Most expensive hamburger in NYC? $41

Associated Press
Jan. 11, 2003

NEW YORK - And yes, it comes with fries.

A 20-ounce burger fashioned from ultratender Kobe beef debuted this week at the landmark Old Homestead restaurant. At $41, it is the city's most expensive hamburger.

It is the first time the 135-year-old steakhouse has ever put a burger on its menu. The restaurant bills it "The World's Most Decadent Hamburger."

"This is not about price," restaurant owner Marc Sherry said Friday, when the restaurant sold nearly 200 of the new burgers. "This is an event."

The burgers debuted Tuesday. Among the first to try it: Sopranos star James Gandolfini and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza.

Kobe beef, imported from Japan, comes from cattle raised on beer and massaged daily to make the meat soft and succulent.

The burger, which has a piece of herb butter in the middle of each patty, comes on a special roll with exotic mushrooms and microgreens (shredded baby lettuce).

Put away the Heinz. The burger comes with a homemade ketchup, mustard or horseradish sauce.