By Lindsey Jaffe
Nothing quite says summer like the classic pairing of a burger and a beer. So before you get swept-up in the glitz and glam of the summer season, we’re here to make sure you don’t forget to enjoy the season’s simple pleasures.
Keep it super casual and grab a burger on the beach at Navy Beach in Montauk. The Navy Burger comes with house-made bacon-onion marmalade, Cabot cheddar, house pickles, and hand-cut fries, and is best washed down with a cold Montauk Driftwood on draft.
Just up the road, another après-beach joint, 668 The Gig Shack, is serving up a grilled Pat La Frieda burger with fries. Pile on cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and a fried egg for a double fister, and top it off with a Narragansett Tall Boy for a taste of easy summer living.
No reservations? No problem! Head over to Indian Wells Tavern in the heart of Amagansett Village and enjoy a Tavern Burger, featuring a half-pound of Cromer’s freshly ground beef, char-grilled and served on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomato, Tavern fries, potato salad, or coleslaw. Five beers on tap and over a dozen bottled beers complete the classic pairing.
At Rowdy Hall in the center of East Hampton village, try the Rowdyburger, arguably the best burger in town. The Rowdyburger is made with certified black angus all natural beef, served on a toasted sesame seed bun with choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion, along with hand-cut fries and a pickle. We suggest adding bacon and fried onions to make it extra special. Pair it with one of Rowdy’s brews, perhaps the ESR Tap—The Extra Special Rowdy Tap—which features a curated selection of premium beers from far and wide (as well as nearby) that are often produced in limited quantities; you may not find them anywhere else!
And just outside the village at Fresno, a burger made with Pineland Farms all-natural beef is the talk of the town. Piled high with lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and served with pommes frites, the regulars will be the first to tell you it’s a homerun. Their large selection of bottled beer, from Brooklyn Lager to Magic Hat No. 9, ensures you won’t strike out in the beverage department either.
A little further west in Bridgehampton, grab a French bistro-style burger at Almond, where the house burger is made with ground brisket and hangar beef and is served on Martin’s potato roll with house made “bread n butter” pickles and sliced Pike Farms beefsteak tomato. We know you’ll thank us once you taste the famous twice-cooked French fries made with Russet potatoes from local Falcowski Farm. Can’t get a reservation? It tastes just as good at the bar.
Head off-the-beaten path in Bridgehampton and you’ll discover Fresh Hamptons, a restaurant known for healthy takes on all types of comfort foods. Here, the pan-seared Mecox Bay grass-fed beef hamburger, with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle on a toasted brioche bun with local farmhouse cheddar or Gruyere is guaranteed to satisfy.
Craving a side of waterfront sunset views with that? Sister restaurants The Beacon and Bell & Anchor in Sag Harbor both provide stunning views, and their grilled sirloin burger with pommes frites, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and house-made dill pickles is served at both restaurants.
Don’t worry—we didn’t forget those of you summering a little further west. Little|Red’s bistro burger rounds out our list in Southampton, and is served up with pomme frites, bibb lettuce, tomato, onion, and spicy bread and butter pickles. Because it’s true what they say: “Life is better when you are eating a burger.”