Chicago's Best Hamburger

Who has the best burgers? Jury's on Lincoln is so-so. I'm looking
for quality meat, good home-cut fries and freshness. Moody's I find
overrated.

I know I may be in the minority here, but for me the best burgers are at Hackney's on Harms (i.e. the original). The fries aren't great (but they're not bad, by any strech of the imagination), but I can't say enough about the onion loaf - it's worth the fact that you're getting a year's worth of the RDA for grease in one sitting.

As I just posted under best hamburger and martini, I really enjoyed the burger at Erwin restaurant on about 2900 N. Clark. Big enough, good fries

here's a link to a previous burger discussion:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... er&start=0

Hi AB,
Thanks for the list of hamburger places. Of those I love Charlie Beinlichs, Boston Blackies

psychchef wrote:Thanks for the list of hamburger places. Of those I love Charlie Beinlichs, Boston Blackies

I just visited Charlie Beinlich's for the first time, yesterday. Boy, that really was a great hamburger. I thought it was much better than the Jury's and Moody's burgers that I've had recently. It was grilled just as I asked, right between rare and medium rare. The meat was very juicy and flavourful, and the grilled onions had great caramel sweetness.


Beinlich's Deluxe Cheeseburger with Cheddar Cheese and Grilled Onions

And, hey, their shrimp cocktail isn't too shabby, either.


Beinlich's Signature Crab and Shrimp Cocktail

Charlie Beinlich's
290 Skokie Blvd.
Northbrook
847.564.9328
Closed Sun/Mon

Regards,
Erik M.

*Edited to correct spelling.

Hi,

When I order my hamburger at Charlie Beinlich's, I have both grilled as well as raw onion. The grilled onions are cooked slow to extract their sweetness, which means they can sometimes be a tad bit too sweet.

I salivate every time I think about the burger at Bistro Campagne. I don't know where they get that beef, but the farmer should get a medal. The burger comes on a fresh, toasted brioche bun and is accompanied by crispy onion frites. Ask for a side of aioli, and prepare to return on a regular basis.

I got some of the organic beef from Bistro Campagne last year through a gift certificate on Ebay, very very good qaulity!

I don't know if this place was mentioned in the previous thread but my favorite burger has to be at Paradise Pup in Des Plaines. They serve it on an egg roll, with grilled onions, and a choice of cheese, ie - cheddar, swiss, american. I always get it with a side of gardiniera and an order of seasoned fries. The place does not have much seating and at lunch time, there is always a line out the door. In the summer, they have some outdoor tables to alleviate the congestion.

Its not really a restaurant burger in the league of Boston Blackies, Charlie Beinlichs or Hackneys but its still my favorite and when I do indulge in a burger, this is my first choice.

Paradise Pup
1724 S. River Rd.
Des Plaines, IL
847-699-8590

Just south of Oakton on the west side of the street.

Enjoy.

I've always been very partial to the burgers at Duke of Perth.

in chicago, best burger is the ORIGINAL heaven on seven
111 n. wabash, 7th floor
grind their own meat
have it covered with their excellent chili!
yes

and/or gumbo on the side

btw, i hate blackie's

also, original goose island on clybourn, not any others though!

I'm fond of the Peppercanister's versions (on Wells), particularly the blue cheese. (Excellent fish & chips, guiness pie & scotch eggs too).

I want to add a new name to the burger wars. It's the Lantern at 768 N. Western Ave., Lake Forest. I know this is out of the range of most LTHers, but I would invite an independent evaluation from those of you in the Deerfield/Highland Park/Lake Forest area. I am very familiar with Hackney's, Charlie Beinlich's, and Blackie's. The Lantern burger is better than Hackney's and on a par with Beinlich's and Blackie's. They offer a 6 oz. and 12 oz. burger. You can have it served on a bun, kaiser roll, or dark rye. My preference is the 12 oz. on dark rye toasted so the bread doesn't get soggy. It can be had with a variety of cheeses, including cheddar or bleu.

What I like most about Blackie's is that you can order a burger with cheddar cheese and olives. It seems the olive burger in Chicago has gone the way of the dinosaur. This used to be a common and popular burger--chopped green stuffed olives on the burger. Now, Blackie's is the only place I can order it without a blank stare by the waitstaff.

Jesper wrote:It seems the olive burger in Chicago has gone the way of the dinosaur.

My Mother is a big fan of the Olive Burger, who gets it with amazing regularity at a number of places. Most of them are the Greek family restaurant with the huge how-many-more-ways-can-we-please-you menu.

You don't find the Olive burger at places which specialize in burgers generally.

I'm in Highland Park, so I have been to the Lantern a number of times for their burger. Its been a while, I may get up there soon to check. Actually, there are a slowly growing number of us in the northern suburbs: George R and Ronnie Suburban quickly come to mind ... and now Jesper!

Gulliver's on Howard----

Terrific quality, tasty 1/2 pounders cooked the way that you want them. IMHO, better than Beinlich's, Hackney's or Blackie's.

My method of getting an olive burger as a kid was to order a burger and ask for olives on the side. This only worked at places that had a full bar, though..

Kings and Queens in its previous incarnation (pre-Nickys) had a good olive burger, too.

