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Taryn Varricchio: Few foods scream summer
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more than burgers.
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And in New Jersey,
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it's all about Steve's Burgers,
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a small, no-frills spot right off Route 46
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boasting monstrous cheeseburgers.
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The burgers look really big, right?
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I have never been to Steve's,
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but I have heard so much about this place.
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I am familiar with the area
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because I grew up in New Jersey.
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It's literally right off the highway,
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and it's a very small spot,
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so it's interesting to me
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that this was one of the places
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ranked as one of the best in country
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based on Yelp reviews.
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That being said, I'm from New Jersey
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and I've never had it, so I'm just excited
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to go see what all this hype is about.
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Customer: He's so big, like, in New Jersey,
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that when you come to Garfield,
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you have to go to Steve's Burgers.
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Like, you have to come here.
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Taryn: Of the 2,000 burgers sold a week,
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the best seller is Steve's burger.
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Chef and owner Stephen Chrisomalis
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molds the patties with a food scooper,
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or what's called a disher, to form 6-ounce rounds.
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He uses 80/20 ground chuck,
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which isn't as fatty as regular ground beef
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but still packed with flavor.
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Burgers head onto a 48-inch flattop grill
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filled to the brim with 50 to 60 patties.
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The Steve's burger comes with
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American cheese, thick Indiana-cut bacon,
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and onion rings.
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Then it's dressed with Steve's seriously delicious sauce.
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The recipe is secret,
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but we know it's a base of ketchup, mayo, and relish.
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And for the final touch, big burgers,
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like the double Steve's burger,
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are sandwiched between a toasted brioche roll.
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Customer: There's very few foods
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that I would come out of my way in quarantine to get,
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and this is definitely one of them.
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That's just...it's beyond good.
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Taryn: By the end of the day,
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Steve's has gone through 200 pounds of ground chuck
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and 500 pounds of potatoes.
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Fries are made fresh each day,
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first cut, then soaked.
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Stephen Chrisomalis: Soaking them, yeah,
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it takes all the starch out of the potato itself
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and it cooks them. Gives it a little coating
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to cook it nicer, so it's crispier.
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Taryn: They're blanched and cooked halfway
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at 350 degrees, then cooked again to order.
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Customer: This is a grease pit. Like, 100%.
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Like, the food is greasy.
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Like, that's what - when you come to a place like this,
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that's what you're looking for.
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You're not looking for -
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I'm not here to eat a salad.
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Taryn: Looking at the single Steve's burger,
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it honestly is misleading,
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'cause this thing is huge.
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So much sauce.
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Very crispy bacon.
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Oh, my God, I think I just wiped the sauce in my hair.
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It's been a while.
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You get a crispy bacon, a crunchy onion ring,
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a really, like, hearty, beefy burger,
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and, like, Steve's sauce is really, really good.
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That's, like, he said that it doesn't come on other burgers,
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and I feel like I would add the Steve's sauce
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to the other burgers because that's the part
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that I, like, want in every bite.
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Another deliciously greasy option:
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Steve's beloved patty melt.
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This time, the 6-ounce cheeseburger
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goes on buttered rye bread
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with American cheese and fried onions.
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Customer: I'm a plain Jane.
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I don't really like too much crazy stuff on my hamburgers,
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but they have a patty melt here
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with the burger on the rye.
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It's f---ing awesome.
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You can bleep that out, right?
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Stephen: So good. It's honestly my favorite,
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but I can't say that. [laughs]
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Customer: Oh, easily top five places I would go
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in New Jersey if I were to pick a place to go. Easily.
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I'd say this is probably one of the tastes of New Jersey
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you'd wanna come visit.
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Taryn: Local magazines and critics
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say much of the same,
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and then the numbers speak for themselves.
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Stephen says he serves about 2,000 burgers a week
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across his two locations.
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Stephen: My goal is 1,000 Steve's Burgers.
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1,000, so I have 998 more to go,
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and I'm gonna stick with it.
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Customer: For five, 10 years, we never stopped in here,
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and then we realized, everyone's talking
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about this place. It's fantastic.
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Customer: I keep telling them, like,
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you guys gotta get T-shirts.
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I'll be your No. 1 spokesperson, I don't care.
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I'll come here all the time.
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And I'll tell everyone how good it is.