How I Met Your Mother: The Best Burger in New York

StayTuned Staff

18 years ago

Synopsis: Marshall is down on his luck. Still unemployed, he goes out on a series of unsuccessful job interviews, for which his goals spiral from landing a position to just surviving and getting back home to nap in his “big” underwear. To top it off, his quest to find a restaurant — where eight years ago he had the best burger in New York — has been renewed, and it’s going just as poorly as the job hunt. (As it turns out, Marshall shares a passion for this particular burger with Regis Philbin.) Meanwhile, Barney is singing the praises of Goliath National Bank, which has just been purchased by his company. His endorsement of the bank seems less authentic than last week’s pro-bimbo rant, but we find out eventually that he’s just trying to talk up Goliath in front of Lily so she’ll be excited to find out that Barney has helped Marshall get a job there. Goliath also plays an important role in the burger hunt, when one of the bank’s ATMs is found to have replaced the original location of the restaurant Marshall has been searching for — but as a result is available to supply 100 bucks to bribe the strip club employee who knows the address of the new location. The gang gets their burgers, as does Regis, who leaves in the middle of hosting an episode of Million Dollar Heads or Tails to meet up with them.

What We Liked:

– The Regis guest spot. And it’s not just because we saw the aggressive side of him and are now afraid to say we didn’t like him. Really.

– The Underpants Radius. We’re proud to say that ours does not extend outside the house.

– Marshall admitting that he wants to be a Harlem Globetrotter who gets paid in candy.

– This conversation about what to have for dinner:

Ted: Chinese?

Barney: I don’t like Chinese.

Ted: Indian?

Barney: I just said I don’t like Chinese.

Ted: Indian isn’t Chinese.

Barney: Weird meats, funny music, side or rice — why are we splitting hairs?

Ted: Mexican?

Barney: I just said I don’t like Chinese.

What We Didn’t Like: The burger lust. It was just creepy. Although it did produce a few funny lines, when Lily described the burgers at McLaren’s as “Meat Christmas” in her mouth, Ted said they were “like an angel from heaven landed in the kitchen at McLaren’s, where the chef killed it and ran it through the meat grinder,” and Barney loved his so much that he wanted to “sew his ass shut.”

Best Barneyism: Yes, we’re anti-burger lust. But we’re also pro-Terence Trent D’Arby, so Barney’s desire to use his music to help seduce his burger is OK in our book. (By the way, remember when TTD was going to be the next Prince? How’s that working out?)