Here's the list from the website

Closed:
~New Year's Eve
~New Year's Day
~Valentine's Day
~St. Patty's Day
~Easter
~Memorial Day
~4th of July
~Labor Day
~Halloween
~Thanksgiving
~Christmas Eve
~Christmas Day
~Einherjar
~Valisblot
~St Drunk's
~Norse New Year
~Thurseblot
~Turkey Massacure

Duh! Thanks. Totally don't think of this as a holiday, so it never crossed my mind...

I remember seeing a sign there around St Patty's to the effect of people are retarded on St Patty's, go be retarded somewhere else. I think they take "drinking" holidays off, and Halloween falls under that category.

Stopped by for lunch today, arriving at 11:30 with a party of two and we were about the sixth group in line so we were seated immediately when they opened at noon. I have tried the Mastadon before, but as a carry out item, so this was my first time eating there. Wow, I did not realize how small this place really was. We started with the mac and cheese mixed with carmelized onions and sun dried tomatoes. We received it about 30 minutes after being seated. It was lukewarm at best. I let our waitress know it was not hot and she took it back to the kitchen and in 10 minutes we had a hot, freshly made dish. No attitude, just good customer service.

On to the burgers. I ordered the Kuma burger and my friend ordered the Iron Maiden, both very good. Having stuffed ourselves on the mac and cheese, we only ate about a quarter of the burger & the house made chips, which were very good. I had advised my friend to order the house made chips instead of the waffle fries and she was worried because all the plates were coming out with waffle fries (we sat next the the kitchen). I assured her the chips were better and she was a happy camper when they arrived.

I will be back, very good food, but warning, the bloody marys are SPICY! A tiny bit loud but we were fine. As for November's special, I did not hear the waitress very clearly but I know it involves the words batter dipped, turkey burger and cranberry sauce.

I love Kuma's dearly but I've recently decided to avoid factory farmed meat and fish. Generally, this is not a problem at most of the restaurants I love in Chicago. I absolutely love Kuma's burgers and don't really want to contemplate subbing a gardenburger (though if I have to, I will. Pretzel roll, yummy toppings, beer, still count!). Does anyone know about the source of their ground beef? Grass-fed or corn fed? Or where they buy from?

previous visits to Kumas I have had the Kuma burger(cant say no to a fried egg). My visit Saturday I am contemplating the Bongzilla(for obvious reasons), and the Pantera. For those who have had both which would you go with?

any more details on the November burger?

Per Grub Street: turkey and gravy crowned with a hockey puck of deep-fried stuffing and a circlet of cranberry sauce (it's called "Sleep")

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2009/11/kumas_reintroduces_the_thanksg.html

hothamwater wrote:Per Grub Street: turkey and gravy crowned with a hockey puck of deep-fried stuffing and a circlet of cranberry sauce (it's called "Sleep")

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2009/11/kumas_reintroduces_the_thanksg.html

The description does not do it justice. My wife and I ate here yesterday (arrived at 4PM and were immediately sat at the bar) and she had the "sleep" burger. It was amazing. Turkey burger was perfectly cooked, fried cornbread based stuffing on top, cranberry sauce underneath, all covered in a peppery gravy better than anything mom ever made.

jimswside wrote:previous visits to Kumas I have had the Kuma burger(cant say no to a fried egg). My visit Saturday I am contemplating the Bongzilla(for obvious reasons), and the Pantera. For those who have had both which would you go with?

The menu on their website doesn't reference the Bongzilla. I wonder if it's still available.

<edit> Actually, it's hidden under Lair of the Minotaur on the new website. It might just be my browser settings that are hiding it.

Seamus wrote:

jimswside wrote:previous visits to Kumas I have had the Kuma burger(cant say no to a fried egg). My visit Saturday I am contemplating the Bongzilla(for obvious reasons), and the Pantera. For those who have had both which would you go with?

The menu on their website doesn't reference the Bongzilla. I wonder if it's still available.

Yes it does.

I hate to be negative Nancy, but is anyone out there completely over Kuma's? I've been going for a long time, prior to it being a hit on LTH or through out Chicago. I remember going over three years ago on a Saturday and being the only one in there with my friends sitting at the bar bs'ing with Dolce Vita, but those times are long gone. The quality to me is not what it was, I've had better french fries at Mcdonalds, no more Co-op hot sauce, the kitch is gone. I just feel like it changed to accommodate the masses and maybe it had to?

Shaggywillis wrote:The quality to me is not what it was, I've had better french fries at Mcdonalds, no more Co-op hot sauce, the kitch is gone. I just feel like it changed to accommodate the masses and maybe it had to?

I can see where you're coming from with the crowd; I've been going pretty much since it opened as well.

But to be honest, I haven't noticed a problem or decline in quality. I have been there when their fries aren't up to par - but the only place that I can think of that is 100% immune to a bad batch of fries is Hot Doug's. I've had a bad batch of fries from a lot of really great places.

I've had burgers that I didn't like at Kuma's, but it isn't the quality of the ingredients thats the problem - it was the combination of ingredients period. Different tastes for different people - I've had sausages that I didn't like from Doug's that I wouldn't dare call them lacking in quality.

I will say that I have the upmost respect for the way Kuma's has handled it's popularity. There is a pretty low turn-over rate within their staff (from what i've noticed) which is unusual in the bar industry. It leads me to believe that the owner/managers must be treating their employees really well (also unusual in the bar industry) and they all seem pretty genuinely content with their jobs. It translates to their customer service as well.

