Paradise Pup in DesPlaines

This place rocks. I had my first lunch experience there yesterday. Excellent char dogs and polish. I'm looking forward to getting back and trying their excellent looking burgers, too.

Did you have the 5 layer fries? So good...Merkts cheedar, real bacon, sour cream, green onions, and fries.

I'm scarcely more than a virgin when it comes to chicago dogs--although I enjoyed the one I had there fully dressed.

But I can testify that the shakes are real, and that they are great.

I miss Paradise Pup... I used to eat there 2 -3 times a week when I was working in Des Plaines. Their cheeseburgers are great, especially (as kafein mentions) since they use Merkts cheddar.

Try the oreo malt there. When I was getting my MBA at Depaul (O'Hare Center) down the street, I used to try to get there before they closed at 5:00 to get a malt and a char-cheddar dog. Good stuff.

5-layer fries is something I did not need to know! Sounds wonderfully unwholesome.

Paradise Pup
1724 South River Road
Des Plaines, IL 60018
847-699-8590
Fax: 847-824-3294

Don't forget to try the chocolate banana shake! Soooo good.

kafein wrote:Did you have the 5 layer fries? So good...Merkts cheedar, real bacon, sour cream, green onions, and fries.

was just there last week and the only fries they had were the "seasoned" fries which IMO do not make a good french fry. Do they serve regular (normal) fries still?

CrazyC wrote:I miss Paradise Pup... I used to eat there 2 -3 times a week when I was working in Des Plaines. Their cheeseburgers are great, especially (as kafein mentions) since they use Merkts cheddar.

Same here. When my office was near O'Hare, PP was a regualr lunch spot for me. Back in the old days, they used to cook the burgers over live mesquite.

no more mesquite?

gp60004 wrote:no more mesquite?

Not for at least 15 years. It's still very good, though.

Willie, they have both cajun and regular fries.

YourPalWill wrote:This place rocks. I had my first lunch experience there yesterday. Excellent char dogs and polish. I'm looking forward to getting back and trying their excellent looking burgers, too.

Agree wholeheartedly - have been there a couple of times (first heard about
it on the other site, a while ago, and managed to try it a few months ago for
the first time). The burger (which you havent tried yet) is very good
IMHO.

However, they have *awful* timings, which is a great hindrance. They
basically close at about 5 or 5:30 every day - almost impossible to
make in time. And IIRC they are open only on Saturdays (also till
about 5 maybe), and IIRC not on Sunday at all. This is the *only* reason
I havent been here a whole lot more often than the two or three times
Ive actually made it. (At least 2 or 3 times Ive gotten there to find a
closed door, being about 15 minutes late. It is very discouraging - one
feels almost completely like Podgy Peri standing, quite literally in this case, at
the gates of Paradise

c8w

YourPalWill wrote:This place rocks. I had my first lunch experience there yesterday. Excellent char dogs and polish. I'm looking forward to getting back and trying their excellent looking burgers, too.

Will,

Went for the first time myself today and yep, Paradise Pup is damn good. I had the burger w/cheddar and cajun fries. Normally I don't like flavored fries, but these were very crisp and quite good.

Guy sitting next to me had an order of the 3-Layer fries (melted cheddar, sour cream and lots of bacon bits), they sound gross, but looked pretty tasty in a (very) over the top fashion.

I liked it and will be back.

Enjoy,
Gary

Paradise Pup
1724 S River Road
Des Plaines
847-699-8590
11am to 5pm
Closed Sunday

Went for the first time myself today and yep, Paradise Pup is damn good. I had the burger w/cheddar and cajun fries.

On your next visit, I would highly recommend that you try their Chicken Teriyaki sandwich. It's the best I've tasted.

BR wrote:

Went for the first time myself today and yep, Paradise Pup is damn good. I had the burger w/cheddar and cajun fries.

On your next visit, I would highly recommend that you try their Chicken Teriyaki sandwich. It's the best I've tasted.

Agreed...and don't forget to try their dogs. They are very good and often get overlooked amid the burger/chicken frenzy. Also, the chocolate bananna shakes ore world class.

