Upper West Side stalwart Big Nick’s Burger Joint is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Wednesday with a downright stunning deal: the place is rolling back prices to 1962 levels! That means fried egg sandwiches are 35 cents, quarter-pound beefburgers are 60 cents, and cheeseburgers are 70 cents.

A mug of coffee? 15 cents.

French fries? 30 cents!

(Update: check out the line on the anniversary!)

Big Nick’s will be open from noon until midnight, so you can make multiple trips, allowing a few hours to digest and sleep in between. And you have to eat your food in the dining room — no take out orders. And aside from the items listed below, other menu items will be sold for regular 2012 prices.

Nick opened his first Upper West Side Restaurant, a 24-hour-diner, on Broadway and 76th, followed shortly afterwards by the Burger Joint on Broadway between 76th and 77th, which is now known as Big Nick’s.

Nick is a pioneer — he claims to have opened the first independent burger shop in the city and says that the chains all copied his quarter-pounder burgers. Whether or not this is all verifiable, generations of Upper West Siders love the greasy-spoon atmosphere and the place’s quirks, from the neon and paper signs pasted in the window and inside (“No Laptops!”) to the incredibly long menu, massive beefburgers and big thin-crust pizza slices.

Even if you’re not in the mood for a burger Wednesday, stop by and pat Nick on the back. He’s a legend.

Thanks to Gavan for the tip. Photo by seattle_maddog via flickr.

For more updates (but no burgers, sadly) follow us on facebook.