I've never been to Kuma's and had bad service. Thats a really, really respectible establishment that can become that popular, feed that many people and still offer consistently high quality food with exceptional service - always.

I can see being annoyed with the crowds - thats natural. However, i'll support Kuma's and never be "completely over" Kuma's simply because other people like it as much as myself.

In fact, i was there today. Wait time: 0 minutes.

gleam wrote:

Seamus wrote:

jimswside wrote:previous visits to Kumas I have had the Kuma burger(cant say no to a fried egg). My visit Saturday I am contemplating the Bongzilla(for obvious reasons), and the Pantera. For those who have had both which would you go with?

The menu on their website doesn't reference the Bongzilla. I wonder if it's still available.

Yes it does.

I don't see it on there.

Last one on the list.

I don't mean to be a pest, but at the bottom is "Lair of the Minotaur", then a notice.

I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you need to clear your cache. Bongzilla is listed below Lair of the Minotaur on the online menu I'm looking at.

Dunno.

Here's what I see:

Odd, viewing in Firefox, I had no trouble seeing Bongzilla. When I switched to Internet Explorer, it was no longer there.

I'll try Chrome when I get to work. Maybe Bongzilla is a gift to those who have switched away from IE.

Edit: Chrome is a go for Bongzilla.

my web browser shows the complete menu,

pretty sure I am getting the Bongzilla, or perhaps the Slayer.

if I wasnt going to a couple places afterwards for food and drink I would be tempted by the mussels, calamari, and mac-n-cheese.

That's it. I have internet explorer, and it doesn't show up for some odd reason.

jimswside wrote:previous visits to Kumas I have had the Kuma burger(cant say no to a fried egg). My visit Saturday I am contemplating the Bongzilla(for obvious reasons), and the Pantera. For those who have had both which would you go with?

Dang! If I didn't have a full day planned Saturday I would of joined you.

Stay in touch...

Hey Djenks, actually it isn't the crowd. I actually like going, having several tasty beverages while waiting at the bar for my table. It's part of the fun to me, to watch people walk in and look awkward. Personally I just don't enjoy the food as much as I used to. I've had almost every burger on the menu, minus the one with four different types of cheeses, I just don't really like the meat mix and it could be that the burger is just too much for me. I have found myself, the past few months that I went in spring/summer replacing the burger with chicken and that actually works for several of their spicier burgers or mexican influenced flavor burgers (not sure if that is PC, sorry if not),. My two cents.

I am really looking forward to that Bongzilla & some PBR's(or perhaps a Three Floyds or two) in a couple hours.

imho, Kumas is what it always was, a true GNR.

great burger, great food, and great atmosphere.

the bongzilla was awesome, pics tomorrow when I sleep off all the food i ate today.

still thinking about the Bongzilla from yesterday, planning my next visit. Line was a bout 25 people deep @ 11:15, and I think Kumas has their clock set about 10 minutes fast, as they opened right around 11:20 on my cell phone. Got a seat @ the bar, and Kumas was packed, with a line until I left. Friendly, knowledgeable bartender who seemed to know her beer(I knew what I wanted to drink(gumball head, and PBR), but she was able to recommend selections for others)

Great burger, perfectly cooked medium rare, and the other ingredients worked, and mixed well.

Gumball head draft:


Burger of the month(turkey burger, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc) the guy next to me ordered:


Bongzilla:






best burger I have had, next time.. going with this or the goblin cock.

I went to Kuma's last night around 5:30. There was about a 45 minute wait for a table of 4, but we noticed that other tables of 2 were seated quicker. We had a number of gumball heads, which made the wait seem much quicker. We ordered the Sleep burger special along with the mac and cheese, with peas and carmelized onions. The sleep burger tasted exactly what it sounds like -- like thanksgiving. The turkey burger was (surprisingly) very moist and the stuffing was nice as well. I was slightly worried about starch overload with the bun and stuffing, but the gravy helped that. The cranberry cut the gravy nicely, and the fried sage was a nice touch.

Terrific burger, and I'm glad that I got the housemade chips instead of the waffle fries. The fries were a disappointment last visit, but the chips were great.

went for the first time last night. Got there around 7:20 and had a table by about 8, for four. Had some Gumballheads while I was waited, and a PBR at dinner. Had the calamari which was excellent. I personally had the "Sleep" on the last day of November, and it was AWESOME. My wife had the classic Kuma and while it was also great, she wished she had ordered mine I have half left today for lunch. Waffle fries were done well. All in all I was very impressed and will definitely be back. No pictures because it was too dark for no flash (iPhone). I tried, but no luck.

Kuma's December burger, the Eyehategod:

Decembers burger of the month is the EyeHateGod burger named for the legendary New Orleans band.

It's a ten ounce beef patty topped with a savory pecan crumble, bacon wrapped, bleu cheese stuffed dates, and finished off with dusseldorf mustard.

Oculi wrote:Kuma's December burger, the Eyehategod:

Decembers burger of the month is the EyeHateGod burger named for the legendary New Orleans band.

It's a ten ounce beef patty topped with a savory pecan crumble, bacon wrapped, bleu cheese stuffed dates, and finished off with dusseldorf mustard.

Holy moly that's a doozie