order. The first thing that comes out is The Grecian (above). Yvo read about this somewhere and had been excited to try it, but she was allergic to spinach. It says it makes her tongue itch. She doesn’t care, she’s going to try it. It turns out that the only spinach that doesn’t make her tongue itch is frozen spinach. This dish didn’t make her tongue itch, therefore it must have been made with frozen spinach (I thought so too). Let me tell you about The Grecian – this thing is frickin’ unbelievable. It’s so simple. Spinach, Feta, Red Onion, Olives, maybe some salt, pepper, and olive oil, but it was just about my favorite plate of the meal.

The White Pizza (left) was great. There was tons of ricotta on this one and it was well-seasoned. I love white slices and this one is one of the best I’ve had, even though the bottom wasn’t crispy. They could have just left it in the oven for another minute or two and I would have been fine. Yvo was telling me about this new food blogger picture craze highlighting the pizza upskirt (pic – underside of the pizza). I guess people like to see how crispy it gets and then attach some rating to it. This upskirt wasn’t so hot but the taste was fantastic. That was the polar opposite to the Sicilian Slice (pic). Skip this one.

Onto the Bistro Burger (pic) with Waffle Fries (pic). There is a sign in the store that says: “The Bistro Burger: This Changes Everything.” With the number of signs in here, I could probably have found one that said “The Bistro Burger: Eaten by wolves today at the age of 83,” but the bold statement it made was legitimate. You can see our reactions in the video:

We also had the Onion Rings (pic) at the suggestion of Mel at Citronelle (link to video review). They were very well done onion rings – lightly fried and crispy – but maybe they’ve changed a bit since Mel had them because they weren’t write-to-your-momma good. Same with the Buffalo Wings (right). Yvo said in her post that I am a bit of a wing snob. These aren’t going to disappoint, but they’re not going to knock your socks off.

What will excite you is a Bistro Burger with a side order of Grecian. Throw in a slice of white pizza and you’re going to be a happy camper here at Nick’s

Guest Writer: Yvo Sin … Here’s her post

The IRL Arts Foundation and The Wandering Foodie thank Big Nick’s Burger Joint for providing this meal.

Big Nick’s Burger Joint, Big Nick’s Pizza Joint
2175 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
(212) 362-9238