Where to start. This is a typical manhattan dinner experience with good food, authentic atmosphere and good service. Bring cash as is cash only, but trust me $50 is a lot for 2 people prices are unbelievable you don’t see these prices in Manhattan in years
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
Debbie Smith
First step into the door was met by genuine and friendly host and bartender. THE best shaken and chilled martini, burger, and the fries looked like chips, but we're so yummy and very unique! Nothing was greasy and burger had a great char. I sat at the corner of the bar and met lively locals coming in and out for a late lunch as well. Will 💯 percent be back and place on the list of places to go for first time visitors! Would I have stood in line? Absolutely not, just come back when there isnt a line.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger, Fried Potatoes
Gianmaria Martari
Simply the best hamburger in Nyc!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ryan
Good classic burger & experience but not worth waiting more than 30 mins for a table. Solid beer selection, cash only.
Ambiance is stellar but the service is pretty poor overall. They like getting people in and out as quick as possible here.
Tables are tight so can feel a little claustrophobic depending where they sit you.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Sara
Incredible cheeseburger, classic ambiance, and delightful service (Bobby is so nice!).
Edit: came back for a third time and was pretty early in line before opening on a Saturday to get a seat for one; groups of 2-4+ in front of me and behind me were seated with no issue, but I was told to find a seat at the bar (which had already been packed with groups of 4) and was offered no alternative when I asked, so I left. Great burger, but…
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
Austin McClendon
I'm not often in the Upper East Side, but I was going to the Met to take advantage of the great resources NYC beholds. Because I was going to be in the area, I decided to cross JG Melon off my list as well. You can never go to a museum on an empty stomach!
No reservations, and there is always a line, but that is the charm, so you have to suck it up. A nice fella will write some chicken scratch on a little piece of paper, and you wait. I’m afraid that if this busy piece of paper went missing, there would be chaos in the streets outside of JG Melon; very curious if this has ever happened. But I digress. Don’t expect a text from Resy that your table is ready, because all you're getting is an old-school yell.
If you're a pro, you put your name in and get a drink at a neighboring bar. While you're walking to the bar, I would also recommend killing some time by stopping at the ATM to pick up some cash. This will lessen the awkwardness when the bill comes and they tell you it's cash only, and all you have is plastic in your wallet. No, they do not accept Apple Pay either (I’m a cash guy, but seriously, it's 2025, get a damn card reader; unless you're laundering money, which in that case, keep doing what you're doing JG).
Once you're finally seated, the fun begins. Drinks are a must, but do be warned, they are so good you will extend dinner and cancel your plans to go to the Met (true story). It’s old school NYC, so get a martini and class up the night.
Chili is something that I wouldn’t usually ever get at a restaurant. Respectfully, I think chili is best eaten at home, where you know exactly what's going into it. A lot can be hiding in a bowl of chili, and I have trust issues. However, I decided to take a leap of faith and get the bowl of chili because it was recommended, WOW. That shit is tasty. I respect the low quality of beans, though my Texas roots say that any beans in chili disqualify it from the title of chili; the low quality almost fooled me into thinking I was back home, sitting on my mom's couch, eating her chili. As good as the chili is, it only had one packet of saltine crackers. I've never had saltine crackers with chili, so if the chili had no saltine crackers, I would call it a perfect 10, but one packet felt a little stingy and really ruffled my feathers. Especially since I was sharing the bowl of chili, so we opened up the cracker bag and divided them up like children sharing a lunch. I am just going to assume our bowl was a defective bowl of chili, and the one packet is not a standard.
The staple is the burger, and for good reason. Every restaurant in the city claims they have the best burger, and they are all great, but this is my new number one. Please don’t make the same mistake I did and order it without bacon. Although the burger is the supporting actor to the real star of the show, the chip-cut fries that I will be dreaming about. Chrispy, soft, and very addictive. I would recommend ordering an extra side and then doubling it just to be safe.
Since we waited so long, even after devouring a remarkable amount of food, I still had the appetite of a pride of lions. So I doubled up on dessert, don't worry, I worked out earlier. Chocolate chip chocolate cake was great, and the lava cake was dormant but still delicious. Both were good, but I would probably skip next time.
An insanely delicious meal with excellent service, I will see you soon, my new friend, but for the love of god, get a damn card reader.
The burger is served dry, so you'll need to sauce it up as you prefer. The burger patty is much smaller than the bun...
The place is very small, so the tables are packed tightly together.
When waiting for the restroom, there isn't anywhere to stand. Our waitress tonight screamed at me and told me to get out of the way. I apologized and asked her where I should move to get out of the way. She aggressively told me that it was not her problem and to get out of the way. No help our guidance. Just really agressive rudeness.
Its really loud inside and you have to pay with cash only...
