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Come fall, Harlem is going to have a 🍔 behemoth: Shake Shack plans to open a branch on 125th Street.
The neighborhood has its own burger joints, of course, two of which — Harlem Burger Co. and Harlem Shake — are similar in their core offerings of burgers, fries and milkshakes. And while they, armed with spatulas and loyal clienteles, brace for increased competition, we say it’s prime time for a taste test, a battle of the burgers, a beefy brawl.
Shake Shack was, back in the early aughts, just a calf itself, and the hamburger-stand model has taken many forms since. (See Smashburger, Bareburger, et. al.) And the Harlem-owned restaurants offer their versions, which come out in taste and unique menu items.
So while Harlem Burger Co. owner Alper Uyanik is surely bracing for the Shack, he’s confident in his customers. “At the end of the day, when a business has a local community following, the community really tries their best to support it.”
And many beef-loving hearts have room for all the burgers.
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Photo Credit: Bruce Gilbert -
City searchers, here’s a Manhattan neighborhood that you may have overlooked because of its proximity to Tourist Central and, quite possibly, your office. But Kips Bay, roughly from Lexington Avenue to the East River, and bordered by East 23rd to 34th streets, is more than the sum of its chain restaurants.
Walk its quiet side streets to really explore its history, including the 69th Regiment Armory, a substantial structure dating to the early 1900s, and one of the few remaining wood-frame homes in the city, which takes you back to the 1700s. You can really stretch your legs along the miles-long river walk, a refreshing path as you hit a 2-story thrift shop benefitting the NYC Opera, dine on Indian cuisine and dig into your pockets for change to play arcade games at Modern Pinball. (Yes, they even have the Addams Family pinball!)
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Photo Credit: Shaye Weaver
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