There it is. New York City's best cup of coffee from Cafe Prague on 19th Street just off of 5th Avenue. Honestly I felt really honored to drink it...but when I finished I felt a bit hollow like maybe they lied to me or something. How would I know if they were lying or not, I mean if they said it was the best it must be the best, right? Little did I know that many restaurants think they have the best coffee in the city, or the best pie, burgers, sandwiches, lobster, etc. You name it, somebody is claiming to have the best of something. So now suddenly intrigued, I went off in search of a few places in the city making similar claims to find out if in fact their boasts were true and to see if there was anyway possible for me to substantiate the claims.
First up on my trek was Brgr, a burger joint at 287 7th Avenue which has posted on their front window that they were voted to have the best shake in NYC...in fact I found out that they were also voted to have the best burgers in the city as well...back in 2007. So 3 long years ago the New York Post claimed that Brgr had the best burgers in the city and New York Magazine, also back in 2007, claimed that they had the best shakes in the city. Ummm...so that means for the last three years other restaurants have been voted to have better shakes and burgers thus making their claim seem a bit untrue. Besides it's not as if there was actually a vote anyway, a couple of critic's at the Post and NY Mag don't speak for the entire population of the city anyway. Letter to Brgr...time to take down the no longer true statement on your window please, it's a bit misleading.
Live lobsters now showing all night! Next up was Francisco's Centro Vasco restaurant on 23rd between 6th and 7th Ave's that claims on their sign that they are NYC #1, whatever that means. What caught my attention here was when I walked past the place it smelled really bad outside...gross. So no longer able handle it I went to their website where they claim to be NYC's #1 Lobster House, which I could not substantiate any further, but from all the reviews I read maybe they are. They really have to do something about that smell though cause that #1 is smelling a lot like #2...
On to Lindy's near Madison Square Garden, where you are bombarded with all kinds of signs and advertisments, it's a wonder I could even concentrate. On their front awning Lindy's claims to have world famous Cheesecake, but they didn't say they were the best. Is that any better? Now world famous doesn't exactly tell you if it's any good at all, maybe it's world famous for the amount of people that it has made sick and throw-up? Maybe some dude on business from Japan stopped in once for a slice and said it was good...does that make it world famous? The world may never know.
D'aiuto's over on 8th avenue suggests that their Cheesecake is the best on Earth, forget being world famous the best on Earth is the best! Whatever happened to being the best in the city? Not good enough for you? Seems as if neither of these last 2 establishments wants to claim their Cheesecake to be the best in NYC because they both know that Junior's makes the best Cheesecake in New York...even if I prefer traditional Italian Cheesecake over it (it's made with Ricotta Cheese not the usual Cream Cheese, way better). These vague boasts are even harder to decifer since it's almost impossible to find out the truth, therefore they are free to claim whatever they want even if they think they have the best Cheesecake on Mars...who knew?
So you are saying that it's Bleecker Street Pizza then? Stop being so passive aggressive! Guess that means I gotta give their pizza a try, but again this is just one opinion and not a true indication of the actual best pizza in the city. I can only imagine how hard it would be to figure that one out...I just know that my favorite is Joe's on Carmine Street. The best pizza in NYC is like trying to find out who has the best white rice in China. Never gonna happen.
Of course I could go on and on with places claiming to be the best in the city, or the world if you must, but that would be the longest blog ever. Overall I don't really have a problem with places claiming to be the best because that only gives me reason to give them a try...oh wait, I guess that's what they are going for huh? However the point is living up to your braggadacio (bragging for the layman) after luring in the customers to your establishment and not just having it be a sign on your window. Who am I to say anyway...I'm only the best food bloogger in the city and perhaps even the world (completely untrue and totally fabricated for effect).
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