April 3, 2011
Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Tonight’s host is The VIP Diner in Jersey City and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher, with special guest appearances from the Journal Square Pub and James Mollo. And now, all the way from Jersey City, please welcome the VIP Diner!
It's 6:30pm and it's still light out. I hate Daylight Savings Time. Tonight we're traveling to Jersey City for a cheeseburger. My friend James Mollo just moved there and he invited me over there. I realized that I haven't left Manhattan since I've been doing MAD, so I accepted the invitation and it's off we go.
On my way to the train I met Bryon Carlton Neal who operates a shoe shine service on 6th Avenue near 14th Street. He's there every Saturday and I promised him I'd stop by next week and get a shoe shine, so check back for that. If you'd like to have Byron shine your shoes, you can schedule an appointment with him by calling this number: 347-524-8788.
We'll be taking the Path train to New Jersey.
There's a lot of people down here and as I've said before, that's always a good sign a train is near.
And once again my theory is proven true. I only was in the station about a minute before this train rumbled in.
Wow, it's a crowded train car, standing room only.
Through the magic of the internet, you're spared a half hour train ride where a woman sneezed on me. That's right, she turned towards me and sneezed on my right sleeve as if it was the most perfectly normal thing to do and then went back to checking her Blackberry. Miraculously I don't have a cold today. Yet.
James had told me I'd have to ride a bunch of escalators to get to street level and he was right. I had to take three of them and it freaked me out a little that the train was that far underground. It made me think of the Mole Man Superman episode.
Finally we're at street level. Jesus fucking Christ, it's still light out and it's almost seven o'clock! I hate Daylight Savings Time!
I'm meeting James at a bar before we go for the cheeseburger, James said to look for an old time movie theater. There it is, he said the bar would be right next to it...
And I think that's the place. Lets cross the street and check it out.
And this is the place, the Journal Square Pub.
Here's a little neon in the window, let's go inside and find James.
It may be light outside, but it's nice and dark in here. I think Al would approve of this place.
And here he is, tonight's special guest star, James Mollo!
John, the friendly bartender serves up a bottle of Budweiser, now we're on the right track.
Here's a longshot of the wooden bar.
A true sign of a classic neighborhood joint, a pay phone.
A Heineken sign hangs on the wall across from the bar.
Uh, oh...according to the clock it's just about cheeseburger time.
And so once again through the magic of the internet, you're magically transported to the VIP Diner where all baking is done on premises.
The outside of the diner is done up in classic faux rock. Wilma!
Inside it's a classic diner and it's open 24 hours. Did I mention that all baking is done on premises?
They have a large list of burgers to choose from. I chose the hickory burger.
I also got onion rings and they brought them out first. They were probably the best onion rings I've ever had. Flaky, delicious and baked on premises.
And here's the hickory burger. At first James and I thought that they forgot the cheese, but then I discovered they put it under the burger. I wasn't too happy about that, but at least it was baked on premises.
The burger was okay, but didn't hold a candle to last week's burger at Whitman's. That's going to be a tough one to beat.
A view of Jersey from our window at the VIP Diner.
Okay, time to travel back to the center of the earth and head back to Manhattan.
And here we are, back in Manhattan. And I didn't bump into one mole man on the way! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
My Meal
The VIP Diner has a decent list of cheeseburgers. They have a pizza burger, a mushroom bacon burger, a Greek burger and a tango burger which is a burger topped with melted Swiss cheese and pimento. I’ve never felt that Swiss cheese belongs on a cheeseburger so I ordered the hickory burger which is a burger topped with Canadian bacon, cheddar cheese and bbq sauce. I also got an order of onion rings. James got a grilled cheese sandwich and also ordered the onion rings. The onion rings showed up first and they were first rate, maybe the best onion rings I’ve ever had. The outer batter was fluffy and the onions were extremely tender and tasty. Then the burger showed up. At first I thought they forgot to put the cheese on it. But upon closer inspection, the cheddar cheese was melted beneath the burger instead of on top. Three slices of Canadian bacon were placed above the burger. The hickory burger was okay, but nowhere near last week’s Whitman burger. It was a little dry and I couldn’t even taste the cheese. The bbq sauce tasted generic and the Canadian bacon made me think of Kevin Bacon and that’s never a good thing to have floating through your head while eating a burger in Jersey City.
MAD Cheeseburger Rating: 2 Wimpy's, okay but I've had better.
VIP Diner
175 Sip Ave
Jersey City, NJ
(201) 792-1400
Journal Square Pub
50 Journal Square
Jersey City, NJ
201.216.9632
Further reading: Jersey City Bar Guide, nj.com, Jersey City Independent and Jersey Pie.
Five Jersey Things
Jersey Shore
Miniature Jersey Cows
Jersey Fabric
Joe Piscopo
NFL Football Jerseys
Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world,
When you're in love with a Jersey girl.
