Burger Joint   

After traversing the marble atrium of the posh Le Parker Meridien Hotel, you're sure to enter this pointedly plain establishment and do a double take. Somewhat hidden down a short hall behind a check-in desk, this nameless restaurant (hailed by most patrons as, simply, "Burger Joint") seems imported from another place. The counter is just a cut-out window of the kitchen (simply a grill and a fry guy), where you place an order from the hand-written menu to the left. A cheeseburger with the works and fries will barely make a dent in your wallet. Then you can take your basket of food and sit in one of the wooden booths flanking the kitchen or at one of the few rickety tables, and enjoy a homegrown burger in this tiny, greasy spoon getaway. Take in the fake wood-paneled walls, inhale nostalgic smells, enjoy a great burger of the variety you didn't know you were missing -- then brace yourself for the honking horns that inevitably await when you pass back over that threshold. -- Ashley Lederer