For various reasons, more than one of which involve tourists and Jersey tweens, but which are by no means limited to them, Times Square does not occupy my Top 10 Favorite Parts of NYC list. Still, despite it's enormous lackings, it does have one thing going for it. It's really close to Five Napkin Burger, which just bumped BLT Burger out of my top spot for best hamburger in the city.

Five Napkin is big, with lots of outside tables; outside is where Pike and I were lucky enough to get a seat. Even on a Wednesday night, this large space was packed to the gills. We were handed one of those blinking buzzing doodads that tell you that your seat's ready and proceeded to watch the hostess try (with limited success) to explain to a group of four tourists (whose English was somewhat thin) that they'd have to wait twenty minutes to be seated. As the four tourists stood staring blankly at her, we watched her blood pressure rise steadily and ordered some drinks from the bar. Good times.

Our table came soon, and with it, rain. Pleasantly, the awnings were large enough that we stayed dry. Five Napkin does, sadly, have a menu that stretches beyond the realm of hamburgers, which stretches it out past being purely a burger joint. But I won't belabor this one disappointment. The burger I ordered was the Original Five Napkin Burger, which has a generous helping of sauteed onions, is bathed in Gruyere cheese and comes with a side of fries. It does not come with lettuce or tomato(?!). Pike ordered the Cheddar Bacon Burger and, since he prefers his vitamins in futuristic pill-form, gave his to me. Ask for lettuce and tomato. The result was amazing. I owe much of my joy to the Gruyere. From now on, if it's offered, I'm getting it. The burger was so amazingly good that I'd have ordered another one if I didn't fear exploding. Pike liked his choice, too, but he didn't nearly fall out of his chair when he ate it the way I did. With cheese coating my hands and face, I needed at least two napkins, though five might be pushing it.