A famous New Jersey hamburger joint just got national recognition.
Burgers come in many forms. The juicy tavern burger, lacy smashburgers, patty melts, and more—but there’s a type of burger joint that’s timeless.
Picture this: You’re visiting a new city and you ask a local to point you toward the best burger. There’s a steakhouse down the street that serves a $40 burger with truffle on it. Or, maybe the new-school spot, complete with ordering screens, that serves a carbon copy of every single smashburger you see on Instagram.
But this particular local knows ball. They send you off the beaten path, and you end up at a true hole-in-the-wall. In my experience eating burgers—and I’ve literally eaten thousands—that is where the best burger always exists. It’s not just the burger itself, but the experience.
The Best No-Frills Burger Joint in New Jersey
Tasting Table just released a list celebrating exactly that. Their hole-in-the-wall burger list celebrates each state’s best no-frills burger joint.
White Manna was named New Jersey’s best hole-in-the-wall burger. No surprises here. White Manna is consistently one of the top-rated burgers in the Garden State. The Hackensack staple is known for beef slider patties, griddled with onions, and served with cheese on a potato bun. A mound of thin-sliced pickles comes on the side.
Every day around lunch time, White Manna fills with hungry diners, who sit shoulder to shoulder around the U-shaped counter. Delicious beefy grease stains paper plates, and crinkle cut fries scatter the tabletop. It’s not uncommon to see five, six, even seven burgers per person. Makes sense, the famous sliders are tiny, addicting, and only $2.50 a pop.
White Manna: A New Jersey Institution
White Manna has been doing sliders the same exact way since Louis Bridges opened it in 1946. Not to be confused with White Mana in Jersey City, which was also opened by Bridges right before it. Today, the two slider spots are independently operated.
Tasting Table noted that White Manna has been featured on multiple television shows, including Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Though still a hidden gem at its core, the Hackensack burger institution has become world-famous.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
