The Burgary and Garfunkel’s are two separate venues under the same ownership of Tim Gashi and Valentino Gjekaj. The Burgary (located downstairs within Garfunkel’s), is a casual, creative burger restaurant featuring a proprietary blend of dry aged beef from Pat La Frieda, along with a few salads, tater tots, fries and bedecked milk shakes.
We have started off with the daily special milkshake – the coconut chocolate. This thick shake was good. Not too thick and it does taste coconutty and a touch of chocolate. The large mound of whipped cream, chocolate syrup drizzle, coconut flakes and maraschino cherry does make my inner child beaming in delight. The tater totchos are definitely something you must order. Crispy tater tots topped with cheese sauce, pico de gallo, jalapeño, black beans and short ribs. Granted the short ribs is a supplement but it’s worth it since it’s generously topped and it’s a great combination.
The burgers were all delicious in its own way and be prepared with the fact these burgers are built tall and hope you have a snake jaw. The Lower East Sider is a pastrami, gruyere topped burger with a schmear of horseradish mustard to give it a kick. The burger was cooked to a medium and the pastrami was juicy and flavorful. The potato chip crusted chicken sandwich was a smart way to fry the chicken breast making it extra crunchy. If you build your own burger and custom build the toppings (I chose fried egg, avocado, Gruyere), you’d get to taste the delicious beef more so than the creative burgers.
To get up to Garfunkel’s, you had to be escorted up to this speakeasy bar. The entrance is in the back of The Burgary and once you get up there, it’s a whole different atmosphere. It’s a 40-seat lounge-like room is fitted with vintage family portraits and old cartoon sketches from antique shops and a small bar where the bartender is mixing your drinks. It’s a cozy place where many came to have their hushed conversations either as a date or to catch up between friends.
The drinks ($15 each) are Prohibition Era inspired. The one from the menu was All The Loot made with rye, Byrrh Quinquina, curaçao, and orange and apple bitters. It’s a fruity aand alcohol-forward cocktail balanced out by the bitters to tame the relative sweetness. My request to the bartender was to create something light and refreshing, pick any spirit you’d feel comfortable and I don’t mind spice. He ended up coming up with a gin-based cocktail with jalapeño, elderflower maid cocktail but topped with a frothy egg white. It is a spicy albeit refreshing drink.
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Information:
The Burgary and Garfunkel’s
Garfunkel’s website
67 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
Phone:(212) 529-6999
