Amongst the smokestacks-and-Sopranos scenery of Northern Jersey sits one of the best burger joints on the East Coast: an original Paramount diner specializing in miniscule burgers known as “sliders.” White Manna was built in the ‘40s as part of a small chain, like many burger shops of the era, inspired by the original fast-food burger chain (and stoner’s paradise), White Castle. Two locations still exist (the other resides in Jersey City and is spelled White “Mana”) but burger purists stick with the Hackensack location. The reason: tiny flavor-packed patties of grilled beef, sliced onions and cheese served on soft and squishy potato rolls.
New York has plenty of talked-about burger spots. Places like Burger Joint and Shake Shack get more media attention here than presidential elections. But conventional wisdom among the experts suggests forgoing these attention hogs and hitting P.J. Clarke’s instead. This 129-year-old saloon has occupied the same Upper East Side building since the Chester A. Arthur administration, fending off developers as a forest of gleaming skyscrapers has grown up around it.
PJ’s cattle are specially selected for the restaurant and their burgers are made from chuck steak ground on-site; the thick-but-not-too-thick patties of obscenely flavorful beef--so tasty they’re only seasoned with salt and pepper--come on classic white buns and are best topped with cheddar and bacon, though the Béarnaise Burger (topped with béarnaise sauce) is a worthy bite too. Nat King Cole once called P.J.’s hamburger the "Cadillac of burgers!"
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