Cheeseburger

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
October 6, 2005

GOOD BURGER
800 2nd Ave
@ 43rd St
New York, NY 10019
212-922-1700

Click here for other Good Burger locations.

Don’t be fooled by the name, Good burger is not good. I wouldn’t venture so far as to say that it’s horribly bad, but the place is a complete rip-off of Burger Joint — except that it is not as charming and the burgers just aren’t as good.

The menu resembles that of Burger Joint’s down to the combos and the term “the works.” Good Burger does have one additional flavor of milkshake — black and white — in addition to the traditional chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, and offers cream sodas. The problem here is the burger: it is basically tasteless, even with the works. The only thing that they do better than Burger Joint is the fries. My complaint about Burger Joint has always been that the fries taste like they were frozen.

I observed the restaurant from outside on the street as I waited for my friend for a good 45 minutes, and from the traffic that Good Burger is getting I think it’ll do just fine. After all, it’s a burger joint with fast turn over, and the burger is definitely better than McDonald’s. However, if you are a burger fanatic, I’d say you can skip this one on your burger tour and move on to the next destination on your list. Let me put it another way: I am willing to travel for food — to Fort Lee for Korean, Astoria for Greek, Woodside for Thai — but I’m not willing to make a one-stop train ride to Turtle Bay for this burger again.

Also in American, Burgers, Midtown East