November 13, 2011
Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger. Starring, Live Bait with special guest stars, Gene, Smoopy and Kurt and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentlemen, Live Bait!
As I reported on yesterday's blog, Gene and Smoopy, 2/3 of the BBC are in town and they're coming over to my place for beers before dinner, so it's time to put on my snackologist chef's hat and make a decent snack.
I call it The Cracker Barrel, and it involves all the above ingredients in secret amounts and prunings and it's dusted several times with chili powder. I serve it with onion dip.
And here's the guests of honor, Gene and Smoopy enjoying the snacks and beer.
And through the miracle of the internet, you're spared me taking a wrong turn and getting us moving in the wrong direction for about three blocks. Instead, you're magically delivered right here to Live Bait.
The bar has a southern, bayou theme going on as witnessed by the crocodile in the window.
There's a bar up front, but we decided to sit in the dining room in the back.
And here's the lovely hostess and our waitress waiting to seat and serve us. Like an idiot I forgot to get their names. I had had a few beers by this time, so I'm not really responsible for the rest of this post.
And check out who's at the table waiting to meet us, Kurt, who I originally met at the Coal Yard Bar last summer. Kurt's a photographer from Florida, check out his work here: Kurt Rogers Photography. He came along with his friend Simon who's also a photographer, Check out his photos here: Simon Garnier Photography. Okay, let's check out Live Bait before dinner arrives.
The back dining room has tables in the middle and blue booths line the walls.
A shot of the bar from the back end.
Candygram.
Vintage boat house signage hangs on the wall.
And there's not only neon in the window...
There's also neon on the walls inside of Live Bait.
See?
Okay, back to the table because I sense that dinner is about to be served.
Kurt got the cheeseburger deluxe with fries.
And Smoopy got the same, except got a salad instead of fries.
Being the rebel, Gene ignored the Cheeseburger Saturday Night theme and got the salmon.
I got the house specialty burger, The Bait Burger. And no, that's not a chocolate doughnut on top of it, it's a giant onion ring slathered in barbecue sauce. The burger is made out of spicy sausage.
It's a little sloppy to eat, so I ended up eating it with a knife and fork. Delicious and spicy cheeseburger!
As we were having after dinner drinks, Kurt's friends showed up and like an idiot I forgot to write down their names. I've had more than several beers at this point (I have an email in to Kurt, so be watching for an update naming these lovely women.) It was a great night with great people, thanks to everyone for showing up and enjoying Cheeseburger Saturday Night! **************Update: I just heard from Kurt and that's Natalie directly behind him and Annie is behind Natalie, sorry for the horrible memory, ladies, I blame it on all that acid in the '70's!
My Meal
I got the BBQ Bait Burger, which is andouille sausage, American cheese, topped with a giganzo onion ring and barbecue sauce and it was delicious. The barbecue sauce added a little zing and the bun was bakery fresh. It’s the first cheeseburger I’ve ever had made from sausage and it was a great cheeseburger.
In addition to the Bait Burger, there’s also a deluxe hamburger, a turkey burger and a soy burger on the menu. Some of the other entrees on the menu at Live Bait are: Seafood Jambalaya Over Dirty Rice; Smoke House Dixie Spareribs; Robert E Lee's Chicken Fried Steak and Jailhouse Chili Over Dirty Rice with cheddar and red onions. They also have a raw bar featuring fresh shrimp, clams and oysters.
They have 12 bottled beers and 9 beers on tap. Some of the specialty drinks include: Lynchburg Lemonade, Key Lime Martini and an Oyster Clam Shooter which is a raw oyster, Absolut Pepper vodka, cocktail sauce and tabasco. (Mental note to self: Never type in the ingredients to the Oyster Clam Shooter while hungover. I’m going to go throw up now.)
Cheeseburger Rating
Four Wimpy's, a fantastic cheeseburger!
Live Bait
14 E. 23rd St. (Near Madison Avenue)
212-353-2400
Further reading: Shecky’s, 365 Bars and This.
