You’ll flip for this news.
This NYC hotspot sells high-end, boozy adult hamburger happy meals — but only the first lucky few can place an order.
Michelin-starred Chef Doug Brixton and his team at The Golden Swan in the West Village craft only 20 Brixton Burgers each night, a limited menu option served on a first come first serve basis.
Every night, the burger, served with a nest of thick duck fat fries, sells out before 11 p.m. However, that doesn’t stop customers from trying to get theirs, anyway — along with a Golden Swan martini to wash it all down.
Served exclusively in the restaurant’s Wallace Room on the first floor — which is available for walk-ins unlike the more high-end Dining Room upstairs — customers at The Golden Swan last week were lovin’ it.
A lucky 20-something couple — who insisted to the server that they weren’t “burger people” — managed to score one at a recent dinner. As soon as they took one bite into the juicy medium-rare burger, they could only utter one sentence before biting down again: “Wow, that’s so good.”
The meticulously crafted meal is a much more elevated take on the classic combo — including the price tag.
The $31 Brixton Burger is made with a blend of Angus chuck, brisket and short rib topped with balsamic onions that are slow-cooked for extra sweetness and melted Gruyere cheese, with a smear of garlic aioli on a perfectly toasted pain au lait (French milk bun).
And there’s no combo deal here: The Golden Swan Martini, crafted by Head Bartender Andy May, is a unique blend of sugar, spice and everything nice, including mezcal, pineapple and chili and costs a steep $23.
But don’t even think about asking for modifications on the burger.
“Everybody has their opinion on the perfect burger and the ingredients but at the end of the day, it’s my burger,” Brixton told The Post. “If you change it, then it’s not really the Brixton burger.”
Ketchup would be an abomination, he said, and a separate side of fries without a burger isn’t an option.
The co-owner of The Golden Swan, Matthew Abramcyk — who’s part of several other swanky NYC establishments — said the demand for the burger is not just due to the limited quantity but the meticulous thought put into it.
“We don’t change our burger, not because we don’t want to accommodate people and make everybody overjoyed, but we’re quite sure that we’ve put in way too much time to figure out how we can deliver the best of what we have and what we can do,” Abramcyk told The Post.
The Golden Swan opened in August 2023, taking over the highly-coveted West 11th Street location of the infamous The Spotted Pig, regarded as one of the city’s hottest restaurants for years — with a popular burger — before shutting down amid scathing sex scandals.
“I specifically didn’t put [burgers] on the menu, in the beginning because I knew that The Spotted Pig was very much known for that menu item,” Brixton said.
After months of requests, the chef finally gave in and added a burger to the menu in December.
“The goal is to have no one talking about the old establishment and making something that was fresh and just as good and just as memorable,” Brixton explained.
With a fair share of the rave reviews coming from the TikTok crowd, it’s fair to assume that many young diners don’t have memories of the old establishment — and are simply happy with their meals.
