Photographs by Stewart Isbell

FATTY CRAB FATTY SLIDERS
643 Hudson St.; 212-352-3590
Cost: $9
Like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, they come in pairs and they’re almost too cute to eat.

FIVE GUYS
138 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights; 718-797-9380
132-01 Fourteenth Ave., College Point; 718-767-6500
Cost: $3.59 to $5.09
This D.C. interloper flips a pretty good burger; the College Point branch is a lot more mellow.

STAND
24 E. 12th St.; 212-488-5900
Cost: $8 to $12
A fine burger, but a case of the sum not being quite as great as the parts. Getting the too-sturdy bun and patty to play nice is like shoving the positive poles of two magnets together.

PRUNE
54 E. 1st St.; 212-677-6221
Cost: $12
Prune flung open its doors for lunch last fall and started a minor ruckus—as well as a post-lunch napping trend—with its drippy lamb-and-beef burger served on a Thomas’ English muffin.

RESTO
111 E. 29th St.; 212-685-5585
Cost: $13
Perfectly proportioned, smartly accessorized, and devilishly concocted from a mix of beef cheek, hanger steak, and fatback, this is the burger of the year.

BLT BURGER KING BURGER
470 Sixth Ave.; 212-243-8226
Cost: $12
A panko crust and a dip in the Frialator really seals in the juices. It’s like biting into a meat-flavored piece of Freshen-up gum. Offered as a special only.

BRGR
287 Seventh Ave.; 212-488-7500
Cost: $6.50 to $9
Give it the Most Improved Burger Award: What started off as an unforgiving hockey puck has evolved into a fairly juicy flavor bomb.

THE STONED CROW
85 Washington Pl.; 212-677-4022
Cost: $6 to $8
This old dive isn’t new, but the burger meister who did time at the Corner Bistro is, and he has a knack for broiling burgers.

(Photo: Ben Stechschulte/Redux)

BOROUGH FOOD & DRINK
12 E. 22nd St.; 212-260-0103
Cost: $15
A toothsome ten-ouncer, which your waiter will gleefully announce, is fashioned from a 70-30 lean-to-fat ratio, and listed under the daily specials, there’s a “cheeses for your burger” section.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Rob Patronite | Robin Raisfeld