Mirage Diner

Live, from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring the Mirage Diner and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now please welcome all the way from Brooklyn, The Mirage Diner!

When I did my infamous Kings Highway Cinema post, a couple weeks ago, I saw a classic Greek diner on the way to the movie theater and made a note that I should go back and check it out. Well, tonight's Cheeseburger Saturday Night, so I thought we'd go there for tonight's cheeseburger. So it's down into the subway we go...

And through the magic of the internet you're spared a 45 minute subway ride and here we are on Kings Highway in Brooklyn.

Goggla recently gave me a key chain compass to help me in my directionally-challenged travels, so let's see if it helps out any.

And look at this, with the aid of the Goggla compass we're here already! The sunshine is fucking up this shot, so I'll take another photo when we leave.

The faux stone walls are a sure sign of an old-school classic Greek diner.

Nice collection of gumball machines in the front foyer.

And here's the front of the diner. They've already got some balloons and Easter decorations up.

The cocktail lounge is situated at the front of the diner.

As I snapped a photo of framed New York Times article on Greek diners, someone said, "You must be from Manhattan!"

It was Micheal who's a chef here and his cousin owns the Mirage. He said that whenever someone is taking pictures in here, it's always someone from Manhattan enjoying the old school flavor of the place. I was busted!

There's a large dining area in here.

Booths line the far wall next to the windows facing Kings Highway.

Here's the marble-topped counter on the other side of the room.

There's nothing I hate more than a mouthy ketchup bottle. Quit asking questions and shut up till it's condiment time!

Okay, time to sit down for Cheeseburger Saturday Night.

I always love the giant menus in these places.

Vako took my order and here he flashes the TWM card. A nice guy.

First up is a generous order of homemade cole slaw and pickles.

And here's the main course, the Union Jack Burger and onion rings.

A delicious and savory cheeseburger.

And here's a shot of the diner on my way back to the subway station. It looks a lot better at night all lit up. A classic diner in Brooklyn!

My Meal
I got the Union Jack Burger which is one of their specialty burgers. The burger comes on a toasted fresh hamburger bun with cheddar cheese and piled high with bacon and fried onions. It was a great burger and instead of french fries, I got the onion rings and asked for them to be cooked extra well done. Most places I request this it doesn’t happen, but here they were extra crispy and it was a delicious meal.

They have an expansive menu with 17 other burgers to choose from including: a pizza burger, a vegetable burger, a buffalo burger and a Texas burger which comes topped with a slab of ham and an egg. There’s also a large selection of sandwiches, panini, wraps and soups and salads. Some of the chef’s specials on the menu include: stir-fry chicken, poached salmon, jumbo stuffed shrimp and the Captain’s Platter which offers up broiled lobster tail, shrimp and halibut, Alaskan king crab legs and stuffed clams.

If you’re still hungry and have a sweet tooth, they have a giant dessert menu featuring mulitple styles of cheesecake, pecan pie, angel wings and macaroon raspberry cookies.

Cheeseburger Rating
Three Wimpy’s an excellent cheeseburger!
Mirage Diner
717 Kings Highway
Brooklyn, NY
718-998-3750

Further Reading: NY Citysearch, allmenus.com and Bundle.

Mirage, that's all you are to me,
Mirage, something I only see.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Easter Bunny Photo From Jaws the Cabbie!

Jaws sent in this Easter Bunny from hell photo he found on the internet. Somebody should boil that bunny! Thanks, Jaws!

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.

I might be movin' to Montana soon,
Just to raise me up a crop of Dental Floss Raisin' it up,
Waxin’ it down.

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Bonus Photos From Shawn Chittle!

Shawn sent in these photos from last night, thanks Shawn! Great shots, as always!

Dumont Burger

Live, from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Dumont Burger and featuring the Ready For Prime Time Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, all the way from Brooklyn, your host, Dumont Burger!

Okay, today we're off to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There's a place there called Dumont Burger which I've heard has both amazing cheeseburgers and mac and cheese! I've heard it's really popular, so I thought we'd head out around 4 PM and maybe miss both the brunch and dinner crowd, so it's off we go.

Down into the subway...

