Action Burger
“Relive your childhood playing some awesome video games while you eat or after.”
“The tables having bits of comics from Spider-Man, green lantern as well as street fighter and more really bring out that inner child in you.”
“Here you'll find arcade machines with games like Street Fighter 2 (classic) and Final Fight.”
Action Burger
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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The burgers (the only menu item I've sampled thus far) are pretty average. But that's entirely beside the point. This place is a magical little hole-in-the-wall example of the kind of spot that gives hope that NY can still be "cool" amidst the influx of Five Guys and Dunkin.
Upon entering, I knew I'd found "my people." Comic book covers line the walls, dioramas of miscellaneous action figures are proudly on display, and the screen on the wall appears ton constantly screen Marvel movies and others of that ilk.
The restaurant was pretty full of dudes who were clearly regulars – and I mean who *wouldn't* want to spend their Thursday night playing (free) old school arcade games with a likeminded nerd-tastic set?
10-minute wait for my food you say? No worries. Take your time. I'll just be in the corner whooping my dinner-mate's butt in Mortal Kombat.
Just make sure you're completely and utterly sloshed before you dare this realm. As long as you've met that one requirement, then you'll come to find that this place is perfect…
The food is a far cry from being prepared well and tends to run on the drier side, but they have a pretty wicked selection of stuff to choose from. I've stuck with the tenders, burgers and tots. All are satisfactory. Milkshakes haven't been too bad.
The decor here is AWESOME. If you're any kind of comic book geek (hello!), you'll appreciate this place fifteen times over. It's very unique from the majority of joints within the city in its presentation and approach to business, which deserves major props.
I would not recommend the delivery from here. I've done it three times now and have had to wait 70-80 minutes each time, which is kind of excessive given that it's pretty close by. Since it's so close, I just make the haul right on over.
If I could give 10 stars, I would. After a Yelp event, another Yelper and I were headed to the train when my friend pointed out Action Burger. She had heard it had the best burger in the city. The haphazard signs and mom and pop vibe of the exterior made me think she was probably right. As we both stood outside and discussed if we were hungry, we started to actually read the menu and notice the video game theme. Upon realilzing this, we had no choice but to go inside. We discovered a couple of tables of teenage, twenty and thirty-something men huddled around tvs playing video games together. After we ordered, we were told we could play games until our food was ready. We found an old-school Mortal Combat arcade game to occupy ourselves.
My boyfriend and I came in on Halloween night when it felt like every other suggested eatery incited a 'meh' or a flat 'no'. Action Burger had its odds stacked against them – we were grumpy diners even before we stepped in. Then we saw the vintage game machines that little costumed kids were playing for free. We saw the comic books resting at the edge of each table. We noticed Despicable Me was playing on two HD tv screens – WITH sound (because nothing sucks more than feeling deaf while watching a good movie in a restaurant because the manager decided you don't need to hear what's going on). And last but not least, we opened the menu and gasped at all of the burger options we never knew existed but was now made available for our noshing pleasure.
We didn't stand a chance; we were smiling within minutes. The boyfriend jumped over to play Street Fighter as soon as he placed his order, and hopped back on it as soon as the last bite went into his mouth (I now know how moms of young gamers feel). It wasn't because the food wasn't fantastic – they delivered it to our table even though we were three steps away from the counter. My guy seemed happy with his chicken wrap but stared wistfully at my loaded veggie burger…and when a carnivore is eyeing your vegan sandwich, I think that's saying something. I ordered tater tots last minute instead of my usual fries and didn't regret it for a second. I don't care if they look and feel just like the supermarket brand I get at home and bake up in my toaster oven – they were hot, fantastic, and totally hit the spot.
At this point, their five stars were already sealed to go, but THEN they started coming around with free samples of a Captain Crunch milkshake (a recipe they're trying out, the guy with the loaded tray explained), and some free shots of their Long Island Iced Tea. Believe it or not, if you come here late at night, they offer bottomless Long Island Iced Teas. So heads up – the prospect of playing drunk Super Mario awaits you here. Great food, awesome people, and totally for you if you're either five years old or wish you were.
You better call yo bank and increase yo credit limit before you come to action burger cause you won't remember how much you spent.
