Restaurants, Traditional American Restaurants, Hamburger Restaurants
$, Bar Scene, Cheap Eats, Dine At The Bar, Local Favorite
Corner Bistro, the last of the bohemian bars in West Greenwich Village, has been serving customers since the earlier part of this century. The original ambience is pretty much unchanged, and we like to keep it that way.
better than average burger
by KT13
it's easy to find a great burger in New York, but not easy to find good value. you can pay $5 or $50. corner bistro is great value, but not the best value. for that go to molly's.
Posted 01/29/03
solid place
by polmolloy
any downtown ny'er has to try this place at least once. go during off hours (before 5pm or after 1am weeknights) to get seated quickly. my burgers have been inconsistent as to temperature (i've ordered medium and they have come out rare occaisionally) but i eat them anyway because it is always delicious. the fries are top notch, too, and it is great that they bring them out first.
Posted 01/27/03
Not Worth the Wait
by blatantdream
The burgers were juicy but greasy. Never go there to buy takeout. While you're standing around for a good half hour waiting for two plain burgers, you're being bumped into by people waiting to be seated because of the narrow passageway leading to the dining area. They totally ignored us so after about 25 minutes, we gave up and decided to leave. The hispanic guy who makes the food was nice enough to run out and give us our order so we paid him and went on our way. The guy who took the order and who was also seating people, ran out after us screaming "You never paid! Pay or give me food back!" Luckily the other guy saw and cleared it up. Let's just say, we'll never go back to this place again. The burgers were average and weren't that great to begin with anyway.
Pros: Decent Burgers
Cons: Long wait, Greasy, Terrible service
Posted 01/08/03
over-rated
by appatt
basic burger, tasty and a catchy atmosphere. Daddy-o's nearby is MUCH MUCH better and unknown
Posted 01/08/03
Wait in line!!
by jgl232
The wait is certainly worth it. For a quick bite or a latenight snack CB is great. Cheap cooked perfectly to order burgers and cheap beers too! You are missing out if you like burgers and haven't been here yet!
Pros: Cheap
Cons: Crowded, Lines
Posted 01/07/03
It is the best
by mharbo
What they say is true, this is the best (regularly priced) burger in Manhattan. J.G. Melon is a close second, along with Paul's Palace on 2nd ave. The atmosphere is awesome too. It's a smoky, beer- and bloody mary-guzzling wooden bar with surly bartenders...just the place to have a great burger experience.
Posted 01/05/03
The Best in NYC?
by Troutie35
If you are looking for a hole in the wall hamburger joint, with bad fries, burnt buns, and slow service this is the place for you. Sure, the prices are good, but you are only getting good, not great. Definitely not the best hamburger place in NYC.
Pros: Low Prices, No frills, Very casual
Cons: Bad Fries, Bad Buns
Posted 01/04/03
Top Notch
by ninny
Pound for pound, one of the best restaurants in the city (if you're in the right mood). Just be ready to wait in line for awhile.
Pros: Burgers / Fries, Price
Cons: Long wait for table
Posted 01/03/03
Somewhat overrated
by Dazed
Don't get me wrong, this place serves up some tasty burgers and chicked sandwiches but I'm not sure if it's THE BEST in NYC. The prices are certainly tasty though.
Pros: Good food, great value, Did I say cheap
Cons: Cheap grub, Gets crowded
Posted 01/02/03
Worth every nickel
by NYC_Brunchers
If you like great burgers and beer in a no frills environment, and don't want to pay NYC prices, this is the place for you. Don't expect linens on your table, or lemon slices in your water, just expect a great burger at a great price and you won't be disappointed!!
Posted 01/01/03
Not so Fast
by shunternj
Last Friday 12/27/2002, found the excitement of going to CB overwhelming. Saw the buns toasting and the meat under the broiler. The burgers were served, but what? The meat was lacking in flavor. And, worse medium rare turned out to be unevenly cooked? Bottom line, not worth the hype or the wait.
Pros: ketchup adds flavor
Cons: flavorless meat
Posted 01/01/03
The best of the worst
by myview
The hamburger was so greasy, I had trouble keeping it from slipping out of my hands.And then when I was finally able to take a bite,I had to wipe my hands 6t imes on the napkin in order to get the grease off my hands.I could not tell whether the mayonaise I ordered was Hellman's or Kraft's, it was so raunchy tasting that I had to conclude that whatever jar it came from, the expiration on that jarwas over due.The soggyfries keeled over when I dippedtheminthemayonaise.The waiterwas a pleasant, Dave Thomas look-alike, whoforgot to bringme a lemon andthen my mayonaise. But he was so genile, all was forgiven.The joint was packed with smokers and drinkers, on NewyearsDaywhen everyone should be home recuperatingfrom the night before- A cause for concern when it was time to freshen up/but to my surprise there was no line at all. But the bathroom was difficulttofind/inpoorcondition/andunclean.
