Cozy Royale
I did it. I found the best burger in New York.
And just like that, it’s another year of One More Bite. Frankly, my first few weeks of 2025 have been exhausting. A good type of exhausting, but exhausting nonetheless. I think a nice, long lie down in the sun at the beach would cure me, but apparently those are hard to come by, especially this time of the year. Anyone else feeling particularly sick of winter already? And, do I need a balaclava? A bonnet? (Update: I bought a leopard print balaclava.)
Though my January has been mostly cold and dark, bright spots have come and gone in the form of birthday celebrations and evenings at the movies (um, Babygirl?!)—and an appropriately bright, yellow door. I’ve been familiar with the corner of Humboldt Street and Jackson Street for quite some time now—a friend of mine lives nearby—but I only recently stepped through the friendly door of Cozy Royale to finally see what the fuss is all about.
It seems like everyone I know either has never heard of Cozy Royale or raves about it, a full-body reaction to the restaurant’s name being spoken aloud. And now that I’ve been, I have no idea what took me so long to eat there. I love The Meat Hook, Cozy Royale’s sister butcher shop. Viraj and I used to watch owner Brent Young (and former co-owner Ben Turley) on Eater’s YouTube channel make all sorts of weird sausages on their show, Prime Time, and now that we live here, we’ve been slowly trying all their odd creations. (The mac and cheese sausage, not bad!)
And then I was supposed to go to Cozy Royale in December, but bailed last minute due to being stressed about my Jellycat gift exchange I hosted. It went great, having people over at my apartment just stresses me out. And then I was very jealous when Viraj reported back that it might be the best burger he had ever had in New York, second only to Nowon.
So, on a cold January evening, Viraj and I walked the 10 minutes from Brooklyn Film Camera (I broke my camera) to Cozy Royale, cursing the wind and running the whole way. Then, that distinctive yellow door, and we were transported into the coziest tavern there ever was.
American food isn’t really my favorite, especially since I encounter so much of it at such a low quality—I’ve eaten way too many pre-packaged grocery store Caesar salads, unfortunately, and that’s probably my favorite American food. But done well, American food scratches that itch deep inside me that reminds me that I am as “American” as I am “Asian.”
And speaking of Caesar salads, Viraj and I ordered one, along with a cheeseburger for myself and the fabled dry-aged cheeseburger for him, which they only serve 10 of in one day. We had a 5 p.m. reservation and ordered by 5:15 p.m., but we heard the server tell the table near us shortly after we had ordered that they were sold out for the day.
As we waited, we Viraj and I dreamed up our ideal Caesar salad, which we both agreed would need to include anchovies in the dressing, and preferably whole anchovies as well. I also said I wanted crisp, whole cubes of croutons (though the crispy chickpeas in Daily Provisions’ salad aren’t bad either), and a healthy serving of parmesan. Well, Cozy Royale outdid our imaginations—big, chewy leaves of kale coated in dressing, tiny curls of parmesan and bread crumbs, with croutons hidden throughout like little bits of buried treasure and topped with whole anchovies. I think they’ve ruined all other Caesar salads for me for the rest of time.
Oh and—I had a gin martini with a twist, duh. When we walked in, a tote bag hanging by the host stand declared that they had the “coldest martini east of the BQE,” which I thought was a bold and silly claim. But then I was served my martini, and holy shit it was cold. Freezing. Impressive.
As we slowed down our salad-eating pace, wanting to save room for the burgers, they came. And yeah, they nailed it. It’s the perfect burger. (Though it seems simple to make a burger, I love this Eater video about Cozy Royale’s burgers, and the intentionality behind it all!) I’m glad that we as a society are moving past the smashburger craze, because nothing hits like a thick, juicy patty. Pair that with American cheese, pickles, onion and “fancy sauce,” whatever that means, and it’s a clear winner. Maybe this just sounds like every other burger out there—it is, in its base form. But something about this burger tastes exceptional, and I suspect it all really comes down to an excellent patty, which The Meat Hook, unsurprisingly, nails. (And beautiful potato buns from Native, to top—and bottom—it all off.)
Viraj reported that his burger was good, but perhaps suffered from being unnecessarily on trend: raclette, arugula, bacon jam, calabrian aioli, pickled red onion… Every trendy burger ingredient in one, except perhaps the truffle. The dry-aged patty takes over a month to make, and the rarity of it makes it a worthwhile try. But, honestly, just get their normal burger. It’s going to blow your mind.
And Viraj can’t turn down a sticky toffee pudding for dessert, so he ordered it despite me saying that I was stuffed and didn’t want any. And then I ended up eating more of it than him—the gentle tartness of the vanilla crème fraîche made the pudding never too sweet and ugh… so addictive. The perfect dessert, the perfect meal.
Viraj and I loved Cozy Royale so much that we made a reservation to go for brunch this past weekend at 2 a.m. after getting home from a late night out, which I then had to cancel at 8 a.m. because we were too ambitious about our ability to make it to East Williamsburg by noon. The lesson here is don’t drink and Resy… I guess. But hey, if that doesn’t show our enthusiasm for Cozy Royale, I don’t know what will.
Bite It!
Cozy Royale can be booked on Resy, and it’s fairly easy to book a table, especially a week or more out.