Burger.Org (Philadelphia)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Good tasting kosher organic burgers.  There is also a large variety of other kosher meat entrees which include turkey, chicken, fish, and lamb.

Negative: Ordering time not optimal but food comes out quick.  

Overall: Great place to try great burgers if you are in the area or craving kosher meat!

Revisit:  I will definitely go again as there is no other place that offers good quality, tasty kosher burgers in Philadelphia.

——————————————————-

Looking for some good burgers in philly?

Burger.org is a Glatt Kosher restaurant located on South Street in Philadelphia. The setup you would expect at a burger joint is immediately apparent upon entering the restaurant.  There are multiple tables with bar stools and some with chairs. There are also chairs at  counter in the center of the store where you can order food and watch TV while eating.  You can tell that this is an authentically kosher restaurant as there are many pictures and relics reminiscent of the Jewish religion and culture, as well as the cook in his traditional garments. I also saw that one of the workers was praying on the side, making this a prayer friendly place although I did not ask to pray myself.

The menu is full of a variety of free range/grass fed organic meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, beef) for sandwiches and burgers as well as wild catch Fish dishes.  They also have a variety of vegetarian dishes ranging from Hummus to Salads and even veggie burgers.  Service is quick and the workers are very nice and friendly.

I had the chance to experience their popular El Mariachi Burger and Fried Chicken Sandwich.  The El Mariachi was delicious and included pico de gallo, guacamole, raw onion, tomato, lettuce, and chipotle sauce on a medium cooked patty.  The Fried Chicken sandwich consisted of a chicken cutlet and tasted fresh and was equally delicious.   The meat quality is good and you can tell that its organic as advertised.  I think the taste is great but it is not as good as Burger 7 located in Virgina.  Their sweet potato fries, however, were not good and may have been better if they were crispy.  I did not have a chance to try their regular fries.  I will visit again and try their other items, and will update this post accordingly.

I recommend coming here if you are in the mood for some good burgers and cannot find anything Halal in the area. Glatt kosher implies a stricter standard of cutting kosher meat as per about.com:  it must come from a kosher animal and be slaughtered in a kosher way. For meat to be glatt kosher, in addition to the two above conditions, the meat must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs. Overall I think this is a great place to go if you’re craving burgers and want to try something new.

——————————————————-

 Burger.org Website

View Larger Map

Saad’s Halal Restaurant (Philadelphia)

REVIEW FROM 11/26/2010: 

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: High quality, flavor-full meals served the “maroosh way”.

Negative: The surrounding area may seem somewhat run down if you are not from Philly.  The owner is very busy and therefore may seem to be a bit unfriendly on some days.

Overall: Excellent, Flavorful Middle Eastern and American dishes for which you would want to come back every time  you visit Philly or go to school in the surrounding area.

——————————————————-

There is a reason why saad’s is highly rated!

After researching restaurants on Yelp I was surprised to find that Saad’s was one of the top restaurants in Philly, it being Halal and all.  First time I made it out there it was closed (since it was Sunday).  Second time I made it out there it was closed because it was Ramadhan.  The third time I made sure I verified the day, time, month and the restaurant’s timings before going.   Finally, third time was a charm and I got a chance to experience Saad’s food first hand.  The wait was definitely worth it!

Every time I have been to Saad’s it is fairly busy.   Sometimes you have to wait a good amount of time to find seating, and other times you just get lucky.  The owner, Saad, is very busy managing everything and does not pay attention to your questions or concerns.  I don’t blame him though, he’s a busy guy.

My family had the Chicken Falafel and various platters and sandwiches “the Maroosh way” (ie. with a soft roll rather than pita) when going to Saads.  The Chicken Falafel and Chicken Maroosh are unique and definitely worth having. I haven’t tried their american dishes but I have a feeling they will be equally excellent.  The food is very tasty and mouth-watering. It makes you happy that food like this is available for you to enjoy.

The surrounding area is somewhat run down if you turn into an adjacent street.  But that shouldn’t shy you away from visiting Saad’s.  The street on which Saad’s is located is well lit, close to University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and usually has some sort of traffic.  Across from Saad’s is a Masjid as well.

I have gone to Saad’s a few times and plan on going every time I visit Philly (as long as the time is right, sun is aligned in the right direction, and Saad’s is actually open!).  Joking aside, its a great place and I don’t have to say anything for you to believe it.  Check out reviews on Yelp and eat for yourself.