Posted 12/31/02
Burgers as big as your head
by bloanddlo
Corner Bistro was the most amazing burger we had ever tasted in this world. Seriously, it was delicious. From the charming host/bartender Paul to the local neighbor in the corner, Roger, the atmosphere and the delicious food filled every part of our hearts as well as stomach. Do not look for a menu as you don't need to order anything else other than a burger, fries and beer. We will definetly see you there:)
Pros: no wait, food, beer
Cons: smoky, busy during lunch, hot
Posted 12/29/02
chunks of bleeding meat
by ffaiser
The sweltering rack of burgers at the bistro is a fine, fine site. Plenty of meat is placed on each of those irrelevent objects called buns, and to wash it down with a 3$ brew is just a joke. It's certainly a good time at minimal cost.
Pros: food, price
Cons: crowded
Posted 12/27/02
Beef Sushi
by ddecavai
This is teh place for very high quality cholesterol. Itnakes heart disease worth it.
Posted 12/25/02
UGH it was awful
by kirbyko3
Why are they considered "best burger"? It's NOT flame-broiled, it's done on one of those frying-pan machines, and tastes like I did it myself in my kitchen. If you want a REAL flame-broiled burger, hit Florent in the meatpacking district.
Cons: no taste, fried not broiled, blecch
Posted 12/24/02
At least the beer was good...
by woobby
The burger I had was a tough, overcooked, tasteless overhyped disappointment. I've eaten better burgers at Wendys. First of all, the meat was lukewarm, as if it had been lying around for a while before being served. Secondaly, the bacon on the burger was the consistency of jerky. The cheese wasn't even melted. I cannot believe how anyone could think this is the best burger in the city. Beer was good, so the night wasn't a total wash, but don't be fooled by these other people who say that their burger is the best in New York, because it simply isn't. Don't believe the hype. If you really want a good burger, fly to SoCal and go to an In-N-Out Burger.
Posted 12/22/02
Simply the best
by lulu622
Corner Bistro is the place to go when you want to unwind and enjoy yourself.
Posted 12/18/02
The best
by thom42
The best burgers. Awesome value. Great ambiance. Great place for a weekend lunch.
Posted 12/17/02
1st & last time
by hedonist
it was a 45 minute wait for less than average burgers & the worst chili EVER in a noisy, dirty tavern. the burgers were requested as medium and well-done. instead we got well-done and rock-hard. the quality of the meat is not even worth mentioning. the chili was mainly oil, which was, quite literally, the entire top half of the bowl. the food is undoubtedly inexpensive, but it is not even worth it. we went out of our way to try such a highly-rated place and ran out in disgust.
Pros: there aren't any!
Cons: terrible food, filth & noise, bad service
Posted 12/17/02
Yes, this really is the BEST burger.
by wick
This really is the best burger in NYC. I always get my burgers medium-rare. In lesser burger joints, they are cooked and brown all the way through. Not so at the Corner Bistro; Their burgers are charred on the outside and still bloody on the inside. The buns are also very good: hearty and dry, not soggy and dampy. Read that twice if you like Paul's Palace. The Corner Bistro is also superior to the Jackson Hole and Cozy Soup and Burger. I pity those who only had these inferior burgers, and I challenge them to the visit the Corner Bistro and discover what a good bloody burger is. The bar's old Greenwich Village charm, as well as the fact that food is served until the bar closes late at night, solidify its status at the best burger joint in NYC.
Pros: Great food, Inexpensive, Good ambience
Cons: Sometimes crowded, Poor service, Difficult to find
Posted 12/15/02
Delicious and cheap!
by alimaclennan
A great place to come if, like me, you are on a tight budget and in need of some wholesome, filling, unhealthy food. No frills, just good burgers n beer!
Pros: Tasty Burgers, Cheap, Lively
Cons: No reservations
Posted 12/11/02
This place is a DISAPPOINTMENT
by drliz7
There's nothing good about this place, and if you think this is a good burger place you don't know what a good burger is. It took us about 30 minutes to get seated, the burgers came without lettuce, they brougt us the wrong drinks, and the flavor of the burgers were below average. I will never go back to this place. It was a disappointment.
Cons: BAD SERVICE, CROWDED, NO FLAVOR IN MEAT
Posted 12/05/02
carnivorous
by dfmurphy21
Corner Bistro has great burgers, but the best in New York are available at the Smith & Wollensky Grill on 49th Street around the corner from the Steak House of the same name. Along with fries and a pickle, their burgers are delightful, and they are enormous - a burger lovers dream!
Pros: ideal burger, aged beef
Cons: the wait on busy days
Posted 12/05/02
Good Eats
by hollyw00d
Great date spot, don't take your high maintenance women here, they just don't understand... Great selections on the jukebox. Great burger and honestly some of the best bathroom graffiti in the city.
