Black Market
Live, from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Black Market with special guest star, Sophie’s and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher! And now, please welcome special guest star, from the East Village, Sophie’s!
I'm meeting some friends for a few pre-cheeseburger drinks here at Sophie's in the East Village.
Some of the specials of the day are listed on this chalk board out front.
This is a classic East Village bar that's been on the block since the early '80's.
There's a pool table in the back room that's always has a game in progress.
And here's the special guest stars of the evening, clockwise from left: Shawn, Goggla and Lindsay. Great to have them on board for this Cheeseburger Saturday Night!
On the way out I noticed a portrait of East Village artist, Markand Thakar. He was a regular here at Sophie's and he recently passed away. You can read more about him at this post at EV Grieve. After reading about him I was sad I never got to meet him.
We were originally going to go to the Black Iron Burger Shop, but it was packed five ways from Friday, so Shawn suggested another place...
Black Market, which was just a couple blocks away. It looked great to me, I had been drinking since about four in the afternoon and needed anything to sop up the suds in my stomach, so this place looked perfect! Thanks for the quick thinking, Shawn!
In addition to oysters, cheeseburgers are a specialty here, so it's a perfect destination.
It was crowded inside and the bar was filled with texting texters, so we shied away from there.
The front area is nice and dark with candlelight and tiny lights for illumination.
Luckily, there was some tables in the back, so we got seated right away. The place has a somewhat elegant vibe to it, yet it's a friendly atmosphere and the people working here are really nice and welcoming.
And here we are at our back table. My only flash shot of the night!
This is our pretty waitress, Micki. She was really nice and quick with a beer, who could ask for anything more?
A view of the restaurant from our back table.
We started off the meal with an appetizer of deviled eggs. They were topped with caviar and were a decadent delight!
We all ordered the same meal, the cheeseburger and homemade seasoned fries. Looks pretty good, right?
A delicious burger! Thanks to Goggla, Lindsay and Shawn for joining me on tonight's cheeseburger outing!
My Meal
The menu here is fairly simple, the three specialties of the house are listed on the window in gold leaf: Oysers, Cocktails and Burgers. Sounds like a decent holy trinity to me. Being that it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night, we skipped the oysters and went right for the burger and it was fantastic. The burger is made of a Pat LaFrieda blend of beef and topped with American cheese. It’s served with a bakery fresh bun and crispy seasoned french fries. We had the deviled eggs as an appetizer and as good as the burger was, the deviled eggs, at least for me, were the highlight of the meal. They’re topped with caviar and your taste buds come alive at the different seasonings going on within the egg. The most prominent being mustard. A decadent treat, and I highly recommend it.
There’s also a vegetable burger on the menu as well as a New York strip steak, a gruyere and chive omelette served with fries and a grilled cheese sandwich made of white cheddar and gruyere cheese with grilled onions and arugula. The house special is called The Last Waltz which is two dozen oysters and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.
There’s eight specialty cocktails available as well as a decent selection of bottled and draft beers.
Burger Rating
Three Wimpy’s, a great burger!
Sophie's
507 E. 5th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-228-5680
Black Market
110 Avenue A (near Avenue A)
212-614-9798
Further Reading: EV Grieve, Grub Street and Village Voice.
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Bonus Photos From Shawn Chittle!
Shawn sent in these photos from last night, thanks Shawn! Great shots, as always!
Black Market, Cheeseburgers, East Village, Sophie's Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 10:46AM
Reader Comments (24)
I like a good Dark & Stormy ! ... I could use about 27 of them after I get home today ! ..... looks like two good places for a Saturday. I don't remember going to Sophie's before ? I will correct that in 2 weeks !
Smoked oysters are okay by me, but one of my favorite delicacies is smoked baby octopus, and I have yet to see it anywhere but in a tin at some local supermarkets...
The deviled eggs look good. you usually can't go wrong with anything that has caviar on it.
Nice atmosphere in that place. Not a big oyster fan, but since they had it on their window as a
selling point, I would have tried them.
First time caviar eater. I couldn't believe it. Really really good. Those deviled eggs were so good we almost ordered another round.
Marty, as always, thanks for being the host with the most! Lindsay and I promise that after Cash Mob and last night, we will stop dressing alike. Hahahaha.
@GENE: I can't believe you've never been to Sophie's! A classic EV bar, nice to hear you're going to correct that!
@Jaws: I've never had baby octopus, I'll keep my eyes open for it and order it if and when I see it in my travels!
@DaveW: The deviled eggs were the highlight of the night's eating for me! I love them and the caviar definitely was a great topper for them!
