All I can conclude is this: the virtuous, left-leaning, Prius-driving, NPR-listening, Whole Foods-shopping suburban yuppie has driven by McDonald’s so many times in the past 20 years without stopping that he/she has a built up a nearly insatiable appetite for red meat.
But the virtuous, left-leaning, Prius-driving etc. etc. has maintained his/her standards for so long, that slumming in McDonald’s is not an option. And the Memorial Day/July 4th/Labor Day cookout burger is simply not enough. To the rescue, the upscale burger restaurant, with its newest local entrant: Zinburger in Clifton.
Montclair appears to be the epicenter of the upscale hamburger concept. Maybe it wasn’t invented here, but upscale burger chains across the country sure discovered our zip codes fast. First to arrive was northern-Virginia-based Elevation Burger, which was all about the green (“organic, grass fed, free range”). Then came Denver-based Smashburger, which was about the method (smashing the burger on grill made for a moister burger, even served well done). Finally came another northern-Virginia-based burger chain, Five Guys, which unfortunately became all about the waiting (it stole its own thunder by taking a year to open).
Now, fresh from Arizona, comes Zinburger, located right next door to Chico’s at the Promenade Shops in Clifton, that little sliver of commerce between the old Styertown Center (A.C.Moore) and the shamelessly-named River Front Center (Pier I), both in Clifton.
Zinburger — as you can guess from the name — adds a liquor license to the mix. It offers 21 varieties of wine ($5 to $15 a glass), eight beers on tap and a full bar with daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m.
It also serves up an atmosphere that’s open and airy — with high ceilings, modern lighting, butcher-block tables and a huge Ben-and-Jerry’s-esque cow mural covering an entire wall. And unlike the other entrants in the upscale burger category, it offers table service. Patrons can also choose how well done they want their beef.
On Saturday night, Zinburger let press and other friends try it out for free. Service was slow and disorganized (our burgers were delivered to another table and had to be re-made and a gingerbread milkshake took forever). Despite a 5:15 p.m. reservation we barely made a 6:55 p.m. movie at Clifton Commons. But the waiters and managers were so abjectly apologetic that it was impossible not to forgive them.
The hamburgers were good, if a little salty. (A staff person came around and asked specifically about the salt, which they’d been experimenting with). I had the Zinburger ($10), with Manchego cheese and Zinfandel-braised onions. Mista Bartista had the Kobe Burger ($14), with cheddar and wild mushrooms. His only complaint was that the bun didn’t quite stand up to the moisture of a burger ordered medium rare. We both enjoyed our wines, a Malbec for me and the Zen for Zin for him.
As a truffle oil freak, I was jonesing for the double truffle fries, but found them disappointingly not truffleful enough. The sweet potato fries that waiters insisting on bringing to apologize for the lost hamburgers made up for it. Though less novel, they were thin, crisp, and came with a refreshing yogurt dip.
The best part of the meal, for me, was the Gingerbread Milkshake ($6), a seasonal special. Though it almost made us miss our movie, it was well worth the wait. Maybe it was just that the creamy texture sopped up the salt and grease that is inherent in any hamburger-and-fries meal — no matter how high-end. Or maybe I’ve just shunned milkshakes way too long. Or maybe I was just dreaming. But I just kept slurping on that straw and imagining little ginger crystals sparkling and exploding on my taste buds like personal fireworks.
Zinburger is located at The Promenade Shops at Clifton, 852 Route 3, Clifton. Open Sunday to Thursday from 11 to 11 and Friday and Saturday from 11 to midnight. Reservations are not accepted. For more information, call 973.272.1492.
It looks tasty, and I wish them well.
I am sticking to Pal’s Cabin or Landmark Burgers.
They don’t need chesse, pickles, bacon bits, red peppers
ketchup, mushrooms, relish, tabasco sauce, lettice, tomatoes,
and/or garlic to taste yummy, because the meat is high
quality, very moist and Bar-B-Que’d.
Geez, enough with the burger joints!
I don’t care how much you try to make it seem grown-up and sophisticated! A burger and fries are still a burger and fries.
The best thing this place has going for it over the others is the liquor license. But still, having to make a reservation to have a hamburger?
WOW ! A reservation to eat a burger? I sure hope they have valet parking, too.
The “lead in” should be a T Shirt or a book or a TV sitcom or an Off Broadway play!
