Better Burger NYC

I’m shocked by the low rating of Better Burger by my fellow Unilocalers. I’ve only gotten delivery from this place but I love, love, love their healthy veggie burger.

IT’S CLOSED :’(
Where am I going to go now for a midnight turkey burger?!
They should open a City Sandwich (
) in this location and then I will be able to move on from this travesty!

Ok, I understand that Better Burger tries to be all politically correct and feature healthy and organic items, etc. etc., but, to me, their food is just bland and ordinary. If you know me or read enough of my reviews, you know I love a good burger… so, when a friend who was visiting from NC recommended Better Burger, I decided to try it out. Unfortunately, the entire experience was a let down for me. I ordered their classic beef burger (large size), and, although the meat was tasty, the bun was dry-​ish, and the dressings were just okay. I ordered their fries for a side dish, which they purported to be «guilt free, air-​baked not fried» and organic… but mine were dry and cold! Very disappointing indeed. The final factor that made the experience lackluster was the atmosphere. Better Burger really doesn’t know who they want to be… they look like their going for a simple, contemporary aesthetic inside, but their décor is uninviting and looks cheaply made… especially their menu signage, which looks very amateurish.

Delicousness!!! I love the place. Great service, great food.
The burgers are great I’ve tried the regular burger and turkey burger both good. Their fries are really good, they are air baked making them healthy but they still are great. There is this great combo with burger, side, and drink or smoothie, I always get the smoothie the milk based ones are best in my opinion.

I go to better burger probably about 2 – 4 days every week, my friends and I have become quite familiar with the workers there! they are all very friendly and welcoming,
they’ll also recommend food for you if you don’t know what to get!
the food is a bit pricey but healthy and tasty!

Absolutely dreadful.
I got the half pound turkey burger, it pretty much tasted like something scraped from the bottom of my shoe. My worst turkey burger I have ever made is far superior to that lousy excuse for a ‘burger.‘
Also, the fries were atrocious. I understand theyre trying to be healthy and all but healthy cant be that bad.
And for the final kicker… it was nearly $ 13 for a burger and fries!!! I could have spent 17 and gone to The Spotted Pig.
Stay away.

The burger that I got here was fine, but overpriced. The whole wheat bun was soft but tasted really «wheaty» and took away from the burger. The tomatoes on my burger, however, were surprisingly good! Which I guess means they were imported from Mexico and are covered in pesticides (it is April, after all).
So much for a better burger…

Talk about the most disorganized place in the world. And they wonder why McDonald’s makes so much money… because at least they know how to serve people in a timely fashion and get their orders right!
I ventured here to have a burger. And a soda. Simple enough. No fries. No bacon. Just a plain cheeseburger.
What I got? A bacon chesseburger with fries. And they had the nerve to come up to me and say… sorry, we put bacon and gave you fries, so that’s an extra $ 4.
Absolutely not going back. I am sure next time I crave burgers I can find a McDonald’s around!

Better burger is a little healthier than other places.
That’s good, but not when you want to be a fatty and eat a greasy burger and fries.
The fries are not very good, since, well, they are not fried.

I’m a vegetarian and I had the soy burger and it was scrumptous. I love this place a quik fix for me and I def got my protein in. I def will go back…

My trip to Better Burger can be aptly related to Chris Klein’s utterance in American Pie, «Suck me beautiful.» An epic failure on all levels.
Convinced a burger was necessary for lunch and tired of my regular rotation of delivery spots in Chelsea, I actually exited work and took a walk to Better Burger in hopes of a better burger. The only burger that this was better than was possibly the McDonald’s burger that was left out for six months, but that particular burger looked a lot tastier than mine from Better Burger.
My disaster started with a 10 minute wait for my food at noon on a Tuesday. I was the only person in there and possibly the first to arrive for lunch, but 10 minutes is a long stretch for a fast burger lunch and a monumental displeasure for what I was eventually given. My burger did arrive and if you see the picture, it looked like a small critter had taken at least two bites out of my stale and awfully toasted bun. After moving the lettuce and tomatoes, I found a dramatically overcooked burger of pitiful proportion and girth. The side of smashed potatoes looked edible, but was seemingly overloaded with some trace of garlic-​tude. On the plus side, they had Mountain Dew on tap which always perks up my day and would be the only reason I would ever return there absent an end of the world cataclysm where Will Smith and I would be fighting for the final burger on Earth. In that case, I would probably just go for the soda and watch Will get sick.

I was recently wandering Chelsea around dinnertime and couldn’t convince any of my friends to come meet me, so I decided to give this place a try since it looked like they had comfortable seats and I wouldn’t feel weird eating there alone. I ordered a ¹⁄₃ lb chicken burger with «air fries,» a moniker that not only describes how the fries are prepared, but also what they taste like!
The first thing that annoyed me was that I had to ask for a key to the bathroom to go wash my hands. Laaaaame! The restaurant is so small that the people at the counter could easily see if someone from outside were sneaking in to use the bathroom. Second, the key was on this cotton (absorbent!) lanyard thing, which hundreds of people touch just before and after going to the bathroom, which they then hand back to the counterperson who’s going to be handling food. Gross. There’s just something about having to ask to use the bathroom that makes me feel like I’m at a gas station or back in elementary school. Bugs me.
So how was the food? It was boring. My chicken burger came on a whole-​wheat bun with a few pieces of limp lettuce and very thickly cut tomatoes and pickles. The tomato was literally just a small tomato cut in half and placed on the bun. The pickles were dill spears roughly chopped into 2 inch long pieces. The toppings made it slightly awkward to eat the burger. The meat itself was essentially tasteless. I had to use a lot of ketchup to get it down. The fries tasted like the french fries I used to get at the cafeteria in high school… bland, luke warm, and sorta raw in the middle, with the tendency to turn hard and dry after rapidly growing cold.
I know it’s supposed to be a «healthier» version of a burger joint, but healthy doesn’t have to mean tasteless.
Better Burger: Better than eating a wet newspaper, but not by much.

