Slushes and Sammies – Great Drinks and Dessert at Bareburger 31st Ave

Recently the WHA crew (of which I was the only one who could attend) was invited to sample some of the more recent menu items at Bareburger’s 31st Avenue location, thanks to the organization might of Sue Yacka, AKA Tastoria Queens. She worked with the Bareburger staff (hi, Marisa!) to put together a lovely dinner I was able to share with Anne of Real Cheap Eats (among other things), Katherine of Heart of Queens, and Sue, of course. Everything we had was delicious, but what really stood out for me was the start and finish of the meal—the drinks and dessert.

As we mentioned a little while back, Bareburger on 31st Avenue has a new bar and they’re serving up some tasty drinks. We noticed that they had a section called Spiked Slush, a 12oz frozen drink very much like a frozen margarita. The slush base is made by Kelvin Natural Slush Co., and is either citrus or ginger in flavor. I looked at the selection and knew I had to try the Strawberry Fields, which is made with vodka, citrus slush, and strawberry purée.

Boy, was it tasty—a little sweet with the right amount of tang, a definite strawberry flavor, and an almost imperceptible amount of liquor. In fact, I had to ask both my dining companions and the server is there was truly alcohol in it, and they assured me there was (indeed, it was a delayed reaction). I can see myself going back especially during the warmer weather to enjoy this refreshing treat.

Sue also had the Strawberry Ginger Margarita, made with tequila, the ginger slush, and strawberry purée. This was much less sweet but also did not carry the tang I enjoyed so much with the Strawberry Fields slush. The alcohol flavor was much more pronounced, too.

Another drink ordered at the table was the John Deere cocktail, made with spiced rum and Maine root sasparilla, which made it like an adult root beer. I love root beer, so I enjoyed the taste of this cocktail as well. It, too, wasn’t overly sweet, which is nice.

After we ate our meal—a few salads and a couple of burgers split among the four of us (I’m glad to have finally tasted the black bean burger, which I plan to order again), we were presented with a couple of ice cream sandwiches, made by Coolhaus, which are also new on the menu.

First was the Snickerdoodle Sammie, made with salted caramel ice cream sandwiched between two snickerdoodle cookies. It came with a caramel dipping sauce that had a bit of a bitter edge to it, perhaps to offset the sweetness of the sandwich. I loved the combination of caramel, spice, and salt, and would be more than happy to eat this again.

The second ice cream sandwich we tried was the Breakfast Sammie, made with candied bacon ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies. It, too, came with the same caramel dipping sauce. The mix of chocolate and bacon with the creaminess of the ice cream is great! Hard to go wrong with that.

These sandwiches really were a hit and I’m glad Bareburger has them on the menu—and just in time for summer. Sue also like them and wrote a post about how tasty they were. All in all it was a great meal with excellent company. Big thanks to Marisa and the Bareburger staff for showing us such a nice time!

Bareburger, 33-21 31st Ave, Astoria, NY 11103, (718) 777-7011, bareburger.com