Also, the chocolate bananna shakes ore world class.

In the past at this time of year, they served a pumpkin shake that is fantastic. You just reminded me that I need to go back to give it another try.

This thread has gone on too long without a photo! Fortunately, I fixed that today. Although with decidedly juicy grilled onions and two patties, I found this too gloppy a burger for my taste. I think next time-- and there will be a next time-- I will aim for a little more austerity in the fixings and see if this promising burger reaches its potential.



Burger smoke pouring out the back...

As you can see from that picture, there's no need to order cheese fries. Enough will ooze out along the way.

Mike G wrote:Although with decidedly juicy grilled onions and two patties, I found this too gloppy a burger for my taste. I think next time-- and there will be a next time-- I will aim for a little more austerity in the fixings and see if this promising burger reaches its potential.

IMO, the regular Pupburger is best topped with raw onions, and the Pupburger on Bavarian rye is best topped with grilled onions.

I should think that two beef patties (and commensurately more cheese) would really test the limits of P.P.'s delicate (privately contracted) hamburger buns.

If you really need the extra protein get a char dog. Or, another burger.

----------------------

We must have missed you by an hour or so.

Along with a burger and fries, I was hoping to enjoy the pumpkin shake which BR mentioned above, but no such luck.

E.M.

Yeah, with the two patties I made the same mistake that I made at Five Brothers in DC, thinking they'd be thin little 10-to-the-pound patties a la Bill's instead of 1/3-lb. slabs. I actually pulled a lot of it off and made it back into a one-patty burger.

Mike, the thin pattied double cheese burger you seek can be found at Bob-O's at Irving Park and Cumberland. I order it all the way, no tomatoes. That gets you cheese lettuce relish onion and a pickle slab.

Bob-O's fries are among the best in town when they pull them straight out of the fryer. They're extra with the burger.

day-yum, that's an awsome looking bun. I coulda ran into you there on Sat around 2:30 but I drove up, didn't know where to park (the grease monkeys in the garage next door seemed to be giving me the evil eye) so I bagged it and came back to the city. Now I kinda wish I hadn't.

But, it is near OWL Lumber, so next time I go there, I'm def. stopping in.

Chicago Tribune had the “5 best burgers in Chicago” article recently http://www.chicagotribune.com/featu...i-nonmmxent-utl

Paradise Pup was #5 on the list
1724 S. River Rd., Des Plaines
847-699-8590
Name: Char burger
Bun: Egg challah with sesame seeds
Options: Grilled or raw onions; Merkt's crock cheddar, American or mozzarella cheese (30 cents); crinkle-cut or Cajun fries ($1.29-$1.69)
Burger available: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

The other burgers in the top 5:

Rosebud Steakhouse
192 E. Walton St., Chicago
312-397-1000
Size: 12 ounces
Meat: 80 percent lean prime ground beef Bun: Pretzel roll
Comes with: Lettuce, wide tomato slices, pickle slices on the side, plus thin, crispy fries
Options: American, swiss, cheddar or bleu cheese ($1), sauteed mushrooms ($1), bacon ($1)
Flavor: Like a buttery steak
Texture: Medium-firm
Comments: So juicy you'll want a bib. Burger perfection.
Burger available: Dinner Mon.-Sun., opening at 3 p.m.

Naha
500 N. Clark St., Chicago
312-321-6242
Size: 8 ounces
Meat: 80 percent lean Certified Angus Beef Bun: Onion brioche
Comes with: Caramelized onions, soft lettuce, tomatoes, house-made fries tossed with sea salt and chopped parsley
Options: More than a half-dozen cheeses (no charge), applewood-smoked bacon (no charge)
Flavor: Rich, beefy, juicy; perfectly seasoned
Texture: Dense
Comments: Fine cheeses and top-quality tomatoes make this burger the gourmet's choice.
Burger available: Lunch only, Mon.-Fri.