I knew the food would be gross like, 5th grade sneakin' shiz from yo moms fridge at 12 am… Sometimes it's fun to do bad things, so, go to action burger. I knew this would be good based on the amount of grease shine offa dat flash used in their photography. This place far exceeded my expectations. They spiked shakes so strong you spill dat all ova you before you even get a chance to finish it. It fact they spike whateva' you want! Thank you, action burger. You iz what you iz and I love it.
I will come back to action burger but I won't be sober…
#bestplacetogoaftertherapy
Action burger is kind of an odd yet interesting place. It has a cute gimmick with board games, video games (even Nintendo), movies, and comics, but the food part seemed a bit chaotic and overpriced. That being said, the wings I ordered apparently received rave reviews by my brother and his friends. My sister and I gleefully played pacman. Overall, I think it is a great place to take friends or a date to do something a little more unique and playful, maybe after eating in one of the better restaurants in the area.
7 stars for the fun, 3 stars for the food (ok, maybe closer to 4).
Where else have you ever been able to play the Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter arcade games for FREE, along with over a hundred other games, while you wait for your deliciously greasy meal of burgers, shakes and other fried goodness?
The answer is nowhere. That I know of. Or nowhere as awesome as this.
In addition to those two classics, they also have one of those great arcade cabinets that has a ton of games to choose from, including classics like Bubble Bobble, WWF WrestleFest, Arkanoid, Rampage, and too many more to name. Not only that, but they also have a joint NES/Super NES console with even more games. And this is primarily a restaurant, and not an arcade.
If video games aren't your thing, they also have a stack of classic comic books at every table for your reading pleasure, as well a bunch of nostalgia-inducing toys and posters all over the place. As if all of this wasn't enough going on, there are two HD TVs on opposite walls of the place playing movies.
As if all of this wasn't already enough of a fat kid's dream, we didn't even begin to talk about the food yet. Once you get your bearings from the plethora of entertainment options, you will get overwhelmed once again when you take a look at the food menu. The menu is enormous, with so many different options it's impossible to decide. To make matters more confusing, they have stuff categorized as "Super Villains" and "Super Heroes", which is fun, but random. They have wraps, salads and rice plates, but it's all about the greasy burgers and sides. We tried the Super Action Burger ($6) and the Pretzel Burger ($12). At just $6, that's a bargain for this very tasty burger. Apparently just a regular Action Burger is a burger with 12 different spices, while a "Super" Action Burger has 25 spices. I didn't count, but the patty did taste really good, with a ton of flavor from all that seasoning. It's definitely a smallish patty, so you should load it up with a bunch of toppings. Or, just get the Pretzel Burger, which was ridiculously intense – this burger is loaded with bacon, cheddar, pepper jack cheese, tomato, pickle, lettuce, an onion ring, and spicy mayo, on a pretzel bun. I'm out of breath just saying the ingredients, just like the way I felt after eating it. The bun was a little crunchy on the bottom, which I don't like for a pretzel bun, but the burger was still pretty tasty.
There are too many good sides and starters to choose from too, so you should get some to go with the burgers. We tried the Fresh Cut Fries ($3), which were actually pretty bad, so skip those, as well as the Sweet Potato Tots ($5), which were much better.
They also have ice cream sandwiches and other desserts, in addition to shakes, which you can get with alcohol in them as well. I tried the Cupcake Kid Shake ($7), which consisted of Oreos, Chocolate Ice Cream, Syrup and Chocolate Cupcakes, and was pretty good, though not as sweet and amazing as it sounds like it should be.
The food might have taken a long time to come out, but I didn't notice because I was playing too many free video games. In fact, for the first time in my life, I actually didn't want the food to come out as soon as it did.
If you like fun, you should come here.
Interesting shop with lots of character. I enjoyed playing a couple free games of Street Fighter. The menu is worryingly large, which just gives you the idea that there's crates of Costco frozen tater tots, wings, fries, wieners, reindeer pops, falafel splots and cedar spliffs behind the counter. I just ordered the regular burger to gauge the baseline. The patty was dry and under seasoned. The bun was pretty good, but overwhelmed the beef. Overall, it was OK. There's lots of gimmick burgers, so if you like messy things for the sake of messiness, maybe they're for you.