Lori Jayne

"The burger at Lori Jayne tastes expensive, but costs $10. (Or $11 if you add cheese, which you should do.) Still, the 4oz patties coming out of this tiny kitchen in the back of the bar could fool you. They're ground fresh in-house, and topped with thick pickles ('thickles'), a special sauce, and onions caramelized in bone broth, which makes them more salty than sweet. This outfit inside a bar is also known for their $22 steak frites with sichuan peppercorn-heavy au poivre sauce, but if you're set on a burger, just add the au poivre for $4 extra." - will hartman, bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, kenny yang

"Lori Jayne is a restaurant inside of a bar in Bushwick, and it's making better burgers, chicken wings, and steak frites than what you'll find at a lot of full-service restaurants. The kitchen stays open until 1:30am Thursday through Saturday, so we like to show up for dinner, second dinner, or a late-night snack. If the steak frites aren't sold out, get them. The roughly 5 oz cut of chuck flap comes on a bed of golden brown fries, doused in a sichuan peppercorn-heavy au poivre, and served in a paper tray usually reserved for fries at a baseball game." - willa moore, will hartman, neha talreja, bryan kim, sonal shah

"The burger at Lori Jayne hits a rare sweet spot—it's one of our top burgers while also qualifying for this guide. That's because it tastes expensive, even though it just comes out of a tiny, scrappy kitchen inside a bar. The 6oz patties could fool you. They're ground fresh in-house, and topped with thick pickle slices ("thickles"), Lori Jayne special sauce, and onions caramelized in bone broth, which makes them more salty than sweet. Add cheese, $1; add fries, $6" - will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim, sonal shah

"Lori Jayne is tucked into the back of a dive bar called Alphaville in Bushwick, but the cooking coming out of their tiny kitchen is better than what you'll find at a lot of full-service restaurants. Just try the $20 steak frites, which are doused in a sichuan peppercorn-heavy au poivre and served with chopsticks. If that's sold out, go for the perfect burger—it’s $10, or $11 if you add cheese. (Add cheese.) Wash it all down with a frozen strawberry-basil margarita." - willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah

"Chef-owner Sam Braverman often describes the Lori Jayne burger as “cartooney” because of the way yellow American cheese gently wraps around the thick, “good beef” patty. The LJ burger features a lot of what you’d expect out of a solid smash burger, sans smash. A patty is topped with bone broth-caramelized onions, dill chips, and Lori Jayne’s own sauce, and served on the classic Martin’s roll. It’s juicy, savory, and most importantly, just $10." - Robert Sietsema, Melissa McCart, Emma Orlow