Stand and Don’t Deliver
Stand
24 East 12th Street (b’twn 5th Ave and University)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 488-5900
[map] [subway directions]
Rating: 2/5
Notes:
- Burger: Stand serves up a not overly thick, juicy patty that explodes on the first bite but doesn’t deliver the flavor we were hoping for from a restaurant that specializes in hamburgers.
- Bun: The seeded, white-bread bun didn’t add much to the sandwich and was unable to handle the mess presented by the juicy burger and thinnish cheese sauce.
- Garnish: The burgers come with a caramelized onion “marmalade,” which added a nice, sweet tang to a burger that really needed it. However, one of the real downfalls of this burger was the cheese sauce that was served in a ramekin on the side. Perhaps we’re old-fashioned, but we would have preferred a nice slice of cheese melted on top of this burger. The sauce doesn’t stick with the patty and prevents the bun from holding the sandwich together. The result is a sloppy burger that slides away on each bite.
- Mess factor: A messy burger, especially as we got closer to finishing. In fact, the waiter dropped off extra napkins in the middle of our meal and wetnaps as we were finishing.
- Fries: They offer shoestring and thick-cut fries. We ordered the thinner variety, which were delicious, crispy, and plenty salty. Be warned, Stand takes “shoestring” to the extreme here, think French’s Potato Sticks. The only drawback was that they were so thin that they didn’t allow us to fully soak up the flavor of the homemade ketchup delivered on the side.
- Price: $11, with the cheese sauce and onions.
- Bordeaux: Alas, Stand had not obtained their liquor license in time for our visit, so we paired these burgers with Cokes.
- Atmosphere: You could take a girl there, but we’re not sure you’d want to.
- Overall: We expected more from a restaurant that specializes in hamburgers. Just about everything on their menu includes a hamburger – even their salad. And you can get a burger on the side of your burger, as well. With burgers everywhere, we expected to come out satisfied. Instead, we felt more than a little let down and even a little hungry (maybe we should have ordered that burger on the side). The drawbacks here were too many to overlook: sloppy cheese sauce, a poorly seasoned burger, shredded iceberg lettuce, and a patty that tried to run away on every bite.
Add comment December 22nd, 2006