Bill’s Bar and Burgers – New York, NY

We met up with my brother, his wife, and my buddy Jeff at a place called Bill’s Bar and Burgers, located at 22 9th Ave in Manhattan. When scoping out the menu online, it seemed like a fun little place to check out. It seems silly, but the menu item that sold me was a milkshake called the “peanut butter bomb” that was made with toffee crunch, chocolate ice cream, and spiced peanuts.

Irony is a funny beast.

When we arrived, the restaurant had a healthy amount of diners, but there was no issue getting a table for the five of us. The menu is predominantly made up of burgers, so it doesn’t take long to think about that kind of stuff. The bar had a bunch of craft beers on tap, and even in the milkshakes, they had optional alcoholic addins, so it seems like they’re hip to what people want.

We ordered a bunch of stuff, and our server was really sharp. He remembered all of it without writing it down. On the first pass, when my peanut butter bomb milkshake arrived, the runner dropped it onto me. If you’ve never had that happen to you, it’s kind of humiliating. They handled it (and me) the best they could. The server came and apologized, and the runner and a few other people came by to clean up the mess. Given the way it happened, I got off easy; I just had wet pants.

When I finally got to try the second shake they brought, it was delicious.

It was a fairly sweet shake, but you could definitely pick out the peanut butter, chocolate and you get some bits of toffee. The spiced peanuts on top really set the whole thing off. It was worth wearing.

It wasn’t long before our food arrived, and I had ordered a lot.

The sweet potato fries were decent. They were kind of thick like steak fries and were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. You can’t really ask for much more as far as these go.

The onion rings were battered with a nicely seasoned breading. Aside from the one soggy onion ring that was a double ring battered and fried. They were practically perfect.

The burger I went with was the bacon and cheddar burger ($9.75, thick hickory bacon, aged cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles). It was ok. The most descriptive way I can put it is that it’s a bit of a dressed up version of a Five Guys burger. It was cooked medium-well and was still moist.

The staff was super accommodating from start to finish. Other than the milkshake drop and pickup, it took a while for the girls’ sides to come out, so our server indicated that the sides and milkshakes were on the house. I let him know it was unexpected and unnecessary, but he insisted. That was really nice.

The meal really hit the spot, and, most importantly, it was a cool little place to catch up with family.