En route to New Orleans (to visit Edible New Orleans over Mardi Gras weekend, naturally) we were reminded that Pat LaFrieda, the third-generation butcher shop in the Meat Packing district Josh Ozersky profiled for us last year has set up shop in the food courts of LaGuardia airport’s Terminal D. Custom Burgers by Pat LaFrieda is pretty much the best thing to happen to LGA travel since we realized we could still carry on on your own food. (Old Ronnybrook Farm yogurt containers pack a pasta lunch perfectly, and windowbox basil pesto is on point at room temperature. But we digress.) These are slender 4.5 ounce patties of the beef that’s used in the best burgers in town and soft buns: Like a 50’s drive-thru burger, except for the touch screens where you enter your choice of toppings in a little computer monitor. You can pretty much get anything you’d want, including garlic mayo, but we like plain old pickles and side of crinkle fries. You can’t do medium-rare, this being the airport, but if Pat LaFrieda is to be had post-security for just $4.75, we’ll happily have it well-done.
