Hollywood Diner

The best diner burgers in Chelsea | Eater NY

"Embracing its theme, the Hollywood Diner mounts a frieze of movie stars along the ceiling and declares itself “a little bit of Hollywood in Manhattan”; its glitzy metallic tiles date to a '90s renovation (the latest movie depicted is Pulp Fiction), and the floor plan is more open than Malibu's with big picture windows facing south. I ordered the cheeseburger deluxe ($16.75), which came with two slices of American cheese annealed to the top and bottom of the bun and a half-pound patty extensively seared on top and bottom. It was a pretty plate to look at, but the beef was gray and tasteless and the slaw sparse; the pickle was fresher and the fries a shade better—perhaps because they had been fried a second time. The superior sear, better tomatoes and lettuce, and the sesame-seeded bun made the Hollywood version about five percent better overall, though the double slices of melted American did most of the flavor work; the same salt-and-sauce hacks I recommend for Malibu help this burger too." - Robert Sietsema