Call it the gold standard of burgers.
A born-and-raised Ridgite opened a new family-friendly burger joint last month in Bay Ridge and promises to offer locals top-quality beef at a price point they can afford. The co-owner of Standard Burger — formerly of bucolic Staten Island, and now on Third Avenue between 88th and 89th streets — said other eateries in the food-filled neighborhood don’t offer locals the same combination of low-cost luscious burgers that he does.
“For the price range and for what we’re serving, I don’t think there’s anybody that’s going to do this the way we do it,” said Dimitrios Verteouris, who now lives in Mill Basin.
Verteouris said the secret to the restaurant’s made-to-order burgers — which range in price from $6–$10, and come with a drink and a side for another $3 — is the Pat LaFrieda beef blended patties he uses, which contain a mix of brisket and short rib beef.
“Different cuts of the meat have different flavors, fats, and juices,” he said. “You cannot compare the beef that Pat LaFrieda blends with other burgers.”
The menu’s standout burger is the “Texan” — topped with aged cheddar, bacon, lettuce, pickles, straw onions, and barbecue sauce — which took the title of the city’s best burger in Time Out magazine’s 2015 “Battle of the Burger” contest. And non-meat eaters can sink their teeth into “Vegetarians Have Feelings Too,” a new addition to the menu featuring a homemade black bean patty with cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, caramelized onions and avocado.
Verteouris also celebrated the eatery’s new home with two new non-burger additions to the menu: a truffle cheese steak topped with peppers, onions, and mushrooms is on offer for $10, along with the “Angry Mutt” hot dog, dressed with fried pickles, straw onions, and mayo for $6.
Kids’ meals — featuring grilled cheese, chicken fingers, a hot dog, or a hamburger — are between $5 and $7. And two dessert options — custard shakes for $5, and funnel fries for $6 — round out the menu.
Standard Burger first opened on Staten Island in 2012, and Verteouris joined co-owner Todd Baslin in running the eatery in December 2017, two years after it appeared on CNBC’s “The Profit,” a reality show focused on turning around struggling businesses. But for the past couple of years, Verteouris kept his eye on the burger joint’s new Ridge space — which sat vacant since its former tenant, a sports bar called the Bench, shuttered in 2015, according to Verteouris — while he was managing his other restaurant on the Avenue, Nature’s Grill, between 74th Street and Bay Ridge Avenue, which he said he opened in 2001. When the vacant Ridge space finally went up for rent, Verteouris pounced, and installed one of his Nature’s Grill employees, Demetrios Nikoloudakis, as co-owner and operator of the new Standard Burger location.
Now, Verteouris said he plans to bring Nature’s Grill to the former Standard Burger space on Staten Island, adding that he hopes to open a couple more locations of the burger joint on the distant isle of Manhattan within the next year.
But for now, Verteouris said he’s happy to offer Ridgites the best burgers in the neighborhood.
“The thing about Bay Ridge is that there’s a lot of places that do burgers, it’s a very popular item, but where are you going to find that deal with something that’s made fresh, on the spot, and it’s quality?” he asked. “We serve quality at a good price, and you can’t go wrong with that.”
Standard Burger [8812 Third Ave. between 88th and 89th streets in Bay Ridge, (718) 317-2333, www.stand
