Pop Burger is one of those places that I constantly walk by but never visit. I've always been intrigued by the glowing interior and just the novelty of it all. I never imagined the food to be stellar. Mostly because the place seemed empty no matter what time I passed. But this week, after my excursion through the Upper West Side back towards my Midtown apartment, I was hungry enough to stop by. Plus, I had a weird craving for a burger of sorts.
I have to admit, the place was pretty intimidating once I walk in. With glowing walls, no line, and eager employees waiting for my order, I felt the pressure. After taking a quick glance at the menu, I decided on the Pop Burgers. 2 sliders with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce. Pretty generic. It's named after the place. Why not? While I'm at it, a side of onion rings sound good.
The burger was OK. Nothing special. Actually, it was cooked at a pretty good medium. The patty was juicy. The cheese was melty. The biggest infraction? Too much bun for the meat. As far as sliders are concerned, I don't really like it when there is too much bread. With so much bun, it hides a lot of the beef, which was a shame since the patty was actually pretty good. I think I would have loved this if it had more of a softer thinner bun.
The surprise of the meal? The onion rings. I'm pretty picky about my onion rings. I find at most places that the onions are too wet or the the batter is too fried. These were actually perfect. A good crispy fried batter with a dry onion. Not too oily. Perfect with some ketchup/mustard.
After some post meal research, I realized that Pop Burger also has a lounge (follow the red velvet ropes) whose menu (both food and drink) didn't really pique any interest. Would I be returning? Not often and not for the sliders. If I do end up back at Pop Burger, I'd probably try the chicken sandwich which looked pretty well sized and popular. Oh and of course the onion rings.