And through the magic of the internet you're spared a twenty minute wait for a train. I was just about ready to give up when I heard the train come rumbling in.

And four stops later, here we are in Brooklyn.

And my handy dandy old school GPS guide is all programmed to get us there, which is good because I'm starvin' like you know who over here!

Abandoned hipster glasses alert!

And here we are at Dumont Burger, for once I didn't get lost! Let's go inside.

Wow, it's a small bar inside and it's packed for this time of day!

I managed to wiggle in to the one empty stool and here's bartender Tom, serving up a bottle of Duvel. Cheeseburger Saturday Night has begun! Huzzah!

Here's the back of the bar. There's a well-stocked supply of bottles with a chalk board of specials overhead.

I stood up on the rungs of the bar stool to get an overhead shot of the bar. I don't think this guy was too happy about it, but hey, that's life in the fast lane!

A long shot of the beers lined up on the bar.

These two women squeezed into the two recently vacated spots next to me at the bar and it turned out to be bartender Tom's mom Julia and his sister Caroline. They're in town from Boston visiting Tom and we had a nice chat through the evening. That's one of the perks of doing this blog, meeting cool people like this. Julia has her own business which is a doggie daycare and overnight facility called, Pet Recess. They told me in addition to bartending, Tom plays in a band called Tryplex and they were going to see him play in Manhattan later in the evening.

And the table is all set, dinner is about to be served! Drumroll please!

And here's the burger and salad, looks great and I can't wait to dig in!

The burger is delicious and this is the mini burger! It doesn't look too mini to me!

And here's the mac and cheese. I got the small order, I'm glad I didn't get the full-size portions in here, or I never would've made it out the door!

Wow, I've eaten a ton of mac and cheese in my lifetime and I think I can safely say that this is the best I've ever had! Really creamy and cheesy and there's bacon in it, which takes it over the top!

A great meal and worth the trip to Brooklyn, for sure!

The crowd has cleared out for a moment, so let's take a look around in here. Here's the wooden bar up front.

The half dozen beers on tap.

There's a communal table in the middle of the room.

And there's a candle-lit wooden railing with stools to sit at that runs the length of the back brick wall.

And here's Caroline with Diana who's serving up dessert.

I got one of Dumont's signature boozy milkshakes, The Nutty Irishman.

It was so good...

I got a second one, served up by super-cute and friendly Erica, who took over bartending duties from Tom.

Okay, I'm stuffed. One last look out the window...

And it's off to walk off the meal and find the subway station as night falls on Brooklyn. See you tomorrow!

My Meal
I got the DuMont Mini Burger and a small order of the DuMac & Cheese. I chose the mini burger because I wanted to try their mac and cheese, which I’ve seen rave reviews of and I didn’t want to get too stuffed. The mini burger was great, it’s served on a soft, grilled roll and I got it with carmelized onions and cheddar cheese. A great burger and just the right size as the mac and cheese was very filling and very delicious! The use three types of cheese: parmesan, gruyere, cheddar and they also throw in some bacon which is the icing on the cake.Speaking of cake, for dessert I had one of their cocktail milkshakes, The Nutty Irishman which is a  vanilla shake spiced up with shots of Frangelico, Bailey's and topped with Dulce de Leche. It was so good I had a second one. I’ve heard great things about this place and they lived up to the chatter.

In addition to beef burgers, Dumont also had a Chickpea Burger and a Turkey Burger on the menu. There’s sandwiches too including, chicken, fish and a Reuben. All entrees include your choice of fries, onion rings, mixed greens or soup. Some of the appetizers offered up at Dumont are: split pea soup, DB chili, fried pickles and ricotta fritters. There’s a good selection of bottled and draft beer and four styles of “Boozy Shakes.” There’s a DT joke somewhere in that last sentence, but I’m too full to tackle it!

Cheeseburger Rating
Three Wimpy’s, an outstanding burger!

Mac and Cheese Rating
Four boxes of Kraft, one of the best mac and cheeses I’ve ever had!

DuMont Burger
314 Bedford Ave. (Near S. 1st St.)
Brooklyn, NY
718-384-6127

Further Reading: We Love Burgers, Village Voice and epicurious.

Fly on little wing,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, little wing.

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