Burger Lounge

While Ironside crowds oyster bars and RoVino spins rotisserie chickens, this counter-serve spot does one thing the rest of India Street doesn't: serves a proper burger. Not apologetically, not as a kids-menu afterthought, but as the entire operation. It's the place you walk to when you've had your fill of crudo and want beef instead of branzino.

The setup reads fast-casual—order at the counter, grab a number, wait for your name—but the kitchen runs on grass-fed beef and free-range turkey, which matters if you care about that sort of thing and doesn't if you don't. Either way, the burger tastes like it came from an actual grill, not a heat lamp. Fries are standard-issue, crisp enough. The quinoa patty option exists for the one person in your group who doesn't eat meat but still wants to join the passeggiata to dinner.

Jessie, who works the front counter most days, is the kind of face-you-know regular that defines neighborhood operations. Reviewers mention her by name, which in Little Italy means something—this isn't corporate training, it's actual hospitality. Rollie cooks. Between them, they turn out what several reviews call the best burger they've had, which might be hyperbole but also might not be.

Service speed wobbles—one party waited 25 minutes on a slow weeknight, which suggests kitchen pacing issues when orders stack. If you're in a rush, call ahead for pickup. The outdoor tables along India Street work better than the interior for noise control and people-watching. Bathrooms are clean, which parents mention with the relief of people who've seen worse.

It's not revelatory. It's a burger counter that happens to use better-than-average beef in a neighborhood where most menus lead with octopus. That's enough.