@Shawn: Two orders of the deviled eggs next time for sure! Thanks for the bonus photos and for coming along last night. Tons of fun, as always! And I hope you and Lindsay continue to dress alike, it's cool!
I draw the line at LIVE octopi! I've seen videos of people trying to eat live ones... the little suckers grab hold of your face and FIGHT BACK!
Eating Live Octopus sounds like fighting with one of those creatures from Alien. Dark & Stormy's rule, I make em at home with Gosling's Ginger Beer & Ron Zacapa Centenario rum
@Jaws- Smoked baby octopus is one of my favorites!! Good call!!
Had a wonderful time with you all last night!! Really yummy burger. Pat LaFrieda can do no wrong. I can try to stop dressing like Shawn but I can't make any promises.
Everything was wonderful and delicious last night, thank you so much Marty! Had as much fun reading about it!
@Jaws: I've never seen anyone eating octopus, live or dead! I'm starting to get obsessed over here!
@danny the freelancer: Your Dark and Stormy sounds great! Wish I was drinking one right now!
@Lindsay: Thanks so much for coming out last night! Lots of fun as always! And I'll be disappointed if you and Shawn aren't dressed alike next time!
What should we put on top of these eggs?
How about more eggs?
Brilliant!
Looks so delicious! Now I'm going to have to go get something to eat!
@csp: Eggsactly!
@Isabella: I hope it's a deviled egg!
Mistah Marty......I'm worried......I'm VERY wooorried!
First it was you gettin' your shoes shined.......then it was a suit and a tie (and Shawn in a TUX 'ferchrisakes!)......then $400 hats.....and now CAVIAR on DEVILED eggs........this is NOT good.
I'm afraid you are going the way of Grieve......soon to be EVGCommCorp.....livin' uptown.......drinkin' nothin' but top shelf.....and CHARGING for his site.....
....is THIS what's next for us TWM-devotees? Instead of bars, or reasonably-priced diners, you'll be trippin' out to the Long Island Country Club......takin' a limo (WITH hot tub).....buyin' a condo next to EVG......and CHARGIN' for the site.
Oooh.....oooh....I just put it ALL together.....this is the beginning of the NYC Blog Mafia.......I can hear 'ya now....."Don't even THINK of startin' another NYC blog, buddy......we know your email password."
Say it ain't so, Marty, say it ain't so :+(((
@DrBOP: I hate to say, but it is so! In fact I'm charging people for their comments too and I'm going to give you a break, you seem like a nice guy, so I'll call it even at a grand. I'll be nursing drinks at the King Cole Bar in the St. Regis Hotel with a couple thousand dollar an hour hookers, if you want to bring the payment to me by there tonight. Otherwise, well, there might be a little surprise in your bed with you when you wake up. One hint: "Wiiiilllburrrr!"
loved the one two of a bar then the cheeseburger! i remember sophies from the bar crawl days! that burger looks great and looks like a good time was had by all! by the way i always love your surprise links!!!
Hookers ! ... PARTY !!!
"The place has a somewhat elegant vibe to it, yet it's a friendly atmosphere and the people working here are really nice and welcoming"
Well, that just sounds PERFECT.
And that burger? Looks DELICIOUS.
@Bobby D: It was a great night out! And I'm happy you enjoy the surprise links section, it's always fun finding something for it!
@GENE: PARTY!
@meleah: Perfect and delicious are the two words that describe the evening the best!
Dark & Stormy, you say? Hmmm...never heard of that, but it sounds very interesting. I'll have to give it a whirl. Your dinners looked delicious, fo shizzle, but I would've tried the oysters too. Yes, I know that they say you shouldn't eat oysters during any month with an "r," but I've always eschewed food rules like that (emphasis on chewed HA HA HA!). It may explain why I get food poisoning about once every year, but I figure what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Am I right? In any case, add both of those places to my list of things to do. But I'll have to skip the smoked octopus. I mean, I love the stuff, but after I saw a documentary on how smart they are, I just can't bear the thought of eating them anymore. Seriously, they could beat me at euchre.
@Biff: "emphasis on chewed" Ha ha ha! You still gots it, Bifferoonie! My dad got hepatitis years ago from a bad oyster and I've been scared to eat one ever since.
Marty, the King Cole's all well and good, but if you feel like getting a more economically sound hooker, I know just the place. Free butt slaps, too.
@Jimmy the Greek: Thanks, I appreciate the tip!
That's that dry aged burger joint. I hear they got some tasty burgers. That's a nice looking plate with the iceberg lettuce, dill slices and american cheese, it looks like my kind of burger plate. Good review, might actually check this place out.
@legitimate beef: You definitely should check it out, great burger and a nice, friendly staff working there. And don't forget to try the deviled eggs!