Burger Joint

If you're a fan of a good old burger, once in awhile, you should give Uncle Chippie's a try. Located in Red Hook's cheap-date quadrangle between Holy Cow and the Lyceum 6, Chippie's does burgers, fries and Cokes. It's a mom-and-pop shop run by Chip and Cathy Slesinski of Tivoli.

Chip is a kid from Brooklyn who grew up on White Castle. Not being from Brooklyn, or anywhere near there, I never acquired the taste, but the Uncle Chippie Slyder is popular with those who did. It's a funny looking little thing. Kind of squarish and flat, as you might have guessed. The little guy loved it. I'm thinking its the "special seasoning powder" which Chip dusts on the thing that keeps kids coming back for seconds.


Bigger people might be better off with a real burger. Chip gets his beef from the local slaughterhouse in Pine Plains, as he says, one beast at a time. If you're eating meat, you may as well know where it's coming from. And certified organic grass-fed beef from a farm in Ancramdale is available, if you ask for it.

The menu started simply enough, but within the year, Chip has added lots of stuff to his burgers. You can get yours with chili, jalapeno, blue cheese, tzatsiki, peanut butter, stroganoff, or chow mein. Yes, peanut butter, stroganoff, or chow mein.

Crazy me. I got a cheeseburger. And it was good. This is not your lettuce-tomato-onion-mayo burger. This is the old ketchup-pickle-onion burger. No messy vegetables to slide out of the bun. Warning, the fresh cut fries are HUGE. A large basket would feed a family of five. And they would devour every last one, quite happily.


Feed your soul. Order a Coke. Or an egg cream. And Chip will have shakes by summer. Just add another day at the gym.

Chip's regulars are a mix of families with kids, high school kids who park themselves in a booth to nibble and giggle, and Bard students who roll in a bit later. The proximity to Holy Cow cannot be overlooked. Make that two more days at the gym.

Chat with Chip a little bit, and you can see this guy really likes food. He is a deli man and was hunting around for a deli location about a year ago. Get him talking about a deli, and you'll get hungry. He imagines great food smells coming out of the kitchen and a big deli case full of beautiful mounds of this and that. He almost went to Tivoli - too bad for us. But, he found this location on Route 9, looked north and south, saw delis all around and settled on burgers (chicken, turkey and vegan burgers also available). Give one a try.

Uncle Chippie's Old Fashioned Burger Shop is located on Route 9 at Old Farm Road. Open Tues. - Wed. 10:30 to 8:00, Thurs. - Sat. 10:30 to 9:00, Sun. 11:30 to 8:00. Summer hours later Thurs. - Sat. 845-758-3070. Free delivery.