10 Iconic Foods of New York City, and Where To Find Them

From: The Village Voice

4. 

Hamburger 

The first hamburgers were reportedly served along the city's Lower West Side docks in the 1820s to German sailors homesick for the port they came from -- Hamburg, on the North Sea. These ground-meat pucks (it is not recorded whether they were first made with beef or pork) were served naked, but at some point in the years that followed, a bun was applied, making the hamburger as we know it an American phenomenon. In fact, when I first arrived in the city, old-timers still referred to them as "hamburgs" -- and you can still hear that term today. We live in an explosion of hamburger love, so I've chosen an old-fashioned one to showcase: no brisket, foie gras, brioche bun, or exotic cheeses.

  JG Melon, 1291 Third Avenue, 212-744-0585