My current favorite combination now, though, is fried onions and blue cheese. yum.

I find Olive bugers at diners, generally. Try Jack's in Skokie on Touhy just west of 90/94, or Greek Olympic in Evanston on Chicago between Church and Davis. Neither of these burgers are remarkable, except for the fact that they have olives. Your milage may vary.

I think that is Golden Olympic,not Greek Olympic,just down the street from Whole Foods?

gleam wrote:My method of getting an olive burger as a kid was to order a burger and ask for olives on the side. This only worked at places that had a full bar, though..

I was a major fan of olive burgers when I was growing up in Elmhurst. There was a restaurant there, the Village Lantern (no relation to C2's Highland Park place, as far as I know), and they used to really lay on the olives. I found, though, that when making olive burgers at home, it was best to use the crushed salad-type olives rather than the round ones you might find in the bar -- these mangled and beat up olives would lie flatter on the patty, and seemed to merge with the meat more pleasingly.

Hammond

Right you are, DH, although the Chow Poodle hand slices pimento stuffed olives into those little disks for her olive burgers. I'll bet the onion, garlic or bleu cheese stuffed olives would be pretty good, too

Jesper wrote:I want to add a new name to the burger wars. It's the Lantern
<snip>
It seems the olive burger in Chicago has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Jesper,

John Barleycorn's olive burger is high on a friend of mine, who grew up in Chicago, but's lived in Texas for the past 12-15 years, must have list. I'm partial to Barleycorn's blue cheese burger with both sauteed and raw onions, though I have not had one in a few years.

Never been to the Latern, but sounds worth a visit. Far as my favorite restaurant/bar burgers go I like Smith & Wollensky, Jury's, Charlie Beinlich's and Hackney's.

I'm not too keen on Erwin or Bistro Campagne's burgers, which are mentioned in the thread. I find the meat too finely ground resulting in a dense burger that simply does not appeal.

Blue Cheese Burger at Jury's


Enjoy,
Gary

cito wrote:Gulliver's on Howard----

Cito,

Gullivers, ok, I'll give it a try. You mentioned Gullivers burger in the last burger thread and, frankly, I'm beginning to suspect another TonyG/Hecky's/fried chicken situation. Where LTH collectively seems to be ignoring a suggestion that turns out to be fantastic.

I'm thinking 12:30 lunch Thursday, 2/17. Get a few people together, that way we can try both Gullivers burger and pizza, which has been mentioned on LTH as well.

Cito, you free for lunch on Thursday, anyone else. I'll post a notice to the Events board.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gulliver's Pizzeria
2727 W. Howard
Chicago, IL
773-338-2166

Pete Miller's in Evanston. Very good, made with their own prime beef!

leek wrote:Pete Miller's in Evanston. Very good, made with their own prime beef!

This falls into the wagyu/kobe burger question also:

Does anyone here know if there is actually a taste difference between a burger made with 95 lean/5 fat choice sirloin and 95/5 prime sirloin?

The difference for prime/choice is almost entirely fat, no? So wouldn't grinding the meat and producing a consistent fat content pretty much eliminate the advantage?

That being said, I do think there's likely to be an advantage to buying a burger somewhere that serves prime meat, since they're more likely to treat the meat with respect.

-ed

Ed,

I would say that there is little, if not no advantage to 95/5 prime over 95/5 choice. Yes, the flavor is in the fat.

Incidentally, even though Smith and Wollensky dry ages in house, for their hamburger, they buy a 80/20 chuck from Stockyards. Gary, VI, Al Earhardt and myself were given a tour of their aging room a few years ago, and this was a real surprise if not letdown to me. (I still want to believe that they grind up dry aged rib eye flaps for their burgers)

By the way, that lamb scharas at Santorini rocks.

For Golden Olympic mentioned above.


Golden Olympic
1608 Chicago Ave.,Evanston
847-328-1617

I'm partial to the Bacon Cheddar burger at Illinois Bar and Grill on Taylor Street.

3/4 lb of greasy sirloin goodness, covered with cheese, grilled onions and huge slices of bacon, served on a plain ordinary white bun. Wash it down with a couple $2 High Lifes and prepare to enter food coma land.

Illinois Bar & Grill
1421 W. Taylor St.
312-666-6666

Ilk wrote:I'm partial to the Bacon Cheddar burger at Illinois Bar and Grill on Taylor Street.

3/4 lb of greasy sirloin goodness, covered with cheese, grilled onions and huge slices of bacon, served on a plain ordinary white bun. Wash it down with a couple $2 High Lifes and prepare to enter food coma land.

Illinois Bar & Grill
1421 W. Taylor St.
312-666-6666

You know, I had that same burger just last week, and it wasn't bad. Is it really 3/4 lb, though? It felt more like 1/2lb.

That being said, I don't think it's as good as a lot of other burgers in the city. But it's cheap and filling. Good fries, too.

By the way, it bugs me that I keep opening this thread to read that Jury's burger is so-so. Jury's burger is excellent for a bar burger. I actually prefer other styles, but when you want a slab of meat in that style between a bun, Jury's is very near the top and the 2-for-1 deal on Wednesdays (I think; assuming it still exists) is a total steal.

Verdict on Jury's.



Photo by GWiv