The Hungry Goat — October 20, 2009

On the Mark

With everyone obsessing over Bill’s Bar & Burger there is a sleeper that is going under the radar that may just be serving the best sliders in New York. It was hard to imagine that something could have been missing from the already cramped restaurant row that is St. Mark’s Place. But with last week’s opening of MARK Burger, it became alarmingly clear that what it was missing—craving, even—was a good, cheap burger (or in this case slider) joint.

The food on the restaurant’s concise ten-item menu, is simple and straightforward, and all the better for it. The meat (a mix of chuck, short rib and sirloin) is ground fresh in-house. The 2oz. Beef Sliders, a great value at $2 a pop, are all dressed with gooey, melted American cheese and slivers of sweet onions that get fried onto the patties as they cook. According to Operating Manager Helah Kehati, traditional toppings such as lettuce and tomato have no place here because they hide the flavor of the burger. It’s a philosophy that myself and other burger connoisseurs can appreciate.

The sliders are in the style of those served at cult-favorite, White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey. But as Jeff put it, “in the case of White Manna, the student has surpassed the teacher.”

No hyperbole: these sliders are unreal. They’re juicy, cooked to a perfectly consistent medium, and have robust beefy flavor. What’s more, the restaurant offers a trio of homemade sauces: jalapeño-honey, chipotle ketchup, and barbecue—all of which pack a punch.