Famous Hamburger

THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED
I live right around the corner and I for one am happy. The food was a step below McDonalds. The new sign says a «tasty» burger place with «exotic burger meats» will be opening in December.

Man. This place has a strangely special place in my heart. Came here with my boy a pretty long time ago (like 6+ months ago for my first time) to get burgers and it was my first time. We were expecting like In-​N-​Out quality and instead it was okay… not bad… but places who can’t get my medium rare requests correct always disappoint me. Their inability to produce a medium rate burger resulted in my rating them on Unilocal with 3 stars.
My second time I went again with their «signature burger» which is Texan style with a fried egg on top was still a treat and I had it one more time after that when we came here to celebrate my getting an awesome new job. It was my idea because I wanted to give their burger another shot since they’re pretty close to my boyfriend’s apartment in Astoria. My burger was juicier this time around and that coupled with better service and their AMAZING molten lava chocolate cake brought me to updates review to 4 stars.
Came here for my third time with my mom & sister and decided to try something different. Went with their chicken breast sandwich — forgot what it was called exactly but it came with «garlic sauce» which is really just garlic mayo. Still, it was delicious and sized just right to get me full but not feeling grossly stuffed.
Returned yesterday with the boy after a hiatus. He was craving a burger and I was pleased to return since it had been awhile and this place holds nice memories for us. As every time we’ve come here together, he ordered the «Wall of Fame» burger. It’s monstrous and it comes with a really, REALLY larger serving of French fries… they’re not bad, but they’re right there with McDonalds quality fries and since there were so many I decided to ask for no fries and share his… I’m a fantastic girlfriend for saving him from inhaling all those calories alone, lol.
I had a hankering for chicken and was sad to learn that they no longer have chicken breast but our waitress did say that the seasoned chicken party things that they have now taste better so I went with it.
The boys burger looked the same as it does each time he’s ordered it. Good but nothing crazy special. The fries were in the same club. My chicken party was interesting… heavily seasoned with what I think was lots of black pepper and definitely a few red pepper flakes. Spicy, but tolerable to me (I don’t normally do spicy, but my taste buds are beginning to be more forgiving as of late).
It wasn’t bad, but I preferred their chicken breast because it made me feel as if I was eating actual, real chicken and not a bunch of weird chicken parts no one wanted that got all smashed together in a circular formation and called a «chicken patty».
Things that are making me review this place at length for a 3^rd time include:
+ Walking in and seeing a flighty carpet and floor. Sure, I’m not eating off the floor but if I’m paying to eat out there is a value in knowing I’m eating in a place that takes pride in itself. How can I assume your kitchen is clean if the entrance looks like a hot mess?!
+ Our waitress was as slow as molasses. No refilled water, food took longer than it ever has before and by the time I finally got her attention to ask for a side of their tangy (yet strangely addicting) garlic sauce, I was almost done with my chicken patty sandwich and my boy’s fries.
+ Waiting for our check so we could leave? Yeah, that kinda took long too… plus it was so, SO creepily quiet and for some reason it seemed so eerily desolate because we were the only customers and as my boyfriend remarked, «they’re empty on a Saturday night?» — I’ve never been the only customer here, they’re usually pretty busy.
Don’t know what’s happening with this place, I want to like it, really I do. But man, it seems to really need a lot of work to inject some life into it. Also, here’s hoping they bring back the chicken breast option. The patty is NOT better. Yarg.

I had high hopes for this place. I walked in no one was there around 330pm. I wasn’t greeted. She finally sat me down while she was on her phone. I was ready to order but she Continued to talk on her cell phone. I thought because nobody was in the restaurant and I would be treated properly. I waited and waited and then I finally decided to leave. I never placed my order.

My friends have been talking about this place for some time so we decided to try out their Inferno burger and Cheese burger. The inferno burger tasted good but the patty itself was pretty bland. They need to put salt and other spices in the burger.
Service also was kind of slow. We were the only ones there and had to wait 45 mins for 5 burgers.
Would I go back? Mayybee, wont be my first choice though

Went back, decided to give this place another try. Wanted a bacon cheeseburger but they were out of bacon (as well as several other items on the menu!) so I wound up ordering a regular cheeseburger with fries. My brother ordered the same thing.
Both of our burgers were extremely dry and bland. No seasoning whatsoever– no salt or pepper. I actually used the salt shaker to season my own burger b/​c it was virtually inedible. And did I mention how dry and overcooked it was? Because it was very dry and overcooked. Awful. I’ve had better burgers everywhere else. The fries were good and plentiful– congrats on accomplishing that much, Famous.
Not going back there again!

