ACTION BURGER: Brooklyn’s Finest Comic Book/Sci-Fi Restaurant

By Jay Deitcher on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

I like to eat and I like comic books, in fact, my body needs to eat to survive and I could debate that I also need comic books to live. Luckily, there is a wonderful restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that can fulfill both of these needs.

At last year’s NY Comic Con, a magical cosplay creature handed me a coupon for Action Burger, the only Sci-fi/Comic book themed restaurant in all the world. On a recent trip to Brooklyn, my tummy was in the mood for some delicious dork-burger so I stopped by this fine eatery, even though I lost the coupon.

What ensued was a great adventure my non-geek girlfriend even enjoyed. No, this is not an advertisement, this is my genuine feelings. Here are some of the reasons this place is awesome:

The restaurant is totally geeked out! There are comics everywhere- on the walls, collaged on the table tops, and even full issues on the table to read while you wait. The walls have displays for classic GI-Joe action figures and there are GI-Joe cards on the tables to flip through. It also features a super hi-tech TV showing sci-fi and comic movies. The restaurant is essentially my dream fan-cave brought to life!

Comic themed menu! The menu is split into hero and villain themed foods; the hero menu is made up of healthy items, while the villain menu consists of deliciously greasy and fried foods. I must be an evil mastermind, because there is no way I would order a dang salad or turkey burger. I had a cheese steak, my lovely lady had a cheese burger and we shared the onion rings. We were in love like Doc Ock and his wife in Spiderman 2, with each other and our food.

Free video games! There are three coin operated arcade systems, except you don’t need coins. One of the consoles has over 250 video games from the 80’s and 90’s for fans to play. Co-owner Vlane Carter radiated confidence as he talked smack about his skills, “I’m really good at Street Fighter, if (customers) beat me three games in a row they get free fries.” Vlane is proud to be able to kick @$$ at Street Fighter while blindfolded only by listening to sounds (of course, someone needs to tell him what side he is on).

Great hangout spot! One of the first things I noticed was the diversity of people hanging out at Action Burger: kids, adults, moms, comic fans, video game fans, sci-fi fans, people of all backgrounds. By my own stereotype, I even guessed that some of the people eating there were not geeks at all and just came because they liked the food and felt comfortable in the atmosphere. It is the perfect place for fanboys and fangirls to congregate, eat, write, draw, study, debate, watch movies and play video games.

After hour geekfest! Action Burger is one of the few eateries open late in the area as doors close at 3 am. There are plans to make it more of an after-hours spot over the next few months. From 10-3 there will be dim lights, LEDS on the table and music blaring, as people enjoy themselves.

Co-Owner Vlane Carter

Most important, the owners are total fanboys! One owner, Steve Bala, is a lifelong comic fan, GI-Joe aficionado and action figure collector. The second owner, Vlane Carter, is the sci-fi lover, a published writer who has released many books.

I talked with co-owner Carter for over a half hour. He is a hands-on owner, who works behind the counter, interacts with customers and snaps pictures for Facebook at the same time. He was happy to discuss his passion for writing; he is proud to have published the BIAlien series of novels and BIO-Sapien Comics. His written work is about a hero “abducted by benevolent aliens, bio-engineered to a superhuman level and sent back to Earth years later to stop an alien invasion”.

Carter hopes to use his books to spread literacy and teach kids about science. The series has a multicultural cast of characters, representative of modern day America, and a theme of female empowerment, with the first woman president as a character. Carter plans to give the eBook version of the series to schools for free and hopes their libraries will carry his book.

It was quite moving to hear Carter geek-out about writing with a young teenage customer. The boy, a poet, clearly looked up to Carter, who was happy to give him advice. Carter hyped the youngster up and talked to the boy as if he were a peer.

Me and My Beautiful Girlfriend Enjoying the Food

I highly recommend Action Burger. My alternate reality teenage alter ego would go insane for such a cool place. My current reality self loved the place. I was able to take my girlfriend there and not get dumped afterwards, in fact I got brownie points cause she liked it too. It is a geeked out nerd fest, with great food, and is owned by fellow fanboys. Support fellow geeks, support Action Burger located at 292 Graham Ave. Visit their website at http://www.actionburger.com/

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Jay Deitcher, LMSW(@mrdeitcher) embraces the term MUTANT and proudly represents his MUTANT brothers and sisters. He is an educator on comic history and runs successful Free Comic Book Day events yearly. You can see a listing of his incredible articles and his highly energetic videos at JayDeitcher.com.

Jay Deitcher is a writer and licensed social worker from Albany, NY. He is currently taking MFA courses at the College of St. Rose. You can read his other work at JayDeitcher.com.