What’s different about the burgers at Woody’s All Natural Burgers and Fries? “The main thing that people say is that you feel good after you’ve eaten it,” says Manager Nancy Edwards. “You feel like you’ve had good nutrition.” The five-ounce burger ($6) is made from 80-percent lean, grass-fed/grain-finished beef, which comes from Pineland Farms in Maine. After seasoning with salt and pepper, each patty is grilled, paired with your choice of bun (white, whole wheat, or multigrain, delivered fresh from Rockland Bakery), and topped with heirloom garden tomatoes (grown, in season, in the restaurant’s own garden). Woody’s serves about 900 of these burgers each week.
Created by one of the restaurant’s own employees, the colossal burger — currently a menu special, but available anytime — pulls out all the stops. The patty is topped with melted New York cheddar cheese, bacon, hand-pulled pork (for spice), and a bit of Woody’s famous onion hay (red onions from Orange County’s Pine Island are thinly sliced, lightly floured and salted, and flash-fried). “People are just lovin’ that,” Edwards adds. Ditto for the five-ounce veggie burgers ($5.75), which are also “popular, and good,” according to Edwards. Made with brown rice, sunflower seeds, carrots, herbs, and sea salt, the patties are provided by Sunshine Veggie in Ellenville.
Oft-ordered sides include the aforementioned onion hay, as well as hand-cut fries (both white and sweet potato varieties are available), which you can dip in their spicy mayo (made with chipotle peppers). And for dessert, Woody’s serves a boatload of flavors from Kingston-based Jane’s Ice Cream — everything from root beer float to green tea.
Healthful burgers, unusual sides, quaint atmosphere. All good. But who is Woody? “Oh, that’s [owner Deke Hazirijian’s] dog, a golden lab.” That’s Woody’s: keeping it local and in the family.
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