The Best Burger in New York State: Ale ‘N’ Angus Pub’s Syracuse Crunch-inspired Power Play Burger is an 8-ounce angus patty topped with strips of slow-cooked prime rib and American cheese.

The New York Beef Council’s second annual Best New York Burger contest has a winner: the Power Play Burger from Syracuse’s Ale ‘n’ Angus Pub. A team of judges visited each of the 10 regional finalists, from Buffalo to New York City, and announced the state’s winner on Tuesday.

Owner Randy Beach told The Post-Standard in March that the Power Play Burger is an 8-ounce angus patty topped with delicious strips of slow-cooked prime rib and American cheese. It’s named after the Syracuse Crunch hockey team after players, coaches, fans and even owner Howard Dolgon helped develop the hamburger creation a few years ago. “Congrats to #Syracuse based Ale N Angus Pub on winning Best Burger in #NY with Power Play Burger!” the Crunch’s official Twitter account posted, along with a photo.

The Ale ‘n’ Angus Pub is located at 238 Harrison Street, just a short walking distance from where the Crunch play in the War Memorial. The New York Beef Council presented the award at the downtown Syracuse restaurant Tuesday morning and invited Central New York burger lovers to come out and try it sometime soon.

The OnCenter complex is within a few blocks of Ale’n’Angus and aside from the midday business crowd, Beach describes the place as an “event-driven restaurant.” Dinner is regularly served beforehand to people attending Mulroy Civic Center and Onondaga County War Memorial events, while those not looking to go straight home afterward sometimes come back for a round or three of drinks.

During the summer, the kitchen at Ale’n’Angus is open Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; they are closed weekends through August. If closing time comes and a few imbibers are still at the bar, Beach ensures drinks will pour for as long as business and time complement each other financially.

“For most restaurants it’s unheard of that you take weekends off,” observes Beach. “We’re fortunate enough that we’ve got 10 good months of business and only two slow months. But that could be the other way around if we had a restaurant on the beach with only two good months and had to close the rest of the time.” Besides, the name Beach House has already been taken.

During the summer is when most of the 15 staffers use their vacation time, the shorter hours also frees up time for Beach to tend to his second hobby: the local classic car scene. As a member of the Right Coast Car Association, the organizers of the Syracuse Nationals car show that will be taking place Friday, July 18, through Sunday, July 20, at the New York State Fairgrounds, Beach offers a 10-percent discount off meals for fellow members. Anyone who eats at Ale’n’Angus that drives a classic car can bring in a 5-by-7-inch picture of it and he’ll provide the frame to hang next to the 50 or so others currently driving themselves up the restaurant’s wall.
A Place of Your Own
“A lot of regulars who have their picture on the wall will go over there as soon as they get in to see what’s new and who has been here,” he says. “It almost gives them a sense like it’s a place of their own, and that’s how we want to make everyone feel that comes in.”

– From The Syracuse New Times 2008