20 Comments
Reader Comments (20)
Sausage burger sounds delicious! The salmon looked good too. I love how many times you get lost so close to home, good memories :)
I guess looks can be decieving...the first pic of your bait burger was decidedly strange looking. As for the surprise link,,,I had a dog with that problem once...
Smoopy got us lost after that pit stop at Duke's !
Best snack mix ever ... I should have taken the leftovers with me :)
@kari: The sausage burger was great! And yes, I was born without a sense of direction, as you found out!
@Jaws: The burger was better than my sub-par photos! Sorry to hear about your dog's problem!
#GENE: Maybe we all shared in getting lost! Glad you liked the snack mix, see you two tonight!
Noticed the Abita Beer sign.......Been drinking Abita Turbo-dog for over 20 years now! Thought the burger looked a little top heavy but if it tastes good, who cares what it looks like. One time at a rare McDonalds stop, I ordered 2 regular cheeseburgers and 1 of them came with the breakfast sausage on it by mistake. That was my only experience with a sausage burger, I'm very sure yours was better than mine! Looked like y'all had a good meal! Cheers from the land of Fonzie!
Big onion ring, and to incorporate it into the burger,,,,even better. The outside "BAR" sign is for the ages, hard to find a more beautiful sign these days. Glad to see Gene eating healthy, and a hello to Smoopy as well. Laura Nyro left earth too soon.
Here's some women, here are some more women. <hic>
That must have been one hell of a snack mix.
@Professor Dungpie: I've never had the McDonald's breakfast meat, but I wonder if it's the same "pork" product they use for the McRibs? Cheers, Professor!
@Al: I love that sign too and in total agreement with your Laura Nyro sentiment!
@csp: It got even worse after the Lynchburg Lemonade!
four wimpy's...must have been a damn good c-burger...good to see smoopy and GENE out w/ MAD again...
The finer the bait, the shorter the wait!
~Frank Gorshin
rr
Oyster clam shooter--yum...I am an armchair bar hopper and love every minute of it. You find all the cool places. I have never eaten an andouille burger but it sounds good. Key lime martini sounds creative too.Let the good times roll.
Andouille sausage - delicious! But DON'T (like I did, once) eat andouillette by mistake. The vilest food ever (pig colon/intestines etc.) Aagh!
@rr: Great burger and great to hang out with Gene and Smoopy once again. Love the quote!
@Melanie: Glad you're enjoying it and it was a great burger!
@onemorefoldedsunset: Thanks for the warning, I'll definitely be on the lookout!
Hmmm...my comment disappeared. Anyway-I said that looks fantastic! I had some alligator cheesecake at the last Louisianna themed restaraunt I went to. It was...interesting.
@Britta: Sometimes comments get eaten here and they don't show up, it's best to clear your cache and restart your computer when it happens. I've never heard of alligator cheesecake, interesting indeed!
Word to the Wise: Never drink more than 12 Abitas in one sitting at the Monteleone carousel bar in New Orleans. It goes around in circles and so will you.
That bait burger looks pretty tasty, but frankly I'd prefer a little crawfish etouffee.
@Biff: The crawfish will be yourfish on your next visit here!
Catching up on my MAD, and just saw this - man, love me some Live Bait; probably one of the best jukeboxes in Manhattan; definitely not a place for the faint of heart at times tho.
@JAZ: I was surprised it was pretty empty on a Saturday night, maybe it's more of an after work place. That cheeseburger ruled though!
@Marty - last time I was in there on a Saturday night it was also more empty than I expected; it always had the feel of a place you'd often see in pre-gentrification lower Manhattan - before artisanal this and organic craft that, so it's always held a warm place in my heart; definitely a place where if you couldn't pull the "Hi Mayor Bloomberg!" trick, cause he wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that (and believe me, that's about as big a compliment as a bar can get in my eyes).
@JAZ: In total agreement of your assessment of the bar and the Mayor Bloomberg statement!