Best Hamburger in NYC: Bareburger CEO Euripides Pelekanos on "Savor with Tiffany Pham"

Euripides Pelekanos, CEO of Bareburger, is a 2026 Savor Honoree for Excellence in Burgers. For more, view here: savortheuniverse.comThe Supreme Burger at Bareburger exists because of a McDonald's drive-through.Euripides Pelekanos ran a bar in Bed-Stuy called Sputnik through the 2000s, a room where KRS-One, Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Premier all played and where Pratt students, the housing projects and the Hasidic community all stayed until three in the morning. He would get out at half four, five in the morning, stop at McDonald's on the way home and order four cheeseburgers, large fries, and a Diet Coke. Then he would open every cheeseburger and stuff the fries inside."I'm embarrassed to tell you this story," he says, and then tells it anyway.Tiffany Pham sits down with him over the burger that story became: a grass-fed patty, applewood smoked bacon, an onion ring on top with french fries packed inside it, and a special sauce he will happily tell you is ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, because every special sauce in the world is.The rest of the conversation is the harder half. His parents came from Cyprus as refugees in 1974, two years before he was born, into a five-room apartment in Astoria. He was stocking sodas at Dom's Deli at twelve. He taught social studies for two years before he opened anything. The first Bareburger was a shuttered bakery in Astoria with a poster of a bear on a unicycle in the window, and the neighbourhood decided they were California hippies. Six months later there were a hundred people waiting outside.Then fifty restaurants, in Santa Monica and Japan and Germany and Dubai. Then COVID, and the decision to close the ones that were not in his backyard. Thirty restaurants now, in the tri-state area, plus two in Ohio.Asked who he is making this for, he says: everybody.Savor with Tiffany Pham, a Representation production, is a companion to the television docuseries premiering May 2027. Cinematography by: Kym Pham.CHAPTERS00:00 Meeting Euripides, and the Supreme Burger00:38 Old school New York: Cyprus, 1974, and a five-room apartment in Astoria01:30 Dom's Deli at twelve years old02:32 Two years as a teacher02:58 1999: opening Sputnik in Brooklyn04:00 KRS-One, Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Premier04:37 2007: the Sputnik Burger06:21 The 2008 recession07:49 An old bakery in Astoria08:00 The bear on a unicycle08:28 A hundred people waiting outside09:48 Fifty restaurants: Santa Monica, Japan, Germany, Dubai10:50 COVID12:41 Consolidating back to the backyard13:58 Impossible, plant-based, keto: how the menu changed15:08 Smash burgers, and 30 restaurants left16:50 "I'm embarrassed to tell you this story"17:06 Four cheeseburgers, large fries, a Diet Coke18:05 The onion ring, and the fries inside it18:58 It's the Supreme20:37 The ultimate Wagyu22:10 Medium rare, and letting the meat shine23:38 Who are you making this for?23:49 "Our burgers are for everybody"24:54 Come here with your kids25:58 Headwinds, and the North Star26:19 "This place is the best"ABOUT BAREBURGERBareburger: bareburger.com🎬 The Savor with Tiffany Pham docuseries premieres May 1, 2027🌐 savortheuniverse.comClick here to view the episode transcript.