c/o Skinny Louie Burgers
Free Upper East Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox
Upper East Siders with a soft spot for a thin, crispy-edged patty have a new option opening this week — and the first hundred people through the door won’t pay for it.
Advertisement
Skinny Louie, the Miami-born smash burger chain that’s been quietly building a New York footprint over the past year, is set to launch its third Manhattan location at 1565 Second Avenue, between East 81st and 82nd streets, on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. The brand confirmed the date in an Instagram post earlier this week, promising free smash burgers to the first 100 customers and urging fans to “pull up early.”The Second Avenue space previously housed Agora Turkish Restaurant. It joins existing Skinny Louie outposts in NoMad, which opened in 2025, and the West Village, which followed this past March. East Village, Penn Station, and Park Slope locations are all reportedly in the pipeline.
The chain’s appeal rests on a deliberately short menu: three smash burgers — a classic, a cheeseburger, and an applewood bacon version — alongside fries, milkshakes, and sodas. Patties are 100% fresh Black Angus, seasoned with salt and pepper, then pressed onto a hot griddle until the edges turn lacy and caramelized. There’s also an off-menu “Very Best Burger,” topped with cheese, truffle mayo, and jalapeño relish — the same build that took home top honors at both the South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash competitions in 2025.
Co-founders Gonzalo Rubino and Matias Palloni launched the brand in Wynwood in 2023, and it spread quickly across South Florida before crossing into New York.
The grand opening kicks off at 6 p.m. this Friday at 1565 Second Avenue.
Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
