Lucky #21

If I were not a "family blogger", I think I could make an honest living spending my time writing a blog about burgers.  Cheeseburgers, hamburgers, turkey burgers, you name it.  I've been on a bit of a burger tour since living in New York to try all the most talked about burgers in the city.  Part of my touring involves a lot of education on the best places to go to have a nice juicy bite.  So anytime I see an article touting "the Best Burgers in America", my mind starts to real and my mouth starts to water at all of the little gems in the city I have yet to try and what I have to look forward to on my quest to eat all the best burgers in America. 

Somewhere on our travels across the country, Mike and I stumbled upon an article in Celebrated Living that hyped up the burger at the historic 21 Club in Manhattan. When we moved here in 2010, it was a restaurant that we had on our list of New York staples to visit, but had somehow forgotten about it with everything that's been going on in our lives.  After seeing that article, it reminded us of our next date night excursion.

I pushed that vault open with
my own strength...yeah P90X

If you haven't been to the 21 Club, I strongly suggest you head there.  Not just because of their famous "Salisbury-esque" burger, but it is an authentic historical landmark . We were excited to have a reason to dress up and be fancy at this jacket's required establishment; Mike in his suit and myself in a fun silky dress.  Since our reservations were rather last minute, we headed to the Bar Room, rather than the more fancy and more romantic "Upstairs at 21".  The bar room is adorned with thousands of athletic and historic treasures from over 75 years.  There are football helmets, ice skates, baseball bats, golf clubs, and more from American champions over the years.  Additionally, every U.S. President has eaten in the Bar Room since 1930, with the exception of Obama.

We had a lovely waiter who was extremely attentive and eager to share the timeline of the evolution of the 21 Club from it's construction in the late 1800s. The club was opened as a speakeasy during the Prohibition Era in 1930.  It was never shut down because of the secret wine cellar they have in the basement that was built to essentially be invisible.  This great vault is where all the alcohol was hidden during the Prohibition Era and is only unlocked through the use of a skinny meat skewer inserted through a tiny hole in the 2 1/2 ton door.  So when the 21 Club was raided by the feds in the 30s, they were unable to find anything illegal!

We were lucky enough to get an after-hours tour of the secret room and once you get through the giant cement wall, it's an amazing view.  There are shelves and shelves of the finest liquor, wine and old bottles with yellowing labels from the early 1930s.  We were led down even more steps to a grand room with wine bottles lining the walls and a long mahogany table capable of seating 25 people.  I could only imagine the types of secret society meetings that were conducted down there.Upon our departure, we also got the story behind each of the jockeys beyond the iron gate at 21 West 52nd Street, each one given to them by affluent horse breeders representing some of the countries most prominent farms.  There was even a jockey dedicated in honor of Secretariat. 

I felt such pride and awe after a meal at the 21 Club.  Not only did we have a wonderful and unique date night experience, but just sitting there felt like being in a museum of New York-ness (I know that's not a word...but that's the only way to describe it).  The burger was delicious, although it's recommended not to add cheese....which makes me skeptical at any restaurant.  However, the overdose of American history we soaked up in just two hours at the 21 Club was more valuable and more satisfying than any meat patty.  The Bar Room is closed through August for renovating, but as soon as it re-opens, I'll be taking my visiting family and friends back there for an old fashioned and a delicious burger!