Turkish chef Salt Bae's burger joint that was once slammed as New York City's ''worst restaurant'' has closed down, Guardian reported. A sign on the door claims the business is ''moving to a new location'', but it's actually just Salt Bae's preexisting steakhouse, Nusr-Et Steakhouse. A spokesperson for the brand told Eater that the steakhouse will serve the burger chain's menu.
The restaurant opened in early 2020 just before the pandemic shut down indoor dining. Notably, the brand was a follow-up to Nusr-et Gokce 's Nusr-Et Steakhouse, a famed restaurant with over 20 locations around the world.
The now-closed burger joint's menu boasted burgers priced up to $100, a $99 milkshake as well as free veggie burgers offered to women as a ''compliment,'' according to a 2020 Eater review.
However, critics blasted the joint for being overpriced and overindulgent, incredibly pretentious vibe, and shallow only-for-Instagram menu.
In 2020, Gothamist called it ''the worst'' in the city'' and said it was "an insult to our city."
A review on Gothamist reads, ''The food is terrible here. I had the unfortunate opportunity a few weeks ago to eat several sad servings of hospital food, and everything I had at Salt Bae was worse, and delivered with much less love. The menu, framed within a weirdly weighty metal tombstone apparently marking the death of everything pleasurable about eating, is wall-to-wall bad sandwiches.''
''Salt Bae Burger is an insult to our city. Don't eat here, not even as a goof,'' the review said in conclusion.
Notably, the Turkish chef Nusr-et Gokce shot to fame online for his unique way of putting the finishing touches of salt on steaks at his Nusr-Et restaurant chain.
He first became an internet sensation in 2017 after an Instagram post went viral in which he was seen seductively slicing a bone-in Ottoman ribeye steak, and then sprinkling salt on it by pinching it from his fingers and letting it run down his forearm onto the dish.
