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#55 in NYC

J.G. Melon

Upper East Side, Manhattan

7.5/10
#55 NYC · GOOD
The Hamburger at J.G. Melon

Brotherly Breakdown

Our own take, from eating it. Written by Brotherly Burgers.

J.G. Melon's burger is the best version of the burger someone's father makes on a backyard grill, and we mean that as praise. The char on the patty was outstanding, the meat was good, and it was cooked and seasoned well.

The bun undoes a lot of it. Flaky and dry, and by our own account it detracted from the burger tremendously. This is a no-frills tavern burger with an excellent patty and a failing piece of bread around it.

Best for

Classic pub burgers, char-forward patties, raw onion and ketchup, no-frills tavern dining, and Upper East Side institutions.

The catch

The bun is flaky and dry and it detracts from the burger tremendously. On a build this spare there is nothing else to absorb it.

What it's actually like

J.G. Melon has been on Third Avenue since 1972 and is still cash only. The official menu lists the hamburger as a bare line item with no description, which is fitting, because the house build is about as plain as a burger gets: a griddled patty with raw onion and pickles, no lettuce, no tomato, no special sauce. This assessment is based on one visit.

The patty is the reason to go. The char on it was outstanding, and that is the single observation our notes keep returning to. It was cooked well and seasoned well, the meat quality was good, and the texture of that charred exterior against raw onion and ketchup was the combination we liked most. This is what a great plain griddled burger is supposed to taste like.

Then there is the bun. It was flaky and dry, and it detracted from the burger tremendously. On a burger with four components, one failing is not a minor deduction. There is nothing else in the build to hide behind.

Two practical notes that sit outside our scoring, since neither price nor service affects a score under our methodology: the value here is outstanding and the service is quick.

Strengths

  • Outstanding char on the patty
  • Cooked and seasoned well
  • Good meat quality
  • Raw onion and ketchup pair well with the patty texture
  • Outstanding value and quick service

Why this score

The patty and its char are genuinely excellent, and on a better bun this would sit considerably higher.

A burger built from four components has nowhere to hide a failure, and one of these four failed. That is the whole of the gap between what this burger is and what it could be.

Reviewed by Brotherly Burgers. Last written July 2026.

Neighborhood
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Cuisine
American Tavern
Price
$$

Hamburger

7.5/10
#55 NYC · GOOD

Classic plain menu listing, no descriptive blurb on the official menu image.

$14.25

Legendary UES tavern since 1972. Cash only. Famous for burgers and cottage fries. Celebrity favorite (Bloomberg, Gigi Hadid, Bobby Flay).