Little Bad Wolf

I'm not sure how there isn't a thread on this place yet. I went there yesterday for the time, and their Wolf Burger jumped to the top of my best "fancy" diner style burgers in the city (Red Hot Ranch still a solid #1 for the "basic" and "value" lists).

While I understand that the restaurant has very good other offerings, it will be hard for me to order something else besides those burgers. They are in the old Burger Philosophy place in north Andersonville.

Here's a review that goes into more detail (I'm not much of a take-photo-of-food-in-a-restaurant guy):

http://www.burgerweekly.com/little-bad-wolf/

Little Bad Wolf
1541 W Bryn Mawr Ave
Chicago, IL 60660

On Sunday night, Little Bad Wolf was simultaneously being reviewed on Chicago's Best and Check Please.

http://chicagosbesttv.com/2016/10/24/ch ... -bad-wolf/

http://checkplease.wttw.com/restaurants/little-bad-wolf

The praise for the burger at Little Bad Wolf is spot on. The menu tells you the basics: The Bad Burger, the middle of three options in terms of size, features two patties with 2 slices of American cheese, house made pickles, and mayo. The menu does not mention that this delightfully fatty beef is as juicy a burger as you'll find and that the rightfully has no fear of pepper to help cut through and add some extra flavor. I've had it twice and it's been outstanding both times.

That looks so good. We have tried three times to get into Little Bad Wolf and have not been successful. I want to go when the outdoor seating is still available as it seems very loud inside. One of these days...

The burger is indeed very good at LBW. I had it for the first time last night and really enjoyed it.


Bad Burger | Two patties with two slices of American cheese, house made pickles, and mayo (bacon and onion straws added)

The juicy beef tasted great and the patties were cooked very nicely, with pronounced exterior crusts and pink centers. I appreciated the house-made pickles but they were too sweet for my taste. I didn't feel they paired well with the burger. Since we were getting fries with one of our other main courses, I opted for the Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts (bacon, pine nuts, crispy shallots) which was a mistake. They were rock hard and the accompanying ingredients just got lost.

The Steak Frites was also very good . . .


Steak Frites | Grilled 10oz skirt steak served with house cut frites

This was a tender, flavorful and very nicely cooked piece of skirt steak with a great exterior crust. It was impressive. The frites were crispy and flavorful. Both the steak and the frites could have used a bit more salt. In fact, given the fare, I was surprised that there were no salt & pepper shakers on the tables, though I'm sure we could have asked for them. That said, not having these basics on the table seemed to represent a bit of overconfidence or, at the very least, an oversight. Same goes for ketchup, which would have been nice with the fries. No condiment was served with the fries. They were very good, especially the ones onto which the steak juices dripped, but this was still a missed bet, IMO. But yes, we could have asked for it. I just got the sense that since these items weren't offered by default, our requesting them might not have been well received.

Nothing else we ordered would have us rushing back. A couple of appetizers (lumpia, poke) seemed perfunctory and weren't worth the real estate they occupied. Other than the frites, none of the sides wowed us. Aside from the aforementioned brussels sprouts, the mac & cheese was pretty dry and the elotes had a nice kick but just didn't come together. The ingredient list looked good but for whatever reason, they ended up being less than the sum of their parts.

The beverage offerings are vast and impressive, and in the case of most of the American whiskeys, reasonably priced. I saw many 'old friends' on the back bar but it was a bit too early in the week for me to partake. I did have a nice Wittekerke Wild, on tap. It was one of about 2-dozen draft offerings, though there are literally pages of other packaged brews, plus wine and cocktail menus.

Tuesday night but it was plenty busy with the outdoor tables on Bryn Mawr fully occupied and what seemed to be short waits for tables overall. Our timing was good. We got there just after 7 and were seated immediately, but I noticed a few parties that came in just after us waiting briefly for tables. Service was really good -- from the bussers who constantly refilled our waters and got empty plates out of our way, to our server who was completely tuned in, to the hostess who thanked us for coming and wished us a good evening on our way out.

I really liked the burger, steak and frites and would return for those items without hesitation. And the beverage menus portend some excellent future sessions. There's a section on the menu of tacos and bao that we didn't even sample, and I look forward to checking them out on future visits. There's a lot to like about LBW.

=R=

Ronnie-

Good to hear the wait wasn't bad. I've tried a few times to go to LBW, but haven't had the patience. My friends like the tacos and cocktails.

Just as a data point, this past Sunday around 5pm there were at least 3 outdoor tables available and plenty of seating available inside.

I take it the expansion is not yet finished? If not, hopefully soon:

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/littl ... ng-success

Stopped by tonight and the hostess confirmed that the expansion was complete and had been open a couple of weeks. I walked through to the back room which was darker than the main room and had less seating but definitely provided more space. Darker and quieter for sure.

We were there at 8:00 and could have sat outside immediately. Inside there was a 40 minute wait for two people. Skies were turning really dark so we took a pass but plan to try again.

cleanplateclub wrote:Stopped by tonight and the hostess confirmed that the expansion was complete and had been open a couple of weeks. I walked through to the back room which was darker than the main room and had less seating but definitely provided more space. Darker and quieter for sure.

We were there at 8:00 and could have sat outside immediately. Inside there was a 40 minute wait for two people. Skies were turning really dark so we took a pass but plan to try again.

When we were there on Tuesday, the new room looked ready (which makes sense if it's already been open for a couple of weeks) but there was no one seated in it, and there some short waits, so it may be a case of it only being open if the staff deems it necessary.

=R=

Sal Ashbach, owner of popular Andersonville burger spot Little Bad Wolf, plans to open a new restaurant in the former Ugo’s Kitchen & Bar space at 2833 W. Armitage Avenue

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/10/1/208 ... ood-report

I've not been to Au Cheval, but I had heard those that have been compare LBW to that, and possibly even better. I for one LOVE their burgers. I think the smash burger double and triple up with all that grease just makes the umami amazing. I like Kuma's, but for plain burgers LBW is my go to.