Who needs designer burgers? According to a recent survey of restaurant spending prepared for The Post by finance-data site Bundle.com, when it comes to New Yorkers’ favorite dining destinations, the local greasy spoon frequently cracks the neighborhood Top 10. And that’s only counting the ones that take credit cards. Imagine how diners would rank if all the cash-only venues were considered, too. Just thinking about it makes us hungry for a $5 grilled cheese with bacon right around the corner from the apartment. Cheap, satisfying and local. So to commemorate the rise of the greasy spoon from dish pit to front-page news, we crisscrossed the city in search of the best casual, community-supported places to eat. Here are some of our favorites — and they might be yours, too!
All-American eats on the LES
Classic Coffee Shop
56 Hester St.; 917-685-3306
Carmine Morales grew up going to the eight-seat coffee shop at 56 Hester with his dad, who was such a regular that he basically inherited the place when the original owner died. That was 1976. “This place looked like ‘Sanford and Son’ when my dad ran it,” laughs Morales, the current proprietor, pointing to the assemblage of vintage radios, cameras and soda bottles on the back wall’s high shelf. Back then, he says, the customers were Orchard Street clothing guys; now it’s Orchard Street gallery guys, and everyone associated with PS 42 across the street (check out the school photo of Morales, who turns 60 today, which hangs on a wall). Kevin Tse, 33, who also attended the school and now teaches fifth grade, comes to Classic for the tuna melts, the music (Presley-esque rock), a soda and the atmosphere. “It’s like a time machine,” Tse says, recalling the occasion of his first ham-and-cheese sandwich. Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays only.
* Must try: Tuna melt ($5.50); egg cream ($1.75)
Burgers deluxe on the UES
Soup Burg
1095 Lexington Ave.; 212-744-1233
Jimmy Gouvakis, 51, one of three owners, tells us his dad worked at, then purchased, the original Soup Burg in 1963. The Madison Avenue spot closed in 2006 after rent jumped from $23,000 to $65,000. But this second location has had no trouble amassing its own regular clientele. “The coffee’s great, and the burgers are better,” says Michael Capasso, 51, general director of Dicapo Opera Theatre. By 5 a.m., neighbors are at the door. If you’ve been there before, chances are they already know what you want.
* Must try: Smother burger deluxe ($12); toasted pound cake ($5)
A Harlem soul-food classic
Margie’s Red Rose
275 W. 144th St.; 212-491-7685
After her mom, Margie (a k a Miss Rose), passed, Ayoka Bell closed and renovated this 36-seat Harlem soul-food spot before officially taking over last year. “It’s a more downtown look,” says customer Pamela Rudd-Johnson, 60, referring to the absence of country kitsch, “but it’s still real homey.
You may not know everyone’s name, but everyone who walks in says ‘Hi.’ ”
* Must try: Turkey wings, with two sides and a corn muffin ($12); lemonade pie ($3.50)
The mack daddy of Greek diners
El Greco
1821 Emmons Ave., Sheepshead Bay; 718-934-1288
This is a diner’s diner: Greek-named and neon-hued, with 300 seats, a seven-page 10-by-14-inch menu, 25 varieties of three-egg omelet, ginormous portions, mirrors on the ceiling, and around-the-clock hours since its 1974 opening. All that and water views, too, are a highlight for Eleanor Comins, as long as she’s lived in the neighborhood (“forever”). Over a cup of tea, the artist and teacher tells us about her nearly 40 years of weekly El Greco dining. “We’ve watched the owner and her sons grow up,” she says, fondly. “There’s been a continuity in our lives, and they have the best Western omelet ever; Spanish, too — though I get broccoli instead of potatoes on the side, and whites, not regular eggs.”
Accommodating everyone is surely a diner’s great draw.
* Must try: Cheesecake with fresh strawberries ($5.95); omelet ($6.75 to $10)
Half-Cuban, half-Chinese, all delicious
La Caridad 78
2199 Broadway; 212-874-2780
Some of us — such as the 81-year-old Brazilian man who’s had three meals a day at La Caridad 78 on the Upper West Side since 1968 — remember the counter and the stack of steamers that used to fill a wall until the space was trimmed down in a renovation about five years ago. They don’t have those anymore, but the menu is the same: half-Cuban and half-Chinese, with continually equal demand for both. Samuel Sandy, 59, is torn between chicken with string beans and yellow rice and chicken chow mein when choosing a favorite. Unless he’s stuck in his cab at one of the airports, for 27 years Sandy’s eaten here as many as six days a week. “It’s always busy, so the food is made fresh all day,” he says.
* Must try: Fried pork chop (chuletas frita), with salad, plantains or rice and beans ($11.85); Sesame chicken, with broccoli and rice ($11.85)
Second Avenue borscht belt
B&H Dairy
127 Second Ave.; 212-505-8065
Dairy, in kosher-speak, means no meat. At B&H in the East Village, that translates into Eastern-European-accented vegetarian comfort food, from challah to borscht to pirogi. But after more than 50 years of business, the only thing religious here is customer devotion. “Best soup in the city,” says Jonathan Hines, 57, a retired bartender and artist. He’s been a weekly returnee to the narrow 24-seat restaurant for more than 30 years. “The unpretentiousness is appealing,” says Hines, comfortable at the counter next to a father-daughter duo and a college student. “There’s a quality here you don’t find in chains.” Two seats down, Vicky Clarke, 51, agrees. “I’m a pain in the ass when it comes to food,” she says. “And I’m here every week.” The former MetLife exec was introduced by a friend (another 30-year devotee); one taste and she knew she’d be coming back for more.
* Must try: Challah French toast ($6.50); soup, served with challah ($4.75)
A breakfast feast for five bucks
Pop’s Coffee Shop
4429 Kissena Blvd., Flushing; 718-463-7719
Former casual postal worker Aura Schneir, 61, has been going to Pop’s since 1963 — “since Pop’s was Pop’s.” The small Flushing diner frequented by building workers, supers and senior citizens has changed hands a few times since. Eighteen months ago there was a substantial upgrade (from last legs to gently used), but the employees, menu and prices are the same. That includes the sensationally priced Breakfast Special: a waffle, pancakes or two eggs, sausage or bacon, juice and a coffee for $5 including tax, until 11 a.m. (after, it’s $5 before beverages). Schneir likes the reasonable prices, the fact that she knows everyone who enters and the turkey club with French fries. “All the food is good,” she says. “I haven’t got sick of it. It’s a very good place.” Quite a statement from someone who eats there four times a week (that’s almost 10,000 times!).
* Must try: Breakfast special ($5); Angus burger special ($5.75)