Hackney's Dark Rye Buns?

What happened to the dark rye bread, which Hackney burgers have been served on for so long? I ended up there for lunch this past Sunday, as my first 2 choices, were unfortunately closed, and ordered up a burger. I was asked if I want that on a bun or dark rye, which I obviously chose the dark rye. When the burger arrived, after an incredibly long wait for being one of only 3 full tables in the restaurant, my burger came, served on a dark rye bun, as opposed to the thin pieces of soft bread, I was so used to. Instead of complaining, I gave it a try, and boy was I disappointed. All I tasted was bread. The bun was huge and completely over powered the taste of the meat between the slices.

While I don't visit Hackney's too often anymore, this experience will make my trips fewer and further between.

That's very disappointing. I wonder if they're just testing something different. I know they make the bread at their Lake St. location, so it can't be a sourcing problem. But I can't imagine they'd screw up the signature item that has kept them going for 60 years.

Which location?

=R=

I haven't been to a Hackney's in about 3 months, but in May the Wheeling location still had the old-fashioned black bread.

A bun sounds like it would have the advantage of being less leaky: the juicy-fried Hackneyburgers, combined with the porous bread, usually leaves very greasy hands, elbows, etc.

JoelF wrote: the juicy-fried Hackneyburgers, combined with the porous bread, usually leaves very greasy hands, elbows, etc.

which, of course, is a big part of their charm ...

I was at the location in Printer's Row. I did not order the Hackney Burger, but instead the "inside out" burger which was stuffed with cheese and bacon. The burger didn't appear to be any more "heavy" than the Hackney Burger, so the greasy bread would have worked fine for me.

A pro-rye bun vote here. I've been eating at Hackney's for 40+ years, and I think the rye bun is a breakthrough burger vehicle. I had a bleu, bacon, and grilled onion burger, MR, about a month ago at the Printer's Row shop (my new fave location, with Harm's Road just behind), and it soaked up the melted cheese, burger juice, and other messy accoutrements beautilfully. I am notorious for leaving half of my food on my shirt, but I consumed this big boy without so much as a drip. Big thumbs-up form here.

Now if I could just get the Customary Dining Companion to embrace the concept of the Onion Loaf.... *sigh* He's a raw-onion-only guy.

I've always felt that the Printer's Row locaton is something of a Maverick operation. The food is just not the same as Harms Rd or Lake St. The onion loaf is always much more greasy (at least in my 3 - 4 visits) than either of the flagship locations and the burgers don't seem the same, either. Now this rye bun thing is really a move away from tradition. I hope it stays at this one location only and doesn't spread to the other more established ones.

Whatever the merits of Hackney's rye bun, it seems to me that sometimes only the familiar form of a dish will do. When I go for a hot fudge sundae, I always order vanilla ice cream, even though I know that any number of other ice creams could be substituted harmoniously. Without that vanilla, the whole experience is altered. Vanilla it must be. So too for our comrade butter 674 with the sliced dark rye bread for his or her burger.

Let me propose the burger at Ubaa in Skokie. While the beef lacks the extraordinary grease appeal of a Hackney's burger, I really enjoyed the 10 oz. Patty Melt rare on dark rye with swiss, raw onion and sauerkraut. You may want to omit the sauerkraut, but, if you ask me, sometimes ya just gotta try something new. ':wink:'

Ubaa Tap & Old Crawford Inn
9956 Crawford Ave
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 673-3080

I dined at Hackney's on Printer's Row last night, and the menu clearly indicated that there were now three choices for bread with the burgers: the original dark rye bread, a standard white hamburger bun, and a new dark rye bun. In light of the recent hullabaloo here I ordered a Hackneyburger™ on the new dark rye bun and I must say that I was terribly disappointed. Not so much by the bun, mind you, as by the burger. To me, the new dark rye bun only seemed to differ from the original dark rye bread in form. Taste-wise it appeared no different at all.

Anyway, after three visits (to various locations) over the years, I am done with Hackney's.

At least, as far as burgers go.

IME, deep-fat frying is no way to cook a thick slab of freshly-ground meat.

E.M.

The Bleu Cheese burger is definitely the way to go, my friend - though my Customary Dining Companion had a plain old cheeseburger, and he was perfectly happy with his, as well. Maybe it's because we tend to go in goofy off-hours (last visit: a 90-degree-plus Sunday, at 4:00 PM).

I dunno. I like the place, and so does he - and Lord knows we are as picky as all get-out.