We've mentioned it a couple of times before, in our review of GQ's Best Hamburgers and our Ten Best Burgers in NYC, but it's time to take a proper look. It's the Soup Nazi of burger joints, it's a best kept secret in New York City: it's The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien.

Located at 118 West 57th Street, Le Parker Meridien is one of those hotels that epitomizes New York class. It's where you can get a $1,000 omelette, where guests on Regis and Kelly are kept, and it's a $499.00 minimum if you want to sleep there tonight.

Upon entrance, one is immediately struck by the spacious marble lobby, accentuated with giant mirrors. One corner appears to be under construction. Like, there's this large, velvety tarp hiding something. A curious person might try to peer down the little hallway which appears to lead to an employee's only area next to the big tarp. That curious person would see this neon sign.

Inside that tarp is a burger joint, The Burger Joint. You wait in a line, you order your burger, grilled cheese, french fries, pickle, soda, beer, lemonade, milkshake, and/or brownie how you want it, you give them your name, you pay, and they call you when it's ready. The crowd varies from college kids to opera goers in tuxes and evening gowns. It's quite a scene! Around happy hour, the line is out the door with midtown workers romancing their clients--romancing them the too-cool-for-school-way at The Burger Joint. Table competition can be worse than a sample sale.

Oh, and if you don't know what you want when you get to the front of the line? You get sent to the back.

Is it worth it? Oh yes. The burgers taste like heaven gone to hell, in a good way, and the price is right, too. You'd have a hard time spending more than $15 on your meal, beer included, and that's an area of midtown you rarely escape for under $50!

Next time you find yourself in NYC, or if you live here, next time you find yourself in midtown at mealtime, The Burger Joint is a must-eat. You won't regret it!