O. M. G. Have been meaning to come here for months as I’ve heard from other halal-​only burger consumers about the legitness of the ones in Michigan. And previously, a gastronomically reliable city-​dwelling friend graded this joint an A-​. I would’ve been excited if he gave it a C+! So to me it was a done deal: I must go here no matter what…
So there I was earlier today: Just dropped off a good friend to LGA and figured it’d be a good opp to pick up some burgers for myself and fam. (My fam was more of a second thought, but YOLO, right?)
I did the mandatory Unilocal app reading/​analysis prior to entering to get a feel of what people liked and didn’t like. I even thought of reading Google Reviews but then quickly laughed off that silly notion! Overall it had (still does) 3.5 stars. Solid. Interestingly some more recent ones have it a poor reading. Haters, perhaps, I thought to myself. One reviewer went so far to call it dead cow meat. Ouch. Another complained about the pinkness of it. Yet even others complained about blandness including an «Elite» reviewer.
Nonetheless, I remained focused and undeterred: eat this burger, I must. So I stepped in and executed: it wasn’t busy but then again I came in around 3:45pm on a Friday. Sat down at the bar and was handed a menu by the polite and welcoming waiter. I was focused on the menu but also the TV above me since it had Fantastic Four (the first one) which I inexplicably enjoyed albeit in a passive way…
I went with the deluxes of the following burgers: Famous, Inferno, and Cheeseburger. And, to make things real cray cray, I took it all to-​go. It didn’t take long for the burgers to come out…
The long ride back home was tough; I really wanted to pull over and devour the hamburgers and then give my wife a convincing sob story of how a crazed man in a panda suit pulled me over and took all the food as well as my hopes and dreams. Instead, I trucked on like a mother trucker…
Home. Ran home and ate the kids (with kisses as they’re still babies and mad adorable) as an appetizer since I was hungry (for love). High-​fived the wife for my solid work on burger hunting. Devouring commenced shortly after slightly reheating food in an oven toaster.
First bites. Were epic, bro. Wow. Wanted to add all the haters (negative reviewers) only to remove them as an awesome slap to their faces and taste buds…
But then a few more bites into it … My world came crashing. Hard. Harder, in fact, than the knifes used to slaughter the cows. My wife and I encountered a sea of pink within the burger. A pink that was so much pink that even Pinkalicous herself would’ve hesitated at the sight.
A part of me was still inclined to be heroic and manly and eat my way through it. But, nay, for not even Kahless (the bravest of the bravest Klingons) would’ve carried on with such a horrid challenge. He would’ve gladly taken on the dishonor from the High Council and live the rest of his life amongst Romulans eating vegan-​only burgers.
Such was the epic proportion of my disappointment…
Please, Famous Hamburger, please work on your quality. I give you two stars instead of one only because the taste was there for the first few bites making me want more, but then my word crumbled like the cronut and coconut water eventually craze will…
Oh, and in conclusion, the Dr. Pepper was kinda flat.

Okay so I have frequented this place from when it first opened until now. Initially it was about a 3.5−4÷5 star place. Along the way management must have decided to cut every imaginable corner.
Four times my burger came out raw and i sent it back only to notice they re-​fried the raw burger and re packaged it *pissed*. several occasions they were out of cheese for cheese fries and chili. Once they didn’t even tell me there was no chili they chopped up hamburger meat put it on top of my fries, Seriously?
The waiters are always friendly and the place is nicely set but whats wrong with these people. I’m stuck because honestly there aren’t many halal options that offer a decent American style burger. At this point i think me and my friends just enjoy the gamble of «will our food be OK today». We should probably seek help but until then famous burger should just rename itself INFAMOUS burger.

The worst burger I’ve had by far and I barely got half way through. The beef patty was way over cooked and it was literally the size of my palm (which is rather small), all the while the bun was twice that. Also the entire burger was smothered in ketchup, which was nasty. Overall my experience was horrendous and I would never set foot in this establishment ever again, halal or not.

