Spitzer's Corner

Great beer selection, lamb burger and truffle Mac and cheese (very filling) are great.  Would have liked to see server more attentive but over all nice lunch.

Spitzer's, as an institution, is hard to justify.  The food is priced like a gastropub, but is often middling diner quality: their burgers and veggie burgers are just so-so.  Fries are a little soggy and not really redeemed by the spices that coat them.  The neighborhood is chock full of superior burgers (either Mikey's or any one of numerous fancier joints that have superior quality and carefully sourced beef). Similarly, their beer list is fine, but not better than other places, and it's not worth paying elevated prices to sit on uncomfortable benches at awkward communal tables--you could walk two blocks to Marshall Stack for a far nicer ambiance and much kinder prices.  I suppose there's a scenester element, but the crowd mostly looks like they arrived recently from midwestern frat houses.  Which makes a certain degree of sense: New Yorkers hold out for better.

friendly staff. good food. tons of seating. amazing beer selection. even better people watching. kbye.