UPDATED 8/20/2011:  (from sameerseats.com)

——————————————————-

Saad’s Halal Restaurant Website

View Larger Map

Shake Shack (Manhattan)

Rating: 

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, , Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Unique Mushroom burger with crinkle cut french fries and thick, creamy shakes

Negative: Aside from being very busy with long wait times, there is only one item on the menu that actually doesn’t have meat.

Overall: Try it once, and you would have officially eaten the best Mushroom burger ever!

——————————————————-

tired of eating vegetarian burgers and salads while hanging out at a non-halal restaurant?

Well…Look no further because there is a vegetarian burger that actually tastes better than meat! If you don’t believe me why don’t you go and try it yourself at one of many Shake Shack’s  Manhattan restaurants.  You won’t regret it!

Most of their locations are in Manhattan and very busy throughout the day (especially during lunch and dinner times).  The best way to get a seat is to split up with your group; one guy orders for everyone and the others find a table.  Despite being busy the workers are overall pretty nice and welcoming.  They also try their best to clean tables quickly in between customers.  The inside decor is like a typical burger joint filled to capacity by hungry New Yorkers. One interesting thing is that each Shake Shack restaurant has a different environ which you would not normally see other restaurants  do.

Since you can, regrettably, only eat one item on the menu you can try many different combinations to “change it up” when eating at their restaurant. You can have 2 burgers, 1 burger + fries, or 1 burger + fries + shake.  Whatever the case, just have a bite of the mouth-watering portabella mushroom burger filled with muester and chedder cheese and topped with their signature Shacksauce and your life will never be same again.  You would have experienced the best gourmet vegetarian burger you will ever eat.

The shakes are also thick, creamy, and very filling.  If you are shake fanatic you’ll definitely enjoy their shakes.  I personally don’t think the shakes are good enough to name your restaurant after them, but some people do like them alot.  The thick, crinkle cut fries are also different from what you would eat at McDonalds or Burger King.  Overall you need to try the ‘Shroom burger at least once.  (But I guarantee that you wouldn’t have any problem eating it again)!

——————————————-———-

Shake Shack

View Larger Map

Crave Shack (Queens NY) – CLOSED

PLEASE NOTE THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED DOWN FOR UNKNOWN REASONS.

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: One of the best halal burger joints I have eaten at.  Try the Crave burger, Inferno burger, or Swiss burger with Crave fries!

Negative: Long wait times are possible.  Inferno burger is not as spicy as advertised. Milkshake was not that good.

Overall: Recommended for the burgers and the environment.

——————————————————-

update: Went back to this restaurant two more times and the food quality seems to be declining.  Disappointing indeed.  I think theSwiss-room burger is probably their best although I haven’t had the inferno in a while.

Still takes some time to make the food but its fresh so I don’t mind.  The guy at the register is a bit weird and tries to hit on girls, hijabi or not.  The crave sauce is amazing though as are their fries.

——————————

Another halal burger place? Should I really try it?

Are they just selling burgers with the Al-Safa halal beef patties like many other halal restaurants? Thats the assumption I had of Crave Shack (no affiliation with Shake Shack) until my family recommended it to me. I left everything I was doing to check out their menu online, and wow did my mouth start watering!  This place had a pretty good variety of burgers and snacks, with a unique “crave sauce”.

I decided to go eat there as soon as possible. When I entered the restaurant, I absolutely loved it. It had the touch of Johnny Rockets and Five Guys. I actually felt like I was at a burger joint rather than some crappy looking halal restaurant. The restaurant has booths and bar stools with tables.

I ordered the crave burger with the crave fries. It was delicious. The crave sauce made it even more amazing. The sauce is a bit like Thousand Island Dressing and really adds to the burger. The fries were excellent and had some sort of seasoning. My family of critics ordered the Swiss Burger and recommended that as well. They also tried a Vanilla Milkshake but did not like it much.

I loved this place so much that I went the following day as well and tried another one of their “famous” burgers. I had the Inferno burger which was advertised as being very spicy as it had an “inferno” sauce and jalapenos. Surprisingly… and disappointingly it was not spicy at all. Although it wasn’t spicy, it still tasted yummy.

This place has become one of my go to restaurants as I am always craving burgers and fries, and it is one of the first places I have discovered that actually makes their own beef patties.

Another thing I like about this restaurant is that they make everything in front of you, just like Five Guys, so you know everything is fresh. A downside to this is that when the restaurant is packed, it takes an extremely long time for your order to be ready … but it’s worth the wait. Try this place as soon as you can!

——————————————————-

Crave Shack Website

View Larger Map