Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
261-263 Crown St. (
&
203/562-5507;
www.louislunch.com).
0
New Haven (1
1
⁄
2
hr. from New York
City; 3 hr. from Boston).
L
$$
Omni New Haven,
155 Temple
Louis' doesn't serve much besides ham-
burgers, pies for dessert, and beverages
(including old-fashioned birch beer and
black cherry soda). Thursday through Sat-
urday, when Louis' stays open until 2am,
they also serve hot dogs and steak sand-
wiches. And on Friday they serve tuna
sandwiches, a vestige of the days when
Roman Catholics didn't eat meat on Fri-
days. So who's in any hurry to change?
St. (
&
800/THE-OMNI
[800/843-6664] or
203/772-6664; www.omnihotels.com).
Diners & Drive-Ins
252
Prime Burger
The Coffee Shop Time Forgot
New York, New York
Smack dab in the middle of glamorous,
clamorous Midtown Manhattan sits an
amazing little relic of prewar New York—
Prime Burger. Stepping through the glass
door of this narrow midblock coffee shop,
you'll feel as if you've come unstuck in
time.
The term “retro” doesn't even apply—
Prime Burger is too straightforward, totally
irony free; it's not an homage to the 1940s,
it really
is
a coffee shop from the 1940s. It
has been here since 1938, an offshoot of
the defunct local Hamburger Heaven
chain, and the DiMicelo family members
who have run it all these years just never
got around to redecorating it or gussying
it up in any way. They've kept the space-
agey crystal light fixtures, the laminate
wood-grained wall paneling, the veteran
waiters in white jackets, the long Formica-
topped lunch counter with its spinning
red-leather stools—not to mention a
unique pewlike section of wooden seats
with flip-out trays attached to the arms,
for customers dining solo. (That alone
belongs in the Smithsonian Museum.) And
to go with it, there's a throwback menu
with items like canned peaches with cot-
tage cheese, a tomato stuffed with tuna-
fish salad, cream of tomato soup, or a
baked apple or Jell-O with whipped cream
for dessert.
And now here's the crowning touch—
the burgers are actually delish. While
uptown restaurants serve gourmet burg-
ers laced with truffles and foie gras, at
Prime Burger they deliver the definitive
American classic: a sensibly sized 4-ounce
patty of freshly ground top-grade chuck,
broiled on an old-fashioned flame broiler
and centered neatly on a serviceable bun.
It isn't piled high with tomatoes and onions
and lettuce and pickles you didn't ask for;
even if you order a cheeseburger or a
bacon burger, it won't come overloaded.
For some folks, that's a bummer; for oth-
ers, it's a relief from food-wasting excess.
The simple onion rings and the steak fries
are also well done; desserts, such as the
luscious apple crumb pie, are made on
premises.
Prices aren't exactly from the Eisenhower
era, but they're surprisingly low for Manhat-
tan. Prime Burger doesn't take credit cards,
