Saturday Night Cheeseburger At Fraunces Tavern
Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring Fraunces Tavern with a special appearance by BBC member Gene Rubbico and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome our host, Fraunces Tavern!
Gene's coming over shortly, so I thought I'd prepare one of my patented, special snack mixes for an appetizer before we head out. I've gotten four bags of snacks and a can of Easy/Sleazy Cheese for the mix.
And here's my snackologist certified mixing bowl to begin the preparation.
I'm starting with a base of the Brooklyn Flatbreads.
Now I start adding the other chips and pretzels, carefully pruning and shaping the mix. I've warned about this before, but if you're not a certified snackologist, like myself, please don't attempt this at home!
Four hours later the mix is ready for consumption and my buzzer is ringing. Must be Gene, perfect timing!
And here he is, BBC member Gene Rubbico, holding the sleazy cheese and a copy of Chris Erikson's new CD that he won by being the first commenter at this post.
Okay, after a few beers and snacks, it's time to catch a downtown train to the financial district.
It can be a little confusing down here, but luckily Gene has an actual GPS and instead of me walking around in circles for about two hours...
Here we are at the Fraunces Tavern and Museum. This is the oldest standing building in New York and it's where George Washington gave his farewell speech to his Lieutenants back in 1783. The museum is closed, but the restaurant and tavern are still open.
So let's get inside and get Saturday Night Cheeseburger underway!
Here's the restaurant.
It's nice in here with candle lit wooden communal tables.
Here's a painting of Georgey Boy himself.
The restaurant looked nice, but I think this is more suited to our needs.
It's a nice dark bar in here and kind of crowded, but Gene and I managed to get two seats at the bar.
The bartender was super busy, so I didn't get a chance to get his name, but I did get a shot of him in action.
Gene got a Magners and here it is resting at the bar.
Here's some of the other beers on tap.
Love these lit-up bottles behind the bar.
A shot of the wooden bar from the far end.
Comfortable fur banquettes and wooden tables to relax at are opposite of the bar.
Some of the whiskey flights that are available at the bar.
And when I get back to the bar, tonight's meal is waiting for me. I love it when that happens! Gene and I each got the slider sampler which consisted of a chicken salad slider, a mini cheeseburger and a crab cake slider.
They were really good, although I was a little disappointed in the cheeseburger slider. It was a little dry and didn't have much taste. The other two were much better, in my humble opinion.
After a beer for dessert, a quick glance out the window...
And I'm headed home as Gene continues to bar crawl. He's trying to hit 1,897 bars tonight and I hope he hit his goal!
My Meal
Gene and I both got the slider sampler and it was the perfect amount of food that didn’t leave you with that stuffed feeling. I really liked the crab cake and the chicken salad sliders, they were both very tasty, especially the crab cake. It was crispy on the outside and filled with soft and somewhat spicy crab meat inside. The cheeseburger was a little bland and dry and a bit of a disappointment though. The thing that saved it was the bakery fresh bun, really soft and just a tad on the sweet side.
In addition to the sliders burger they also have a Tavern Burger that comes with French Fries and four choices of cheese to top it off with. Other entrees include: Bangers and Mash with a beer-onion gravy; Pan Seared Salmon, Fish and Chips and Pork Schnitzel with fried potatoes and wild mushrooms. Some of the appetizers offered are: Irish Cheese Plate with onion marmalade, Smoked Haddock Chowder, a daily selection of oysters and Whiskey Cured Salmon on Toasted Stout Bread.
Cheeseburger Rating
Two Wimpy’s, not the greatest in town, but not that bad either.
Fraunces Tavern
54 Pearl St. (@Broad St.)
212-425-1776
Further Reading: NY Times—City Room, ChowderKids and The Bowery Boys.
I’m hungry for that sweet life baby,
With a real fine girl like you.
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Bonus Links From JHwang!
TWM commenter, JHwang/Jason sent in these food links for Saturday Night Cheeseburger. The first is this preview of Pizza Hut's heart attack inducing cheeseburger pizza. And the second is this jello portion that he sent in for dessert, it's kind of hypnotizing! Thanks for the links Jason!
BBC, Cheeseburger, Financial District, Fraunces Tavern Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 11:15AM
Reader Comments (17)
Nice photos. Fraunces Tavern sort of has a New England feel to it.
Disappointing about the cheeseburger though, guess they didn't have that sort of fare in colonial times. If they did, it would probably be the sort of thing that would make Washington angry enough to start a revolution.
I like the way the beer taps are set up above the bar, very elaborate. A really nice bar area and those "flights" look very interesting. Curious about why you didn't continue with Gene on the bar crawl for a while longer?
looks like a good snack mix, i'd try to duplicate it, but i haven't gotten my snackologist certification yet. lol! looks like a cool place and sorry the cheeseburger wasn't the best, but it sounds like the other two made up for it. you picked the perfect video for this too!! ;)
Best snack mix ever ! I don't know how you do it !
Fraunces is a very cool place. I had never been in there before - and I thought it was impressive. Good choice ! Next time I'll get the regular burger in there. The sliders were ok - just not fulfilling enough.
Another good night - and it went by too quick !
Having sampled one of your snack mixes, they are quite amazing. I love the pew benches in the restaurant, and very cool old building. The chicken salad slider looks yummy. But I'm not sure if I could eat in a dingle establishment. Hopefully nothing on the menu included "berries".
Sometimes I really like the colonial type taverns, this one is real.
Washington gave his Farewell Address to the Continental Army following the conclusion of the War of Independence in 1783 not 1762. (There was no America till 1775/1776)
Call me anal, but it was driving me bonkers.
@DaveW: The place does have a New England feel to it. I agree about the revolution, ha ha ha!
@Al: I liked the way those taps were set up too, very cool! I didn't continue on because I started early and was ready to call it a night. I can't keep up with Gene, I think he was out until three in the morning, I can't do that anymore, especially when I start drinking at 6PM! I don't know how he and the BBC do it!
@Bobby D: I'm glad you're cautious about the snack mix and are heeding my warning! Glad you liked that video, I love Paul Revere and the Raiders, they were my first concert!
@GENE: Glad you liked the snack mix, there's still some left you can polish it off this afternoon before we head out!
@kari: Glad you liked the snack mixes! You'd like the restaurant, all wood in there! "But I'm not sure if I could eat in a dingle establishment. Hopefully nothing on the menu included "berries"." Ha ha ha! Good one!
@csp: Thanks for the correction, I got that date on someone's website and I'm a dope when it comes to history, I just made the correction. And while I appreciate the information, I really don't want to call you anal. How about if I just call you lightning?
@TWM: Chocolate Lightning.
I got in at 3:25am. I only went to 10 bars :)
OMG! on one my dates with Ted we wandered in here after beers, sweet potato fries and crabcakes on Stone Street. We promised each other a return visit - the folks were so nice in there. I love your blog!!! I get to look at all the things I can't eat or drink right now... YUM!
@csp: From down under?
@GENE: Slacker! See you soon!
@co: Well, here's your return visit! Thanks for the nice words about the blog!
@TWM: Reign o'er Me
@csp: That's one scary video!
I sincerely hope that the Dingle bar has a specialty house drink featuring framboise. How could anyone possibly pass up a drink called the DingleBerry?
@Biff: Ha ha ha! I'll take two to go!
I agree with Dave Fraunces Tavern reminds me of a New England style tavern as well.
Mmmm that crab cake slider looks great. The Fraunces Tavern is a very nice looking place.
Thanks for letting us trip along Marty!
@Tiki Bar Susie: The crab cake slider was my favorite! Always happy to have you along for the trip!