“virtuous, left-leaning, Prius-driving, NPR-listening, Whole Foods-shopping suburban yuppie has driven by McDonald’s so many times in the past 20 years without stopping that he/she has a built up a nearly insatiable appetite for red meat.”
P.S. That’s me……you are describing! Except for the Prius …I still prefer gas guzzling Audi’s.
Sorry for the confusion. I did have a reservation for press night at 5:15. But they state in their PR release that they do not normally take reservations.
I agree with Sandy.I’ll stick with Pal’s Cabin.
The Avenue Burger at the Ave Bistro in Verona is also good. Calandras in Caldwell makes a good burger, who’da thunk.
I think we’ve reached the point where the next burger innovation in the area will be to open a burger joint inside of a burger joint!
/you read it here first.
Can’t wait to eat a burger in a burger joint w/in a burger joint. But this place sounds good to me. Finally, a place I can take my kids to & have a drink!
Burger at Egan’s last night was scrumptious! Who needs zin when your burger has zing?!
All I ask is for a place close enough where I can grab lunch and still make it home in my Chevy Volt. A place where I can tuck into some organically raised beef that preferably died of natural causes, and sit in a chair where the left legs are sawed off so as to be shorter than the right, thereby necessitating me to lean leftward, while perusing my latest copy of The Worker’s Vanguard. On second thought, I’ll go to Tierney’s.
…shamelessly-named River Front Center (Pier I), both in Clifton
Deb,
As Robert Redford might say, a river runs through it…
The Third River runs right along and through the site – although I would concede that the Third River is not exactly “mighty” (most of the time).
Burgers R Hot in Montclair!
Good for Debbie in using some creative words. With all the buger joints in the area, I would have just made a template and filled in the restaurant’s name!
Here’s hoping it’s an “r” you dropped Jimmy…
@deadeye, your nirvana sure beats
1.dying slowly of cancer because the under-regulated coal company dumped their sludge into the creek that leads to your drinking water supply, or
2. catching fire because you swam in the Gulf of Mexico after an under-regulated oil company had an oooopsie, and then you sat too close to someone toasting a smores.
Really, Carl? Because I don’t see any river or riverfront on this map.
Third River is behind Bed Bath and Beyond, you cross it in the back parking lot on the way to the Costco
Deb,
That’s because, while generally reliable, Google Maps is not always correct. If you look closely at the map you linked to, you will see that the pointer is almost half a mile west of where the River Front Center (and Pier One) is actually located. Slide down the map to where it actually is, and you’ll see that the thin blue line that represents the Third River runs right through the site.
It’s worth noting that the blue line is also a little off, but if you switch to satellite mode, you can see exactly where the river is by vegetation that runs along it all the way to Yantacaw Pond.
Here’s a link to the right location.
Allright Spiro. it’s you and me after school.
@Spiro, Get a napkin and clean the bile and vitriol off of your chin. Remember this mantra when these evil moods strike you: ” More government control is bad.” “Freedom is good.” Keep repeating that, and you will become better. Also, This may come as a shock to you , but most of us were in diapers when Spiro Agnew was last relevant, and Dan Quayle only suffered the misfortune of being among the first to be pilloried by the liberal media without having done anything but committed a spelling error.
And, yes, as Jimmy points out, there’e a bridge across it…
Now now deadeye, unless you have friends in coal or oil, you shouldn’t be so ruffled.
And, although my parents named me after old man Spiro, despite his mixup with the law, they always loved his diatribes against the liberals and the media. You might like reading his old speeches.
And cousin Dan was more than you suggest – he kept President Reagan’s hearing aids clean. And cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Now say something nice, or Santa will fill your stockings with tofu and granola.
Ok, Carl, I’ll cede the point, but it still aint no riverfront.
Call it a “brookfront.”
How about “Storm Drain Front” Center?
I would go with “River-it’s-on-the-other-side-of-route-3-i-swear” Center
Finally tried it – won’t be going back. I like the idea of a place where I can get beer in addition to fast(ish) food. The side items were delicious. But, our burgers were nasty and inedible. We literally took a couple bites and left the rest on our plate. The bun tasted really, really cheap and covered the taste of the burger. And, then the burgers were way too sloppy with sauce and toppings.
I’ve now tried Smashburger, Elevation Burger, Five Guys, and Zinburger. So far, Smashburger is definitely the tastiest and I love their variety and sides. I’ll soon be trying the Cheeburger Cheeburger in East Rutherford to see if it’s good.