In The Press
What a pleasant, well-run, well-priced spot is The Burger Spot. And what a pleasure, in these waning days of summer, to dine outside on Garden City’s Seventh Street — with its wide sidewalks and attractive shops, it really should be called Seventh Boulevard.
The burgers have a lot to recommend them, too. My bacon cheeseburger was meaty and rich, cooked, as requested, medium-rare and topped with tomato, onion, fresh green leaf lettuce (my favored burger-topping leaf) and what the menu refers to as “homemade house sauce,” a creamy, pinkish, burger-enhancing substance.
The bun was brioche. We have a lively debate going here at Newsday about burger buns. I incline toward the soft, sesame-seed-topped model they use at Bobby’s Burger Palace, among other burgeries, but I am more accepting of brioche buns than one burger-savvy colleague for whom they are a burger deal breaker. But The Burger Spot’s brioche bun was not one of those gargantuan specimens that dwarfs the burger. In fact, it provided a structured barrier that my increasingly slippery grip appreciated.
Fries are of the battered variety, and I find that those always taste more of batter than potatoes. Sweet potato fries were better, and the real surprise was a side salad of green leaf lettuce, ripe grape tomatoes and shredded carrots with a homemade herb dressing. Better than a lot of restaurant salads I’ve had. The Burger Spot is at 150 Seventh St., Garden City, 516-746-6100
Jennifer Anicito, 34, of Plainview, sat at a table at the Burger Spot, a 20-seat, order-at-the-counter cafe in Garden City, and offered a bite of burger to her 3-year-old son, Daniel.
“It’s just what you want to see when you order a burger,” Ms. Anicito said, referring to the grass-fed Angus beef patty topped with butter lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles, and served on a brioche bun ($6). “You don’t feel like you’re in a fast-food place,” she said.
That’s what Ewa and Dimitri Londos, the owners, had in mind when they opened this family-friendly storefront spot two months ago; both previously worked in restaurants. “I wanted to cater to families,” said Ms. Londos, who has two preschool children.
The cafe is colored in avocado green and orange, with vibrant photographs of burgers and shakes on the walls. Made-from-scratch turkey burgers are $7. Specialty burgers, served with a side of fries, include veggie burgers ($9) and a crab-cake patty topped with arugula ($11). They share the menu with milkshakes ($5) and a rotating selection of soups, like minestrone ($5).
Salads include the Italian Market Basket, made up of red leaf lettuce, artichoke hearts, red peppers and mozzarella ($9); you can add grilled chicken or a beef patty for $4.
Ms. Londos frequently brings her children to the cafe on weekends, when they order their favorite burger ($4 for a child’s-size burger, four ounces; add fries, soda and a brownie for $3 more). “They like it because everything on the menu, I made at home first,” she said.
The Burger Spot, 150 Seventh Street, Garden City. Open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. theburgerspotonline.com; (516) 746-6100.