Don Karakas knows what kind of burger we want. It isn’t a lean, wimpy McDonald’s or Burger King sandwich. It’s a delightfully hedonistic slopfest, with a beef patty weighing out at almost half a pound, and heaped with cheese, freshly caramelized onions, and maybe even pastrami – because more salty, fat-rippled beef is always the answer. That’s the kind of burger they sell at The Butcher’s Son, a newly-opened burger and fries spot on Troutman Street.

“I make them really monster-style and huge,” Karakas said. “And junky.”

A shrewd businessman, Karakas did his research before opening a burger spot. Once he’d zeroed in on a neighborhood, he checked out the competition – and he found surprisingly few places that did burgers, shakes, and fries. He also learned as much as he could about Bushwick and the types of people who reside there. It’s “a lot of educated people, a lot of travelers,” Karakas said. “And they know what they’re eating. So you can’t cheat them.”