I was excited to treat myself to a ‘better’ burger — trying to eat better. But this burger was boring! Not only was the bun soak and thus inedible, there was no flavor, no spunk.
I stick to NY Burger Co.

I pose a query about this Better Burger business: who goes for a ¹⁄₃ or ½ pound burger and fries in an attempt to be healthy? Anyone?
Because that’s exactly the message we got from the signs and advertising posted all OVER in this joint. Granted, it was a good burger, but a little overpriced. The fries were decent, but nothing to scream about. And the drink fridge had all kinds of healthy things like agua and those Naked Juice things.
Maybe it’s charading as healthy because of that? I have no idea. Of course, it is in Chelsea…

Walking up 8^th ave can show you a vast array of different little food joints that make you stop each time and have to go up to the window to read the menu. This place I had walked by many times before actually going to though.
The menu is as simple as it can be. Burger, turkey burger, chicken burger, veggie and soy burger. They also have different salads and random sides to go with your meal.
I decided to go healthy and order the veggie burger. It came out timely, id say within 10 minutes.
Not the best veggie burger that I have had though. Quite dry. But hey what are you going to do for the cheap price.
Overall I might end up going back one day if I decide that I want to try something else like the soy or turkey burger but the meal was neither satisfying or enjoyable. THe best thing was the french fries which are ‘cooked with air technology’ or something of the sort. Little soggy and luke warm but not bad.

Lot of hype. lot of let down
Burgers were ok. Small in portion & lacking in taste. The dinosaur sized fries were the only thing that saved my appetite!
All you’re paying for is the decorative interior. Aside from that, I’d have no problem opting for a Mcdonalds Cheese burger.

What’s that saying about the definition of insanity? Something about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?
Yeah, that applies to me and Better Burger. Lock me up in the loony bin, ’cause over the years I’ve eaten Better Burger over and over again and never have I ravished a burger, patted my belly and thought to myself, DAMN, that was AMAZING. Not once, even when I was starving and Better Burger barely saved me from face planting on the concrete. At best it’s okay and leaves me satisfied in a not-​gross way (which is welcome), but more often than not I eat at Better Burger out of convenience after a long layoff and as soon as I take a bite I’m reminded there’s a reason I don’t eat here all the time or crave it. The burger itself is incredibly lean, not all that warm even when fresh, the bun is soggy, it falls apart so damn easy… It’s just very meh.
Really, all I end up thinking after eating a meal here is, «Damn, McDonald’s is way cheaper, as filling, and exponentially more delicious.» Yes, it’s not as healthy, but that’s not the point. The point is I don’t wanna live this wretched little life, this half-​assed existence where I justify the shortcomings of the meal I’ve consumed by thinking, «Hmm, well, the burger was garnished with red onion… And I really dig red onion! And who cares about what I ate when this smoothie is so delightful???»
So here I am, taking a stand. No to settling! I’m not rating low because it’s unremarkable, I’m rating low because it’s flat-​out disappointing. I mean, the last time I ate here my friend tried an air-​baked fry and said, «Yeah… They uh, taste healthy.» Let’s just say I didn’t have much competition in finishing what was left. Even when dressed up with fancy ketchups, they’re still not terribly exciting; they lack the proper texture.
You break my heart with this promise of being a better burger, Better Burger. I’ve given you so many chances to change, but it’s time to let you go. You keep telling me you’re good for me but you don’t feel good, ya know? The chemistry just ain’t there… And it’s not me, it’s you.

I really like Better Burger and commend them for trying to up the nutritional content of fast food. I have always been a turkey burger eater — and the t-​burgers here are juicy and tasty. Great stuff!
I would not hesitate to let my 4 year old daughter eat here once in a while.

I think the name should be «a good burger». I really didn’t think this place has better burger than any other burger joints I have been too. Better yet, their name should be «A burger with better sauce» hahahaha.
I would go from time to time but it’s definitely not a place I would recommend to friends as a place they need to try.

Near the end of our weekend in town, my siblings and I came here to give my food-​conservative brother a break from our brutal pogrom of Middle Eastern, Cuban, etc type of restaurants. He was great about trying new things, so we figured to throw him a bone with some good, plain American food. And hey, it’s a (relatively) healthy and socially conscious burger joint.
I really liked the combinations of choices, and my burger was okay. I had turkey, my brother had regular, and my sister got a salad. The fries were great, and I liked the flavored ketchups.
I’m sure that there are better burgers in town, but this place filled just the right niche for us on a Sunday afternoon.