Face Off: Danny Meyer Vs. Bobby Flay

It seems like the weakening economy has forced every great restaurant owner to open up a burger joint. Even Chef Daniel Boulud has just opened up DBGB, which is by no means a McDonalds, but has a bar menu with slightly pricy and higher class burger options. I've decided its the next place I need to visit when I go home  in November. I think his burger "The Frenchie" sounds amazing- who wouldn't want to eat a hamburger topped with pork belly and cheese? 

Before I left for school I made sure to try two of the new gourmet burger joints that are actually meant for the semi- average joe. 

Bobby Flay's "Bobby's Burger Palace" is in the Smith Haven Mall on Long Island but also has several other locations in New Jersey and Connecticut. The one I went to had about 10 burger options, some sandwiches, fries and of course, milkshakes. I tried the Napa Valley Burger (for only $7.50), which was made up of the patty, fresh goat cheese, watercress and meyer lemon honey mustard. It was incredibly delicious. The only flaw was the messiness. By the end of the meal both my clothing, hands and the rest of the bun were soaked with the honey mustard. The goat cheese was also slightly over- powering and I'm never one to ask for less goat cheese. I also ordered his sweet potato fries with honey mustard horseradish sauce and they were the best fries of my life. The sauce was simply amazing. I completely commend Flay on making a burger restaurant with meals that people can actually afford and options that taste both expensive and innovative. 

About a week later I went to Danny Meyer's Shake Shack in New York City. He has three locations including one at the new Mets stadium Citi Field, but I went to the one on the Upper West Side. The Shake Shack's options were much less gourmet, and the five burger options offered were fairly simple ranging from different types of cheeseburgers, mushroom burgers and hamburgers. I chose to get the ShackBurger, which was made with the patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and "Shack Sauce." Honestly, the burger sounded pretty average so I wasn't expecting much, but for some reason it was the best burger I've ever had. To this day I still can't figure out what was so special about it but everything was perfect. The sauce was delicious and didn't seep into the bun, the meat was perfectly cooked, the bun was just a little crispy and overall it was just a fantastic burger, and only for $4.75. 

If I had to compare I would say Meyer won on the burger, and Flay won on the fries- but both burger joints are definitely worth trying out. And for less than 10 bucks, this is a trend I can totally follow.