Park Grill
11 N. Michigan Ave, Chicago
312-521-7275
Size: 8 ounces
Meat: 80 percent lean Black Angus ground chuck
Bun: Poppy- and sesame-seed brioche
Comes with: Lettuce, beefsteak tomato slices, grilled red onion, pickle spear and fries
Options: Cheese ($1), bacon ($1), balsamic grilled onions ($1), sauteed mushrooms ($1)
Flavor: Luxurious and robust
Texture: Firm; good "bite" to the meat
Comments: The signature Herkimer white-cheddar cheese is not to be missed.
Burger available: Lunch only indoors, lunch and dinner in outdoor plaza, Mon.-Sun

Select Cut Steakhouse
2808 N. Halsted St, Chicago
773-244-1500
Size: 8 ounces
Meat: 85 percent lean mix of steak trimmings, ground in the kitchen
Bun: Sesame seed, from MaryAnn Bakeries
Comes with: Lettuce, tomato slice, pickle spear, steak fries
Options: American, swiss, cheddar or mozzarella cheese (50 cents).
Flavor: Very beefy, with a tang reminiscent of bleu cheese
Texture: Thick and firm; uniform consistency
Comments: Who needs steak with a burger this good?
Burger available: Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sun.

OTHER TOP CONTENDERS

Here are 11 other restaurants whose burgers made it to our third round of tastings.

Bristol Tap, Bristol
Candlelite, West Rogers Park
Hackney's, Palos Park and other locations
Hunker Down Steaks, Alsip
Jake Moran's, Mundelein
Medici, Hyde Park
Nick's Tavern, Lemont
Rockwell's Neighborhood Grill, Ravenswood
Silver Palm, River West
Square Kitchen, Lincoln Square
Wollensky's Grill, River North

We stopped at Paradise Pup on the way to the Rosemont "L" for a concert at the Vic (Ditty Bops and Nickel Creek - awesome). Got there just before their 5PM close.

Cheddar burger on bavarian rye was very good. A little too much char flavor for me to call it perfect, but some pink left in the middle. Grilled onions and Merkts cheddar spread made for a very, very good sandwich. The rye, as I've noted at Hackney's and elsewhere, does not sop up meat juices the way a bun does, so it is a bit of a mess.

Onion rings MrsF had were crisp and tasty (batter-type, not breaded type), and the fries were crinkly, potatoey and crisp (also available as "seasoned" which I wouldn't order ever).

Top 5 I've ever had? I don't think so. But darned decent.

Lunch at the Pup today -- sad to see they aren't serving pumpkin shakes this year. They told me that they had a lot of requests for it, but that it bogs the line down too much. . . hopefully next year b/c they're really good.

For anyone interested though, they are now serving chile and chile dogs, although I can't tell you anything about how good they are.

Well I finally made it to Paradise Pup today!
Was in the area and at 10:55 found I was 5 minutes away but didn't know of the construction. But went anyway.
About 15 people waiting for their order and 4 in line to order.
Had to ask, "Where's the line?" as there is no rime or reason to the order process.
Guy in front of me said he phones in his order to speed things up.
Anyway things went fast and I ordered a Cheddar Char Burger, mustard, pickle, tomato and grilled onion. $6.
About 10 minutes to food. Burger was right off the grill and nice and hot!
Good flavor, maybe a little overdone for my taste but certainly good, filling and satisfying. I had been at Chester's in Plymouth Wis for the their cheeseburger last Sat and the taste of charcoal and 1/4 stick of butter was still in my mind. But it would take two of Chester's to equal one PuP!
So when the construction is finished I will definitely be back if in the area.
Love the ambiance and entrepreneurial spirit.-Richard

Bummed. Hadn't been to PP in quite awhile as I no longer work out of my home.

Today went about 11:15, the usual 5-7 deep line for this time.

Got a burger that must have been forgotten about as it was dry & grey.

I'm guessing it was a one off mistake but sure doesn't instill the I need to rush back feeling

I would go with it was a mistake. The last few times I have gone the cheeseburger has been spot on and it has easily moved to the top of my list of Chicago burgers. Give it another try.

I am fortunate to live just a few minutes away from PP so I am able to frequent there with some regularity. I would say when they are slammed they are not 100% focused on the details but I would still say they are better than most even when not at their best.