Bash Burger from John McDonald’s Mercer Street Hospitality is opening Tuesday, November 7, inside Urbanspace Vanderbilt, the first of at least four locations that will open in partnership with restaurateur, Steve Hanson.
There are two options on the very short menu: one is the Bash Burger that won the Burger Bash at New York Wine & Food Festival a half-dozen times, with bacon, onion jam, cheese, and shaved pickles. The other is the Classic, similar to the burger served at McDonald’s restaurant, Lure Fishbar and Burger & Barrel, has American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Both are four-ounce patties, with fries, for $10. There will eventually be beer, wine, and cocktails, as well as a Bash hot dog.
Hanson, the founder of BR Guest Hospitality, announced earlier this year that he purchased all six locations of the biggest foodhall brand in the city, Urbanspace, along with the Urban Hawker Market. Hanson and McDonald are partners in the four upcoming locations.
Bash Burger is the latest entrant in a crowded fast-casual burger market, albeit one in which a comparable burger at, say, Shake Shack, is more expensive — about $8 without fries, which are just over $4. Coming down the pike, there’s Mike Puma’s Gotham Burger Social Club, which he founded as a roving burger feast, and he eventually created his own burger, gaining a legion of fans of the Gotham Smash. And before the end of the year, Hamburger America, from George Motz, is on track to open, a time capsule of American regional styles.