New Kids on the Block

By Arthur Schwartz

Burgerhead

This burger place on 6th Avenue between Washington and West 4th, opened on March 30.

The Village doesn’t have too many quick order burger shops once you peel off McDonald‘s and Burger King—don’t get me wrong, some of the best burgers in NYC are in the Village, but you can’t just run in and grab one. This place serves superb charbroiled burgers, chili dogs, and super-thick shakes.  The burgers are flame grilled. You can get your Burgerhead charburger as a double, but the single-patty version works just fine, especially if you add on some bacon. It’s meaty and juicy, with a nice balance among the classic toppings (shredded lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles from the Pickle Guys), and a nice mustardy special sauce glopping things up. And the sesame seed bun has body.

The fries are first-rate too, as are their shakes, which they make to order with hard, not soft, ice cream, so it’s cheek-suctioning thick. The Burgerhead chili can be eaten by the cup or ladled all over a snappy hot dog with tons of cheese. It’s all extremely satisfying, and it’s all exactly how you want food like this to taste. Photos courtesy of Burgerhead.

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Ark Bagels

Lots of places sell bagels in the Village, and a few stand out. Bagel Pub on 9th and 6th and Brooklyn Bagels on East 8th are my favorites. But quite by accident I stopped at Ark Bagels which is a little north of the Village, on 16th and 8th Avenue. Its worth the “trip” to Chelsea.

Their bagels are hand rolled, and there are about a dozen varieties, including egg everything, pumpernickel everything, blueberry, French toast, jalapeno, black and white, and chocolate chip. Cream cheese flavors include veggie, scallion, lox, jalepeno cheddar, chipotle, sun dried tomato, strawberry, Oreo cookie, apple cinnamon, espresso and veggie tofu. Flavored cream cheese on a fancy bagel costs $4.95. Have one with organic eggs or one of their many spreads. It will cost a few dollars more, but like everything else in Chelsea, the prices are lower than the Village. Photos courtesy of Ark Bagels.