Hepcat and I happened upon 67 Burger (67 Lafayette Avenue near Fulton) a short hop from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (open 11 am to 11 pm daily). It’s got a cool modern look that appealed to us right away. But we had more than 90 minutes to waste before our movie, Volver, the new Almodavar, at BAM.
"It’s not gonna take two hours to eat there."
So we went looking for Chez Oskar, which is on a quiet stretch of Lafayette Avenue, near the church. It was farther away than we thought it was going to be.
"It feels good to walk," Hepcat said. He, of course, kept doubting me. "Are you sure we’re going the right way."
YES, I’M SURE.
Well, when we got to the site of the old Chez Oskar A Table it was called something else and is now a Mediterranean style restaurant. It was packed, the menu looked great, and everyone looked very happy in there.
"We’ll never get back to the movie in time," Hepcat said. "We only have an hour.
Somehow we had whiled away a half hour walking slowly through Ft. Greene.
"Let’s go back to the burger place," he said. "A long walk and a burger. Sounds great."
Well, we’re glad we did. Burger 67 is such a cool place. We ordered upfront and selected burgers from a large menu of burger styles. I was torn between the Parisian Burger and the Western Burger. I could have banked on Hepcat ordering the Blue Burger.
One Western One Blue.
They have good beers on tap (Blue Moon was Hepcat’s pick) and an interesting/odd selection of beverages like
Bosco Chocolate Soda and Diet Rite Cola (Royal Crown Cola).
The front of the shop is a cool, high-tech garage door. The back of
the shop also has a glass gargae door facing an interesting brick wall, which will be real nice in the summer whey they can open the doors and have sidewalk seating. There are beautiful high-tech looking ceiling fans and the place is painted an industrial baby blue.
The kitchen is out in the open and the manager runs a tight ship.
"We start over fresh every day. Great fresh ingredients. I am very
concerned about the temperatures (of the meat), we have great
seasonings. It’s all good." the very friendly and professional manager told us.
And boy is it good. The burgers are, well, delicious. It’s a wide,
thin style burger with delicious toppings. The four and a half inch bun
(very important to the kitchen manager) is delicious.
Mine — the Western Burger — came with caramelized onions, BBQ sauce, tomato and onion and it was scrumptious.
Hepcat liked his so much he didn’t say a thing or offer me any.
Afterward he paid it a big compliment. "This is as good as McBells."
Whoa. McBells was an old Irish bar in the village that had a
fantastic restaurant in the back decorated with stained glass windows.
And they had the bestest burgers in New York.
When I was pregnant, I swatted Hepcat’s hand away when he tried to
take a bite. It was that good. I wasn’t giving any of it away.
"The only burgers that I think are as good as this are the one’s at
Stone Park and Fanelli’s in Soho) with honorable mention to Bruce’s
Burgers in Penn Plaza>"
I think Burger 67 has nailed it. A diverse crowd filled the
restaurant. And for those who don’t eat meat or want something other
than burgers there are delicious salads. We had the house salad, which
goes WAY beyond the call of duty of the usual house salad. It had
olives, red beans, tomatoes, onions, and more…
Impressive. As is the rest of the place. An easy, fast place to eat before or after a movie at BAM. No fuss. No muss. And really, really good. Check it out when you go t to Pan’s Labrynth, Volver, or Dreamgirls at BAM. You can’t miss with those movies, either.
You are referring to A Table. Chez Oskar is still open.