This is the infamous Minetta Tavern. I had been here back in mid 2010s, and it was pretty good. Before I met my partner, I used to come here once every few months to just scarf their Black Label burger. The price for this was just barely over $20. Now in recent times post-pandemic, it’s been a bit more difficult to walk in without reservations. We were able to sit at the bar on a Friday late-afternoon around 4:55 PM without reservations.

In the rare occasion nowadays, I am able to sometimes grab dinner solo somewhere. I often debate about the cuisine, and I rarely want to eat something super posh right after work. I noticed a new location of a burger chain opened up. I often confuse the Black Iron Burger with the Blacktap Burger places but not this time. I walked in with no reservations at this 54th and 7th ave location and sat at the bar.

Au Cheval is well known restaurant based out of Chicago. They specialize in elevated burgers and American dishes. When they opened a New York City location, there were crazy lines out the door. The bigger brother to this restaurant is “4 Charles” which specializes in prime rib. Both the burger and prime rib sandwich at Au Cheval are also found at “4 Charles”. I don’t have the patience to book a “4 Charles” reservation and pay the crazy insane prices for steak, so I thought I’d try some of their offerings here.

Typically on the weekends, both this location and the midtown location have a huge line of people waiting outside. And for what reason? We came on a Friday night around 5 PM, and there were probably at most 3 or 4 small groups of people in a big space. The cookie shake was a massive vanila-ish shake that had a bunch of sweets on it. It was good, but it is all sugar.

Pretty good albeit expensive. The beer selection here is pretty good.

Reminds me of Pops but more standard burgers. Still pretty good and not too pricey.

Pretty good burger if your’e in the area.

Burger was OK. Very bleu cheesy. The shoestring fries were annoying to eat and overly salty.

Their burger is better than Minetta’s. Nuff said.

Got their special $68 white truffle burger. Was good, but not worth it. Don’t spend $68 for white truffles when they’ve practically lose their scent on the plane over here.