Taryn Varricchio: Few foods scream summer
more than burgers.
And in New Jersey,
it's all about Steve's Burgers,
a small, no-frills spot right off Route 46
boasting monstrous cheeseburgers.
The burgers look really big, right?
I have never been to Steve's,
but I have heard so much about this place.
I am familiar with the area
because I grew up in New Jersey.
It's literally right off the highway,
and it's a very small spot,
so it's interesting to me
that this was one of the places
ranked as one of the best in country
based on Yelp reviews.
That being said, I'm from New Jersey
and I've never had it, so I'm just excited
to go see what all this hype is about.
Customer: He's so big, like, in New Jersey,
that when you come to Garfield,
you have to go to Steve's Burgers.
Like, you have to come here.
Taryn: Of the 2,000 burgers sold a week,
the best seller is Steve's burger.
Chef and owner Stephen Chrisomalis
molds the patties with a food scooper,
or what's called a disher, to form 6-ounce rounds.
He uses 80/20 ground chuck,
which isn't as fatty as regular ground beef
but still packed with flavor.
Burgers head onto a 48-inch flattop grill
filled to the brim with 50 to 60 patties.
The Steve's burger comes with
American cheese, thick Indiana-cut bacon,
and onion rings.
Then it's dressed with Steve's seriously delicious sauce.
The recipe is secret,
but we know it's a base of ketchup, mayo, and relish.
And for the final touch, big burgers,
like the double Steve's burger,
are sandwiched between a toasted brioche roll.
Customer: There's very few foods
that I would come out of my way in quarantine to get,
and this is definitely one of them.
That's just...it's beyond good.
Taryn: By the end of the day,
Steve's has gone through 200 pounds of ground chuck
and 500 pounds of potatoes.
Fries are made fresh each day,
first cut, then soaked.
Stephen Chrisomalis: Soaking them, yeah,
it takes all the starch out of the potato itself
and it cooks them. Gives it a little coating
to cook it nicer, so it's crispier.
Taryn: They're blanched and cooked halfway
at 350 degrees, then cooked again to order.
Customer: This is a grease pit. Like, 100%.
Like, the food is greasy.
Like, that's what - when you come to a place like this,
that's what you're looking for.
You're not looking for -
I'm not here to eat a salad.
Taryn: Looking at the single Steve's burger,
it honestly is misleading,
'cause this thing is huge.
So much sauce.
Very crispy bacon.
Oh, my God, I think I just wiped the sauce in my hair.
It's been a while.
You get a crispy bacon, a crunchy onion ring,
a really, like, hearty, beefy burger,
and, like, Steve's sauce is really, really good.
That's, like, he said that it doesn't come on other burgers,
and I feel like I would add the Steve's sauce
to the other burgers because that's the part
that I, like, want in every bite.
Another deliciously greasy option:
Steve's beloved patty melt.
This time, the 6-ounce cheeseburger
goes on buttered rye bread
with American cheese and fried onions.
Customer: I'm a plain Jane.
I don't really like too much crazy stuff on my hamburgers,
but they have a patty melt here
with the burger on the rye.
It's f---ing awesome.
You can bleep that out, right?
Stephen: So good. It's honestly my favorite,
but I can't say that. [laughs]
Customer: Oh, easily top five places I would go
in New Jersey if I were to pick a place to go. Easily.
I'd say this is probably one of the tastes of New Jersey
you'd wanna come visit.
Taryn: Local magazines and critics
say much of the same,
and then the numbers speak for themselves.
Stephen says he serves about 2,000 burgers a week
across his two locations.
Stephen: My goal is 1,000 Steve's Burgers.
1,000, so I have 998 more to go,
and I'm gonna stick with it.
Customer: For five, 10 years, we never stopped in here,
and then we realized, everyone's talking
about this place. It's fantastic.
Customer: I keep telling them, like,
you guys gotta get T-shirts.
I'll be your No. 1 spokesperson, I don't care.
I'll come here all the time.
And I'll tell everyone how good it is.