NJ Dining: White Manna

White Manna
358 River St, Hackensack, NJ
(201) 342-0914

Fast food is not something I indulge in frequently, and when I do, I tend to prefer the classic Americana kind rather than the big chains. White Castle is an exception, just because of the uniqueness of the product, but if the hours are right, and the moons are properly aligned, and my stomach says “throw your best at me, you son of a bitch!” then I head over to my very favorite Jersey burger place of all — White Manna, on River Street in Hackensack.

7-26-06: Have a look at this four minute video on Google (click)

White Manna as seen in daylight. Photo by “Daniel”, eG Forums

White Manna is a tiny little diner structure that can seat about maybe 15 people, tops. The story goes that it was built in 1937 prior to the 1939 Worlds Fair exhibition in Flushing, NY, was then used at that event, and then later moved to Hackensack where it stands today. This originality and World’s Fair claim is also disputed by another restaurant, White Mana (with one N) in Jersey City, which also serves hamburgers and was started by the original owner of both restaurants. While there is some evidence to suggest that this competing claim may be true, it’s pretty much acknowledged by everyone who has been to both that the better burgers are at the Hackensack location.

A view of the interior. Like a sushi bar, the grill area takes center stage, and as you can see, it’s quite tiny. The seating and eating area surrounds it in a U shape. French Fry orders are taken separately and they are cooked in the rear room behind the grill area. White Manna also cooks up some nice breakfast sandwiches too if you get there in the morning.

White Manna attracts all sorts of people from all walks of life. The Hackensack civic building with the courthouse is right across the street, so you get a lot of municipal types and cops eating here as well. Manna is not a late night, 24-hour establishment however — It closes promptly at 9:30PM.

Meatballs made of ground chuck which are to be squashed into mini-hamburgers on the grill. A “Double” is made of a larger meatball than the standard one, and in my opinion it presents the correct meat to bun ratio.

Completed double cheeseburgers with onions. As you can see in the video this is a process that starts with the meatballs, which are squashed on the grill and then topped with raw string cut onions. After cooking on one side, they are flipped so that the onions can caramelize and cook in the grease, after which two slices of cheese are placed on top to melt, if they are doubles, one if they are singles. They then top those with the bottom half of a miniature Martin’s Potato Roll and then plate them to serve. If the order is a take-out, they’ll gladly put ketchup and pickles (I always ask for extra pickle) on these for you, and then wrap each one in wax paper and throw them in a brown paper bag. I also ask them for a plastic bag to wrap the paper bag in, because I don’t want my vintage Mercedes or my mint ‘87 Fleetwood Cadillac to smell like burger grease.

Photo by “Daniel”, eG Forums

Double Cheeseburgers, plated. An average size meal would be three or four of these, plus a fries and a drink. I always order some to go, because Rachel doesn’t like the grease smell of the place.

I recently discovered that you can actually ask for lettuce and tomato on your burgers at White Manna. I tried it this way once, for a lark. It’s very good that way, but I feel it upsets the natural balance of the White Manna double cheeseburger, and the lettuce and tomato just gets in the way of eating more meat, sauteed onions and cheese.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• What I Ate for Lunch Today v.3