The Lions Bar & Grill
The burger comes with a thick slice of steamed white onion chopped into a peppery patty left pink inside, and Will Hartman says it is worth becoming a regular for.
Why go
The Lions holds the corner of St Marks and First Avenue, which is a loud block, and people here sit in worn wooden booths with Jack White audible over the top of them.1 The same team runs The Wayland and Madeline's Martini, and Bar Lula, which they also ran, held this corner before The Lions did.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the burger, which the East Village guide describes as a dupe of the Red Hook Tavern burger and says you should get.2
- Avoid: the weekend if you want a conversation. The guide's own preference is
Lions best during the week for a catch-up over lagers.
2
What locals & experts say
- Will Hartman, The Infatuation, 3 April 2024:
no matter how many $5 beers or $18 martinis they consume, you can always clearly hear Jack White and other 2000s alt rock legends playing in the background. The relaxed atmosphere is probably due to cheeseburger-induced bliss: with its chopped-thick slice of steamed white onion, and peppery, pink-inside patty, Lions' burger is worth becoming a regular here.
1 - The Infatuation's East Village bars guide: carried for the $5 pints, which the guide says are hard to come by in this neighborhood and harder on St Marks. It is an editor list, so it places the bar and does not score it.2
Good to know
- Timing: evenings, and the guide's pick is midweek.
- Booking: walk in.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Classic bar and decent burger."
Verdict
could-visit — Order the burger. Pints ran $5 and martinis $18 when Will Hartman wrote it up in April 2024. The Infatuation does not score bars, so there is no number on this one, and its own advice is to come midweek.