Pros: Great Juke Box, Inexpensive
Cons: the wait for a table, crowded
Posted 12/04/02
Good but not the Best
by Val_D
Corner Bistro has what one might call the best Burger in town, but it is just that: Only a burger. Nothing exciting about it. You have to go across town to St. Dymphna's in the East Village. There the burgers are like a prty for your mouth. And when I say party, I mean Super!
Pros: Good Deal, Fast Service
Cons: Always Crowded
Posted 11/26/02
No way
by villagepainter
I have no idea how this got ratted the best burger in town.
But its like a regular, dinner bugger....plain bun, ugly lettuce, and the first time i ordered it, it was raw(like purple), and they gave me attitude for sending it back.
I will give it this....its a great dive bar,,,perfect place to have a drink with an old man with no teeth.
Pros: nice bar tenders, real barfly kinda pla
Cons: raw burger, limited menu
Posted 11/19/02
love the bistro
by qns_girl27
To eat in a hurry and get a seat make sure you arrive before 6pm! It gets super packed, but you can always have a few beers at the bar while you wait! Dont forget to try the chicken sandwich, to die for.
Pros: good for small group, hidden back tables
Cons: very small, tiny tables
Posted 11/15/02
The best????
by paul353
Can't understand why this places get all this hype. It's a good burger but there are plenty of Greek diners around where you get something comparable.
The line for burgers stretch through the bar area which make it very uncomfortable and inconvenient for those waiting in line and those just having a drink at the bar. Once you're seated it is VERY cramped (they stuffed my party of 6 onto a table for 4) and they accomodate my request for fried onions.
All in all, the burgers here are good but not worth the aggravation.
Posted 11/12/02
where's the beef?
by sdeges
Corner Bistro, despite the hoopla and critical praise, is nothing more than a burger joint with long lines. The burgers are boring and have limited flavor. The bandwagon is full and needs to be unloaded in the Hudson with the rest of the waste. Taste buds should determine the true champion...which CB does not deserve.
Pros: dingy, good neighborhood
Cons: long lines, long wait, watery beers
Posted 11/08/02
Corner the Bistro Burger
by Don_Monahan
The joint is old but the beer is cold. The burger is sloppy but sensational. The fries are fantastic. And every now or then you can walk right in sit right down and go to town on the best burger in town!
Pros: Dark, Snuggley, quintessential
Cons: wait, no wait list
Posted 11/06/02
Lower your expectations
by tperri71
I won't say that the burgers are bad, but they are not deserving of the lofty praise given in previous reviews. I think maybe everyone goes there drunk and we all know anything tatses good drunk. I'll say this - they're greasy little buggers, and small too. But hey, they're only burgers. Can't say I recommend, but no need to stay away either. Just lower your expectations...
Posted 11/01/02
over rated
by oi812
this place has become such a tourist trap. Bohemian bar no more. the burgers are marginal at best. some people rave about them, but they really are just okay. this place gets way too crowded as well. if you are gonna go, try and hit it off hours. avoid it on the weekends or on thurday nights.
Posted 10/29/02
Where's the cheese???
by sawice
The beer is still cheap, the line is still long and the waiters are still disinterested (to put it mildly). Unfortunately, the burgers have changed. Perhaps it's the stinginess with the cheese (only one slice?) or the increase in tables which worsens an already crowded place. There are better places for a burger, although maybe not at 3am.
Pros: cheap
Cons: dirty, crowded
Posted 10/25/02
Corner Bistro Is It !!!
by pebblessam
I agree. Corner Bistro is a little hard to find after a night of partying. But the burgers are the best along with anything choice of beveregs that is serverd. These burger are tastier than eveny Wendy's,McDonalds,Burger King,White Castle.All American plus any diner,resturant,fast food joint combinded. They are that good. The least metinioned fact is that these hurgers are very digestable. Nor heartburn/acid refluex/gas..etc erver after eating at the Corner Bistro...
Pros: Open till #-4 am, Tasty, flavorfull, melts in your mouth
Posted 10/25/02
worth the wiznait
by willardnyc
cool crowd, geat jukebox, good atmosphere, and some bad ass burgers.
Posted 10/23/02
Over-killed and under-whelmed
by ursa
The Corner Bistro burger is the culinary equivalent of a British art-house picture; it sounds great, it looks fabulous, but you walk away feeling that it really could have done with just a little..something. In this case, cheese. Sure, the patty is fat and visually impressive, albeit a little more well-done than we would have preferred, but where was the cheese? A single processed slice serving as the wispiest of garnishes. It's good, but there are better out there...and with shorter queues.
