Park Grill - for One THE Best Burgers in Chicago

Trying soak up every last bit of the warm, summer-like weather of early fall, we headed to the lakefront on an 84 degree October day. We decided on one of our favorite alfresco spots, the Park Grill, in Millenium Park.



It was late afternoon, after the Chicago Marathon, and the area was host to tourists from all over the world, many patrons included those who ran in the annual event. This is such an ideal place to have a glass of wine and just people watch, and enjoy the skyline.

View from the cafe:


The Park Grill's outdoor dining area is not part of The Plaza at Park Grill which is more of a family dining area located on the ice rink...two totally different menus and atmospheres. The ice rink is more of a hotdog and hamburger type of place. The Park Grill's outdoor area is isolated from the rink, and sits below Cloud Gate, and does offer a little isolation from the crowd



We ordered a few quartinos of a nice Pinot Noir. The Park grill provides homemade breads and a delicious olive relish and butter to accompany it



We shared a tasty Fresh Fig and Pear Salad with mesclun greens with truffle honey vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was tasty with the right amount of sweetness



We came here to enjoy what we consider to be one of the best burger's in the city. Yes, maybe the best use of $18.00 I have ever applied to the price of a burger...but it sooooo good! It is the Peppercorn Crusted Kobe Burger which includes gorgonzola cheese, balsamic grilled onions and grain mustard on a pretzel bun, accompanied by excellent and tasty french fries



The Kobe beef was cooked to a medium perfection, as ordered. The balsamic grilled onions offer an acidic offset to the gorgonzola cheese. The combination of all the flavors really do make this one of the best burgers in the city



We highly recommend playing tourist now and then, exploring Millenium Park, taking in the skyline, watching people from all over the world enjoy one of the greatest cities in the world, and enjoy alfresco dining at the Park Grill

Park Grill
11 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60602
(312) 521-PARK

So what's the conventional wisdom on this -- At $18 it can't really be true Kobe, right? Wagyu maybe, but how do places get away with calling it "Kobe" when it likely isn't. Is it a lack of a Kobe litigation team out there defending their brand?

(great looking burger by the way)

Sweet nectar of life! That last pic of the burger was 100% unadulterated food porn.

I've had that burger...there was so much on it I wouldn't know if it was really kobe or not but it was delicious. I've been to Park Grill (the CAFE bar) way too much, we used to have a friendly hookup there, but he's gone. I think it's the same menu.

ALSO! They had (I think it's gone) a pulled pork burger that is hilariously awful. It's pulled pork on top of a burger.

Here is a link to their MENU. Unfortunately, the pulled pork isn't on there any longer. My wife had the Lamb Sausage with Penne Pasta and goat cheese, and it was excellent!


Food Porn! ha ha! Yes...exactly!!

TheWindyCity wrote:The Park Grill's outdoor dining area is not part of The Plaza at Park Grill which is more of a family dining area located on the ice rink

...if you ask me, this is a HUGE failure in marketing on their part. I had read that they had one of the best burgers and ended up at the outdoor plaza area... they're 5 feet from one another and seem to have no real distinguishable name. also, the dining area you picture that's al fresco, i swear i've never seen tables outside of the "upscale" portion... are those new this year? i really don't remember them last year and i can see the whole thing from my window here at work... i actually tried going to the indoor portion last year for drinks after work and they were really snobby about allowing someone in to not eat, and told us to go to the ice skating plaza. i'm doubly certain there were no outdoor tables outside of the plaza because of that incident. but that wasn't my first incident...

my first incident with this place... can i just say not only is it a disservice that the burger joint you show in your picture has ANY affiliation with the burgers served on the ice skating rink plaza. the ice skating plaza dining area is one of the worst burgers i've had in chicago. period. they obviously have no real kitchen and nothing is made to order. they don't let you pick how well or not well done you want your burger, and considering they're hit up by a lot of tourists this means your burger is in the "well done" category no matter how you prefer it. the bun was not the fancy one you picture, and it was even stale at that. you don't eat with real silverware or plates, they use plastic everything (extremely wasteful in my book...).

...on the second incident where they were snobby and wouldn't let us "just have some drinks" inside, we went to the ice skating plaza area... (and let me tell you, they weren't expecting a huge rush i don't think, nobody was inside that day...). perhaps my choice in ordering a Mai Tai was a mistake, but she could've just said she didn't know how to make that...instead i got some sort of red fruit juice drink mixed with what tasted like vodka. and it was over $10 per drink. and as far as being "family oriented" ... i see very few kids there ever, they have bands there on weeknights just after work, and it's a big drunken fest usually.

big mistake going to the ice skating plaza. never do that again.

and frankly, given the service and snotty attitude i've seem from "the actual" park grill, i don't think i need to go there any time soon either.

