Happy Thanksgiving Eve! This was actually supposed to come out yesterday but every time I tried to start writing I ended up crying.
Thankfully it was all happy tears, mainly tears of gratitude which feels a little on the nose (it’s giving thanks) but that’s the honest truth.
I want to open with a genuine and hearty thank you for reading this - if you know me, if you don’t, if you live in New York and can try these burgers or another place entirely (shout out to the BD contingency in Oklahoma!), if you’ve ever sent a review in Slack or suggested a burger for me to try!
I started this endeavor in mid-August and by the end of the year I’ll hit 20 newsletters which feels absolutely insane! But I’ll save more of the sentimental schmaltz for the end of year rerank.
The Seneca, over in Ridgewood, has been an oft-recommended burger. In fact when I first planted the seed of Burger Diva, at least three people immediately replied to my Instagram story asking if it was on my growing burger hitlist. I knew I needed to make a visit before 2024 came to a close so I swung by last week with my friend Claudia.
I’m astounded that I had not officially befriended Claudia before this year - she’s one of those people that I’ve had so many possible points of intersection with and a ton of cultural and friend overlap. We even (allegedly) followed each other on tumblr (allegedly). She’s also been one of the voices echoing the call to try The Seneca, along with the extended CCU (hello worms).
I rolled up on a Sunday evening, eager to burger down and warm up. Seated at the bar, I ordered the titular Seneca burger - double or single patty ($16 or $12), fried onion, housemade bread and butter pickles, and “comeback sauce.” And cheese, but you know how that goes.
As I shared in my Smacking Burger write up, I am a bread and butter pickle hater. However, the pickles at The Seneca have softened my heart and I’m proud to announce that it’s the first time I’ve actually liked them on a burger!
I’ve never been a huge ACV girl so I have a suspicion that my keenness on these guys has to do with a lower amount of that in the pickling mix, plus or minus other inclusions in the brine.
I loved the bit of kick from the Comeback Sauce too - more spice in burgers please! The patty was a nice crusted smash - not quite as thin as the Blue Collar or Dram patty but thinner than Lori Jayne. The fried onions were a nice touch but I’m not totally sure if I’d miss them - maybe a heartier cut would make them more of a presence in the sandwich.
Everything was held together by a potato bun, which is par for the course for a smash burger - if it ain’t broke etc, etc. I really wish I had ordered a double and will be certain to adjust upon my return, which is inevitable with a $10 martini happy hour.
I’m ranking The Seneca at number 6, between Cozy Royale and Ingas Bar. This also makes it my highest ranked smash burger!
Burger Diva is back next week with more talk of tumblr and a certain musical about unions and media. And a burger, but that’s implied.