Konstantina Marini
One of the best! They only take cash !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
SO cool, great burger, AWESOME fries!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Simply the best burger
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Worst customer service
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Where to start. This is a typical manhattan dinner experience with good food, authentic atmosphere and good service. Bring cash as is cash only, but trust me $50 is a lot for 2 people prices are unbelievable you don’t see these prices in Manhattan in years
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
First step into the door was met by genuine and friendly host and bartender. THE best shaken and chilled martini, burger, and the fries looked like chips, but we're so yummy and very unique! Nothing was greasy and burger had a great char. I sat at the corner of the bar and met lively locals coming in and out for a late lunch as well. Will 💯 percent be back and place on the list of places to go for first time visitors! Would I have stood in line? Absolutely not, just come back when there isnt a line.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger, Fried Potatoes
Simply the best hamburger in Nyc!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good classic burger & experience but not worth waiting more than 30 mins for a table. Solid beer selection, cash only.
Ambiance is stellar but the service is pretty poor overall. They like getting people in and out as quick as possible here.
Tables are tight so can feel a little claustrophobic depending where they sit you.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Incredible cheeseburger, classic ambiance, and delightful service (Bobby is so nice!).
Edit: came back for a third time and was pretty early in line before opening on a Saturday to get a seat for one; groups of 2-4+ in front of me and behind me were seated with no issue, but I was told to find a seat at the bar (which had already been packed with groups of 4) and was offered no alternative when I asked, so I left. Great burger, but…
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
I'm not often in the Upper East Side, but I was going to the Met to take advantage of the great resources NYC beholds. Because I was going to be in the area, I decided to cross JG Melon off my list as well. You can never go to a museum on an empty stomach!
No reservations, and there is always a line, but that is the charm, so you have to suck it up. A nice fella will write some chicken scratch on a little piece of paper, and you wait. I’m afraid that if this busy piece of paper went missing, there would be chaos in the streets outside of JG Melon; very curious if this has ever happened. But I digress. Don’t expect a text from Resy that your table is ready, because all you're getting is an old-school yell.
If you're a pro, you put your name in and get a drink at a neighboring bar. While you're walking to the bar, I would also recommend killing some time by stopping at the ATM to pick up some cash. This will lessen the awkwardness when the bill comes and they tell you it's cash only, and all you have is plastic in your wallet. No, they do not accept Apple Pay either (I’m a cash guy, but seriously, it's 2025, get a damn card reader; unless you're laundering money, which in that case, keep doing what you're doing JG).
Once you're finally seated, the fun begins. Drinks are a must, but do be warned, they are so good you will extend dinner and cancel your plans to go to the Met (true story). It’s old school NYC, so get a martini and class up the night.
Chili is something that I wouldn’t usually ever get at a restaurant. Respectfully, I think chili is best eaten at home, where you know exactly what's going into it. A lot can be hiding in a bowl of chili, and I have trust issues. However, I decided to take a leap of faith and get the bowl of chili because it was recommended, WOW. That shit is tasty. I respect the low quality of beans, though my Texas roots say that any beans in chili disqualify it from the title of chili; the low quality almost fooled me into thinking I was back home, sitting on my mom's couch, eating her chili. As good as the chili is, it only had one packet of saltine crackers. I've never had saltine crackers with chili, so if the chili had no saltine crackers, I would call it a perfect 10, but one packet felt a little stingy and really ruffled my feathers. Especially since I was sharing the bowl of chili, so we opened up the cracker bag and divided them up like children sharing a lunch. I am just going to assume our bowl was a defective bowl of chili, and the one packet is not a standard.
The staple is the burger, and for good reason. Every restaurant in the city claims they have the best burger, and they are all great, but this is my new number one. Please don’t make the same mistake I did and order it without bacon. Although the burger is the supporting actor to the real star of the show, the chip-cut fries that I will be dreaming about. Chrispy, soft, and very addictive. I would recommend ordering an extra side and then doubling it just to be safe.
Since we waited so long, even after devouring a remarkable amount of food, I still had the appetite of a pride of lions. So I doubled up on dessert, don't worry, I worked out earlier. Chocolate chip chocolate cake was great, and the lava cake was dormant but still delicious. Both were good, but I would probably skip next time.
An insanely delicious meal with excellent service, I will see you soon, my new friend, but for the love of god, get a damn card reader.
A very sharp 9.7
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Still the best
Restaurantji Recommends
THE BEST burgers. PERIOD.
Stella on tap, worth the wait
Interesting meal here.
The burger is served dry, so you'll need to sauce it up as you prefer. The burger patty is much smaller than the bun...
The place is very small, so the tables are packed tightly together.
When waiting for the restroom, there isn't anywhere to stand. Our waitress tonight screamed at me and told me to get out of the way. I apologized and asked her where I should move to get out of the way. She aggressively told me that it was not her problem and to get out of the way. No help our guidance. Just really agressive rudeness.
Its really loud inside and you have to pay with cash only...
One of the best! They only take cash !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheeseburger and Bacon Cheeseburger
Loved the watermelon theme. It is cash only.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
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