Under no circumstances should one ever order a cocktail at the Park Grill. Not only do they have no clue how to make them, but they use some really bad ingredients. The mojito I ordered came directly from a jug of something called "mojito mix". It was absolutely undrinkable, in a nasty, artificial sweet-and-sour way.

dddane wrote:...if you ask me, this is a HUGE failure in marketing on their part. I had read that they had one of the best burgers and ended up at the outdoor plaza area... they're 5 feet from one another and seem to have no real distinguishable name. also, the dining area you picture that's al fresco, i swear i've never seen tables outside of the "upscale" portion... are those new this year? i really don't remember them last year and i can see the whole thing from my window here at work... i actually tried going to the indoor portion last year for drinks after work and they were really snobby about allowing someone in to not eat, and told us to go to the ice skating plaza. i'm doubly certain there were no outdoor tables outside of the plaza because of that incident. but that wasn't my first incident...

my first incident with this place... can i just say not only is it a disservice that the burger joint you show in your picture has ANY affiliation with the burgers served on the ice skating rink plaza. the ice skating plaza dining area is one of the worst burgers i've had in chicago. period. they obviously have no real kitchen and nothing is made to order. they don't let you pick how well or not well done you want your burger, and considering they're hit up by a lot of tourists this means your burger is in the "well done" category no matter how you prefer it. the bun was not the fancy one you picture, and it was even stale at that. you don't eat with real silverware or plates, they use plastic everything (extremely wasteful in my book...).

...on the second incident where they were snobby and wouldn't let us "just have some drinks" inside, we went to the ice skating plaza area... (and let me tell you, they weren't expecting a huge rush i don't think, nobody was inside that day...). perhaps my choice in ordering a Mai Tai was a mistake, but she could've just said she didn't know how to make that...instead i got some sort of red fruit juice drink mixed with what tasted like vodka. and it was over $10 per drink. and as far as being "family oriented" ... i see very few kids there ever, they have bands there on weeknights just after work, and it's a big drunken fest usually.

big mistake going to the ice skating plaza. never do that again.

and frankly, given the service and snotty attitude i've seem from "the actual" park grill, i don't think i need to go there any time soon either.

Their outdoor cafe is entered by going through the restaurant. There are about 25 tables outside. In the photo, it is the area with the tan umbrellas that say "Park Grill". This was our third year dining outside, so it's been there a while. They have a nice wine list, which satisfies us, and choices of a bottle, glass, and quartino also make for another choice. Never had a mixed drink there, so I can't vouch for that.

My wife went to the Plaza On the Park (which has a marked entrance by the way) and the food there is, of course, different. She had the Kobe burger trio, which is not the same as the Park Grill. The Park Grill is high-end, the Grill on the Plaza is very casual and basic, which is why they serve with plastic forks, ect. Think "picnic" style. I will stick to what I said about family dining, as they have a kids menu, and there are a lot of kids dining there on weekends when we go, which is why we like to stick to the Park Grill. The "drunkfest" you refer to may be the Thursday night deal some of the places downtown organize for singles.

So, anyway, we like some of the entree choices, and we like the seasonal salads they create...they are very original, in my opinion. We like enjoying a glass of wine and taking in the tourists and the views. We also experienced excellent, polite service on the six visits we have made here over the years.

poetic

[quote="Ralph Wiggum"]So what's the conventional wisdom on this -- At $18 it can't really be true Kobe, right? /quote]

From what I have been informed and seen, when the nomenclature "Kobe beef" is used referenced to burgers, there is almost always additional 'boilerplate' that reveals that it it "Kobe style" beef, which means the ubiquitous (well now) Wagyu beef. I don't work for the FDA, but I would imagine that this type of cattle raising is difficult to monitor. Also, once meat has been ground, who can tell fat contant that is from massaging/saki fed and other methods. I'm sure there can be quite the varience, but when beef has lost its intrinsic nature, I think it is more that you rely on your ability to 'know' what is 'high quality' against any other. I do think that this is a very good high-end burger, but I think the show and vistas really help it's case.

Christopher Gordon wrote:poetic

care to elaborate, oh Indianapolis bard?