Whitman's 07-28-2012

Location: 406 E. 9th St.
Time: 3pm
People: RB, CK and myself

Feelings: The most striking aspect of this small burger joint in East Village is their exceptional service. The second most, would be the ever addictive crack kale. At Whitmans', the lovely man behind the counter completely caught us off guard with his genuine smile and gentle manners. As he played Lionel Richie's Say You Say Me from his Spotify playlist, I just wanted to clone this man and replace every annoying entitled waiter or manager with him.

Whitman's has an intimate room with rustic Americana decor on the top floor and more dining space downstairs, serving excellent burgers made from grass-fed beef. The burger menu includes a variety of styles from "The Upstate Burger" ($7 classic burger), "The Revis" ($12, grilled brisket beef burger), and "PB&B Burger" ($9, burger served with organic peanut butter & bacon) to Whitman's famous "Juicy Lucy" ($10, Beef short rib blend burger stuffed with pimento cheese), which originates in Minneapolis. RB certainly devoured this burger without particularly believing the precaution that was stated on the menu-- Caution: juicy lucy is very hot in the middle and might squirt. The cheesy mess covered his entire right arm as he bit into the tasty burger. He thought if this wasn't so tasty, he would be a little upset with himself. Also another caution: Cash Only at Whitman's.

Unfortunately they don't offer veggie burgers here, but instead I had "Succotash Made-Rite" ($10, Cumin roasted organic carrots, fresh corn, edamame & poblano with cilantro and avocado on blue ribbon bakery palmor toast with crack kale), which was not too exciting textually, but the side of crack kale completely filled up my heart and tummy. These ever juicy, greasy, fried and seasoned kale chips are everything anyone needs. They are on the heavy side, so sharing would avoid any possible indigestion. Hey, at least they are rich in vitamins...right?

As we were leaving the place, the man who deserves to be cloned walked us out the door and waved to my son goodbye. I felt like I was leaving a high end Japanese hair salon--all pampered and relaxed while our hands all greased up from the delicious crack kale and Juicy Lucy's juice.