Bill’s Burger Bar
March 21, 2012 by Feisty Foodie
Filed under American, Americas, Around NYC, Burgers, By Name, Cuisine, Manhattan, Midtown, Restaurants
I found myself in Midtown for lunch one Friday afternoon, so I asked a friend to join me at Bill’s Burger Bar. We started off with the boneless chicken wings – barbecue since I didn’t feel like eating spicy after eating Wu Liang Ye the previous night – which were crunchy, a little oversauced, but tasty in their own right. I definitely prefer eating dark meat, but these sufficed as a nice starter.
My bacon cheddar burger arrived cooked to the requested doneness (medium rare), and was actually pretty tasty. My friend noted that he didn’t think these were particularly large burgers, but I thought they were a fine size (he sometimes eats two for lunch… and yet is not obese, what the heck?!). Was it a phenomenal, life changing burger? No. But it was tasty and satisfied my burger craving nicely, was cooked properly and had a nice flavor to it.
Since neither of us were stuffed and our server really sold us on the cupcakes, we ordered a S’mores cupcake to split. So obscene, that second photo is… In any case, the cupcake surprised me by being moist, not overly sweet, and just the right touch to end a good meal playing catch-up with one of my favorite super tall people in the world.
Yvo says: Bill’s Burger Bar is a perfectly suitable option for those working in midtown (or near the Chelsea location) who want a burger. The location is really big, too, so you can go with a crowd (though make reservations as they can get super busy!) and enjoy yourselves… and I’m sure even the pickiest of your coworkers could find something to eat here 
recommended
still have never made it to Bill’s and not convinced I should. how were the prices? expensive?
mmm Smores.
A little on the high side – the burgers were around $10 and came with just the burger. I wouldn’t say it’s destination burgers, but if you’re in the area or have a friend you want to meet for lunch, it’s perfectly suitable.
Where do you put all this food?
? A burger, a few boneless wings and half a cupcake? That’s not even a lot of food!
Glad you had a good experience there–when I went, the burgers were dry and overcooked. Maybe it was just an off night? I wonder if the downtown location is any better…
Or a bad chef? I’d tried to go previously, and it was too packed for us to wait. This time, there was no wait though there was a good sized crowd, so I imagine they had enough turnover to keep the burgers coming; if you went when it was too slow or too many people, they may have had an issue, I guess. Our food came out pretty quickly too.
I haven’t gone back since that one time which was okay for me. The burger wasn’t spectacular so for that price, I’d rather go to Shake Shack.
That is definitely true – longer lines but much better food for much cheaper (since I get a single Shack, mine is about half the price of this burger). Unfortunately, no SS in Midtown East! … yet?
Grand Central coming soon…
TT always has the info!
That is a darn fine looking hamburger. It looks perfect – and I can see the decadence in the cupcake. S’mores is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Nice meal.
Bill’s was an average burger for me. Okay if you work near 30 rock but not so much when traveling to it.
2nd pic of cupcake is sinful!
Yup, pretty much. There’s also a Chelsea location.