28 Comments
Reader Comments (28)
Those onion rings look fantastic. The Khan link? LMFAO! KHAAAAAN!!!
The burger looked all right, and I'm a fiend for onion rings. What you need for people that sneeze on you is an arisol can blast of lysol right in the phiz.
"Ferry Cross the Jersey".
Bryon Carlton Neal would be a great interview next week.
I think I would have counter the sneeze with wiping or flicking a booger at her.
"I thought my nose was running, but it's snot".
Great looking "O Rngs!" I doubt they will have a "Challenger".
@Barfly: I love the Khan link too!
@Jaws: They were the best onion rings ever.
@"Boris:" "I thought my nose was running, but it's snot". Ha ha ha! Good one, Daddio! I may try and interview Byron next week.
Nasty woman sneezing towards you, ignorance is bliss, you know? That bar looked a lot better than VIP, but Im still a bar guy til I die I guess. John the bartender kinda looks like Tony Soprano, maybe in the family? always leave a good tip and he will let you walk out with no broken bones. Kidding. Tom Waits, welcome to the RRHOF,,,you made it.
Even if your guest host was Jesery-licious, even if the Diner was appointed with the finest Corinthian leather, overall it seemed Ho-broken.
Even though is says Jersey City all over the fucking place, I automatically assumed the PATH always goes to Hoboken. Excellent work on my part. Better burger luck next week MAD.
But, is their baking done on premises? ;) Thanks for taking us on another adventure!
I still can't decide if I love Tom Waits or despise him. It's a conundrum.
I'm in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bitches.
@csp: Ha ha ha! Good one! (It does go to Hoboken, then it goes to Jersey City.)
@roadsideeonders: Happy to have you along! I hear you about the conundrum, I never leave home without one!
@Tom Waits: You say that like it's a good thing.
good to see that MAD gets "outa town"...maybe a little packet of toilet paper or facial tissue should be sumthin' to offer those that have no concern for others in those crowded mobile things...JSP looks like a great place to have one or three...50 foot bar and alll...VIP as well as Jersey Pie seem to have a lot of history...at least nobody peed on your leg and told you it was rainin"...
a "bucket list" to envy:
I have two ambitions in life: one is to drink every pub dry, the other is to sleep with every woman on earth.
Oliver Reed
sadly to say i don't think he made it...
rr
last week after Whitman's I travelled to Sydney. I wanted a burger. I needed it. I had trouble trying to find a burger joint online, so I wandered around the city and found a place called Burgerlicious.
I was excited. I ordered the Colorado burger or something like that...The bun was stale. The beef was dry. I was disappointed. I thought about Whitman's. I thought about MAD and the lack of Wimpy's that Burgerlicious would score.
Then I got drunk and watched Motorhead and forgot about the bad burger.
Journal Square Pub !!! The BBC has been there many times ! We usually park right behind the pub at a cheap garage ... have a few beers at Journal Square ... then catch the PATH to Fun City ..... awwwwwweee good times :) 12 more days !
Give us a kiss, big tits
@rr: I think we had five! Maybe Oliver didn't make it, but he got close!
@Clacky of Bunt's Downunder: Motorhead cures all!
@GENE: Can't believe you've been to JSP! Looking forward to your visit.
@Oliver Reed: Thanks for your comment from the beyond!
Not sure if I want to know what package goods are. Hopefully a better burger next week, but glad you enjoyed the onion rings. I actually prefer the flaky kind of batter to the crunchy kind, but to each his own. And I think New Jersey gets a bad rap, or my visits were just limited to the nicer areas.
I can only hope that Welcome Back! burger is of the Mr. Kotter variety!
@kari: "Not sure if I want to know what package goods are." Ha ha ha! I think it refers to booze to go.
@jesse.ann.o I agree! A Horshack burger would be frightening!
Marty , We need to hangout & have a good cheese burger before I leave to France .
Cleaning I found a small brass Crucifix , but it's actually a knife , I will bring it in so you can photo it , it's very funny .
@JHwang: Of course, looking forward to seeing the Jesus knife.
The onion rings looked great but I would pas on the burger.
I sure liked the PUB it looked like a great place to enjoy a brew.
A Jesus Knife to make a Jesus Hole to a Cheeseburger! sounds right! ;)
So it wasn't the best burger in the world, but you've got to love a place that names a burger after Welcome Back Kotter. OH! OH! OH!
@Biff: A wonderful Horschack moment!
No one gives Jersey enough credit for the 'VIP Diners' of the world. My fav is tops diner in Harrison NJ.
That's good food.
@NJ Home Inspector: Thanks for the tip! Someday I'll take a road trip out there and check it out!
While recently watching the last season of the Sopranos -- there are a few scenes taped outside and inside the VIP Diner. It was one of those "aaaahhh ! I know where that is !" moments ....
@GENE: I'll have to check that out, which shows was it featured in?