NYT once ranked New York City’s burgers and decided that Peter Luger’s burger is #1, an added bonus to making it to PL for its steak. I recommend saving one day for burger day because you won’t enjoy the burger when it’s next to an awesome steak. We made it one day with the objective of trying their burgers and agreed with the popular judgement.
Peter Luger’s burgers are the best simple no-frills burgers – independently tasty patty and bun, which are hard to beat even with all the fixins and sauces and sides that other places may offer.
A tip for solo or two-person eaters – burgers can be served at the bar for quick seating without reservations. I recommend having the PL burger for lunch rather than dinner to avoid the snide remarks of the waitstaff who are known for the humorous brashness and macho behavior.

Once a friend ordered a burger at PL and was asked what kind of cheese he wanted.

“Do you have Swiss?” he asked.

“No. We’re not that nice here,” was the answer.

Mangia!