While walking down Steinway one day in search of food I remembered this strange hamburger spot to be really well reviewed. We went in and sat down and after reading I realized it is a Halal hamburger shop on Steinway… ok cool. I ordered the Famous hamburger with waffle fries, I was brought regular fries, whatever I can deal with it I thought.
The burger was just bland, I think the meat just wasn’t cooked that well, it was possibly dried out a bit to much but it just didn’t offer much to my taste buds. The fries were fine with ketchup, yet they didn’t have any atributes that made them stand out either. I wasn’t disappointed in the food as it filled me up and the pricing was fine, I was just disappointed with the raving reviews this place has received because it surely does not represent them.

3 ½ stars.
Got a Groupon and decided to lug a friend and baby down Steinway for an app-​two-​burger-​fries-​two-​drink special.
The wings were AWESOME! Plump and pretty darn big, they came with a side of hot sauce (or ranch or bbq — I guess you can only pick one sauce — we didn’t ask). If you’re familiar with Chinese take-​out wings, these were very similar. Crunchy, breaded and greasy on the outside. Piping hot, juicy and meaty on the inside. It’s a very specific type of wing that I love love love.
We also ordered a beef mushroom swiss burger and a falafel burger. The beef burger was standard. A bit dry but tasty. I noticed they didn’t ask how we liked it cooked. Not that kind of place. The falafel burger was really tasty. The patty was a little too small for the bun so my only complaint would be «more falafel, less bun!». The fries were also a little dry but ok too.
The service was really nice. The young lady, who was working the entire restaurant on a weekday lunch hour, checked up on us multiple times and was very sweet. The décor is clean, 1950s diner. A less kitschy version of Johnny Rockets sans singing waiters.
I definitely would visit again and order the wings as my meal. I’m already thinking about when.
P. S. It’s Halal.

I stumbled on this spot by accident on a cold day at that. I was waiting for we buy games so I went here. It was relatively empty then again it was Sunday.
I was greeted by the owner I believe who made sure I enjoyed my stay. I ordered the beef bacon cheeseburger with fries. The burger was cooked to perfection and the bun to burger ratio was on point. The fries were pretty good as well. The food so good that I brought my girlfriend with me the next day. Their waffle fries are pretty good too.
For the price and food proportion its worth every penny.

Pretty interesting back story, Famous Hamburger has been around since 1970 by way of Lebanon. In the 90’s the owners opened up some restaurants in Michigan and recently one sprang up in Astoria. The whole décor from the booths to what is on the menu represents an American burger joint from the 1950s. The only item out of place is the top 40 club music that permeates through the speakers.
While there is nothing too outlandish on the menu, FH does have everything: chicken sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, wraps, subs, soups, salads etc. All is priced rather cheaply and there won’t be a mystery to what you are getting which in this case is a good thing. I tried the Famous which is a double hamburger patty with egg on one and cheese on the other along with pickles, onions, lettuce, special sauce, and ketchup. The burger tasted as good as one of a grill during a summer bbq. Nothing flashy, just solid. I also had the fries here too and they were good too. Standard fare diner-​esque fries.
All of the wait staff here are incredibly friendly and do followup with you to see if everything tastes alright and if you need anything else. It’s weird to have to actually state that, but customer service is becoming a lost art.
Famous Hamburger is a respectable choice if you want to shut an older person in your family up that yearns for the good old days. And if your Muslim this is a good choice for you too because it is all Halal food.

First time that I went to Famous Hamburger. Just from obtaining the menu I was amazed!!! They had sooooo many different kinds of foods! There are soo many different types of burgers as well it was mind blowing. I got your egg burger, the mini regular burgers, and the nacho grande (which I was iffy with cause usually there would be a heavy load if cheese but my boyfriend wanted it) when I first came here.
The nacho came out first and yoooooo let me tell you! I thought that the nacho had just the right amount of cheese and beef. Is not too much and at the same time not too little. The cheese did not soak through the chips and it sure as hell weren’t sliced cheese put in a microwave or oven which I was impressed with.
My burger came out and it was amazing! The egg wasn’t runny (even though I love my eggs runny but on a burger that would just be messy) the beef was moist and to my surprise the buns (it’s not the regular buns either) and the burger in general wasn’t oily. The buns weren’t soaked and wet which is always a good thing.
I felt like the burgers are way more healthier and that made me happy.
Ah!!! The mini regular came out the burgers were the bomb !!! You didn’t even have to put ketchup! Again it was moist and delish.
So this place is the boob! The burgers are good, the price is right, the food are healthier than most around, and the size is prefect.