Pros: The Burger
Cons: Cheese (lack of), Small beer glasses
Posted 10/22/02
Good but not great
by robinsn
Besides being a mediocre burger, this place is a dump! Paper plates, plastic cups, dirty tables. Maybe with a hangover this is overlooked but for those of us in search of a great burger, it's just a disappointment.
Pros: Cheap
Cons: Didn't feel clean
Posted 10/18/02
Classic in every way
by d3
for those who argue it's hard to find and for those who argue the burger's no good, you must be from mars and you must be damn lazy. unless you like your restaurants screaming with neon and stuck in the middle of times square, then a hard to find favorite like corner bistro is in the perfect place. it's enjoyable to tell a cabbie, "corner bistro, west 4th and jane, off 8th ave. and 12th street's right there too. you know that weird little corner right." they always tell me, "sure" and that sends me on my way to the easiest drinking beers, best tunes, and juiciest burger in town. corner bistro is a classic in every way. the hype is not hype, it's just the truth.
Pros: food, music, waiters
Cons: long lines
Posted 10/18/02
Hard to find for a reason...
by sparkle51o
"The place is hard to find" and "the cab drivers don't know how to take you here" - these signs are telling you something. It doesn't want to be found. I had one burger here and was still hungry....and couldn't find a good reason to have another one. Now that is not a good sign. The burger was nothing special, I really don't understand the hype. Did I come to the right Corner Bistro? Was it just a bad burger making day in the kitchen? Everyone with me was in agreement. If you want a REALLY GREAT burger, go to McHales, now that is not only dee-licious, but a great deal as well.
Pros: Cheap
Cons: False Hype, Taste
Posted 10/17/02
Great Burgers, Cheap Beer
by wkyjake
Awesome place for a delicous burger and a few pints. McSorlies pints are only $2! Where else can you get a deal like that. Though its tough to get a table, almost always swamped buts worth the waite
Pros: Great Burgers, Cheap Beer- $2 drafts, Fast Service
Cons: Long Waits for table, not so friendly staff, kinda dingy
Posted 10/13/02
WOW!!!
by brahma_bull
Wholly crap, that is one good burger!! But good luck finding it, no cab driver knows how to get to the cross-streets.
Posted 10/10/02
5 STARS!!
by sdm268
Excellent burgers! I'm from Houston, TX but NYC is my 2nd home .... and I've had plenty of good burgers in Texas. But NONE still compare to the burgers I've had at Corner Bistro! A MUST-EAT! The ambience is also classic, and non-pretentious!
Posted 10/09/02
This burger did not mooove me!
by cfitzgibbon
In search of the best burger in town, the corner bistro was alright but I can't say much else. Besides the dark, dank surroundings, the burger was just alright. Disappointing with all the hype I had heard about them.
Posted 10/09/02
Best??? You must be drunk!
by Gothamkid
Cheap beer might explain the remarkable number of high ratings. A tasty but unremarkable burger. I would rather take a burger from Island or Pom Pom Cafe any day.
Pros: cheap, filling, beer
Cons: waiting, in, line
Posted 10/04/02
5
by barrycullen
this is a saloon and a not to clean one at that
If you crave something while your staving off drunkeness at the bar okay otherwise go to a restaurant.
Posted 10/01/02
hangover-heaven
by nicky6
For the last 3 saturday's I have gone to corner bistro at around 1pm-starving and hungover. Frankly, I can't say that I've found a better out of ritual than the one stated above. I walk in and order a cold mug of Sam Adam's while I wait to be seated and get a tasty bacon, cheese burger and delicious fries. I swear to god that these burgers keep my head on straight for the whole week. These burgers are so awesome that I will continue my saturday ritual until I run out of cash. Corner Bistro is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pros: Awesome food, quick service, inexpensive
Posted 10/01/02
HELLO...Are you guys Dumb?
by Godzuki24
Bistro Burger=Overrated, Bistro Burger=Crap. What is it that the place puts in the Burger to brain wash people into thinking that this is good. There are countless places in the city who (on their worst days) can make a better Burger. Seriously, it offends me to think that people honestly think that this crap is good. Maybe I should throw back 4 or 5 drinks at the bar before I get a Burger. Maybe that is what it is, dead taste buds make the Burger better. C'mon everyone, be honest this place is nothing special.
Pros: cheap, nice location
Cons: crowded, smokey, cramped
Posted 09/30/02
mmm, the triple burger baby!
by mafabozzi
The BEST burgers in town, no doubt, this little hole in the wall place always has line out the door and servers running around in a frenzy to cater to everyone's needs! this very popular burger joint has other not so exotic but bbque and delicious fattening foods to cater to your palate, stop by for a beer and burger! or chicken, if you are watching your weight!
Posted 09/25/02
Best Burger Ever!
by manhattanite
Wow, what a great burger! It's so good and tastes even better with a beer. The lines may be a bit long, but once you sit down, service is quick and friendly.
Posted 09/22/02
