The Burger Garage - 25-36 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City NY 11101
718.392.0424
7 Train to 45th Road/Courthouse Square
718.392.0424
7 Train to 45th Road/Courthouse Square
Closing in on a month right about now, The Burger Garage is a cool, newbie on the LIC dining scene. Its motto is reconstruction--transforming the old into new, as the space is a converted industrial garage. I love this concept, and especially when you put it together with tasty, made-to-order burger fare, it's a winning combination.
Atmosphere:
From the outside, The Burger Garage looks like any other burger joint and if you didn't already know of its "industrial" origins, you probably wouldnt've guessed what it used to be.
But the interior certainly gives more clues, with funky tongue-in-cheek garage decor such as tires, street signs, hubcaps, repair signs and other garage memorabilia that give you a good feel for its motif. The music is nostalgic and the seating reminds me of a 50's diner with mostly booths and a couple of small tables for two and four. Overall, it's very cheery, fun and a perfect mix of modern and preserved items.
Food:
We came for some good ol' greasy spoon food such as burgers, fries, onion strings and milk shakes. I was impressed that everything is made to order, therefore exemplifying quality and freshness, evident in each bite.
Burgers - With three types of burgers on the menu (beef, turkey and portobello) we tried two - me ordering the turkey and Dan the double beef. We added all the free fixins such as tomato, lettuce and pickles but also some cheese, which was $.50 extra.
Both burgers were awesome, mainly because of the excellent quality of meat used. These patties were tender, flavorful and juicy - and mine incorporated some fresh herbs that I could see marbled throughout the meat. Just delicious and so fragrant! The bun needed some help, as it could've been fluffier, but overall it reminded me of a Shake Shack burger, which as we all know, is very highly regarded.
Fries and Onion Strings - An order of sweet potato fries and onion strings was just what we craved with our delicious burgers. I have nothing bad to say about both and would heartily recommend this combination - the sweet potato fries are hand cut and super crispy, while the onion strings have a nice coating of batter that manages to remain crunchy and wonderful. It's disappointing when onion strings get limp sometimes, but this is far from the case here.
Shakes - I ordered a banana milk shake and Dan got the chocolate egg cream, which was a special. Yowza! The shake was goooood, with a banana flavor that was ever so pronounced and natural. At times, the shake was a bit too thick to pass through the straw, but that's just because there were chunks of real banana in it, which is certainly a good thing.
Dan's egg cream was good too and on the lighter side, as it was made up of seltzer water and chocolate milk. Pretty refreshing and indulgent at the same time - however, an acquired taste.
Service and Cost:
The servers at The Burger Garage are friendly, informative and they provide speedy service. You first place your order at the counter and then wait for your number to be called, which takes about 5 short minutes. It's a great fast-food option, except with high quality food and service.
Costs are inexpensive, especially for the caliber of food you're getting:
Burgers - $4.20 - $7.45
Sides - $2.75 - $3
Shakes - $4.75
One other thing to note is that The Burger Garage does a fantastic job accommodating gluten free diets with their gluten free buns.
3 Mmmms