¹⁄₃ lbs burgers? Cool. But when the bun outsizes the patty, you really have to rethink things! ¹⁄₃ probably meant the amount of bun left after the meat is gone!
The burger was dry (I had ordered the Inferno) but was palatable only because it had ketchup. How can you name a burger the Inferno and expect it to be spicy if you have ketchup on it? The fries were worst than diner style, soft and soggy. I think the only thing this place has going is the fact that it’s open ’til 4a on weekends and ’til 2 am on weeknights. Even that won’t sway me to return. Shishkabab cart, here I come!

We love this place! If you’re hungry & have big appetite, this is definitely a must place to go. Huge portion! Guarantee to fill you up!
Best bang for the buck for sure!
We ordered the wall of fame burger & the crispy chicken sandwich. Our friend who came with us ordered the bacon cheeseburger. The wall of fame is basically a gigantic cheeseburger (1 lb meat). Anyone who can finish it will get their pictures taken. The burger is decent, pretty tasty but not packed full of flavor. The cheese fries, with melted cheese, were definitely cheesy & delicious!
2 burgers deluxe with cheese fries, 1 chicken burger with waffle fries, & an order of soda, total damage were somewhere around $ 30ish…
Great price, friendly service… We will definitely come back…

My favorite halal burger joint! I’ve tried almost every burger on the menu. So far I haven’t been disappointed! Although, my favorite is the Chicken Club Deluxe with extra (beef) bacon. The burgers are very tasty, full of flavor, and filling. Also, the meal itself isn’t expensive when compared to other restaurants on Steinway. for around $ 10 you can get a full meal. The wings are by far my favorite appetizer (not too oily like other restaurants) and are especially savory with the «brave, hot sauce» which is more mild than hot but still very good. The milkshakes are huge so come prepared to eat if you’re ordering a meal and a milkshake. However, the «Famous Fries» aren’t that great. they taste like regular, generic french fries. The waffle fries are delicious if you want to pay extra. The service can get slow (20+ minutes for your order to come) if it’s a busy night.
Most importantly, finally a great restaurant on Steinway without parking issues! (It is located blocks away from the hookah cafes.)

The food was very good. The service? An absolute atrocity. They essentially had 1 – 2 waitresses for a packed restaurant and every aspect of ordering, getting our meal, and paying for the meal was painfully slow. I will not be back.
But if you’re into fairly big, quality burgers, you’ll get your wish.

One of the few places in Astoria where you can get a burger, fries and a soda for $ 10 or less and feel full. That makes Famous Burger a bargain. I ordered the «Famous Burger» which was two ¹⁄₃ lb patties with an egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce and pickles.
The burger wasn’t anything to rave home about and the meat wasn’t very flavorful. I also think I asked for it to be pink in the middle and it wasn’t. Nonetheless the patty wasn’t anything special. I’d say the same for the fries and the chili. I really didn’t enjoy the chili fries I got. The chili was too watery and didn’t stay on the fries at all.
Your chili consistency should be that of a sauce not a broth.
My friend got waffle fries and i’d stick with that from now if I were to go back but if I were to go back it would be because I was being budget conscience.
This place was OKay but with so many places to eat in Astoria (especially Burger joints) Famous Burger will never be a first option for me, or second for that matter.

Huge fan of this place. The service is great — fast, friendly, and present — they don’t just bring you your food and disappear — they’ll check in and make sure waters are refilled, etc. Even when they mess up they more than make up for it — took out from here once, they give us the wrong order so we came back and they had our original order along with a complimentary extra burger and onion rings — which was really nice on their part. A great way to keep business (I’ve been back multiple times since that incident, partially because of the way they handled their slip up).
Every time I’ve had one of their burgers (have tried chicken and varieties of their beef burgers) they have been well cooked — juicy, flavorful, and topped perfectly (they don’t just slap on toppings– they properly «dress» the burger. which makes a sig. difference.
So good and so filling. and agreed with previous Unilocalers, hands down the best halal burger in nyc.
and not to mention — they’re waffle fries are phenomenal. as in better than chik-​fil-​a good

Okay as a Muslim and living in New York City it’s very difficult to get some decent halal unless ur mommy is making it. Like many Americans I crave french fries, burgers and shakes. This place is amazing :) good food and it’s halal ;) my craving is gone after I eat here!