Seeking Sliders in Chicagoland

After reading this great article on Serious Eats about making sliders at home, I was inspired. Not inspired to make them myself - more trouble than it's worth - but inspired to go find some to buy.

But then it hit me that, other than White Castle, I don't know of any true sliders in Chicago. I'm looking for old-school sliders, not mini-burgers and not small sandwiches made out of something other than ground beef and served on a little hamburger bun.

What are some places to get real traditional sliders - thin patties of ground beef cooked atop a bed of steamed onions?

I am pretty sure that when the term Sliders is mentioned that it is a reference to White Castle and I also believe they coined the term (with a Y as in Slyders). I am not aware of the term being used in any other reference.

I remember, way back when, downtown, on State Street... There was a Prince Castle not far from the State-Lake Theater (both now defunct) that served a sandwich the same as the White Castle Hamburger.

In the last few years I have seen Sliders pop-up on restaurant menus (Bar Louie, Barclay's Grill in Oak Park), often as an appetizer, and they are smaller versions of a larger sandwich. Often dressed up and sometimes with alternate meats (pulled pork). Not really a tribute to the White Castle version but more of a 2 or 3 bite sandwich.

I am a big fan of Steamed Burgers from White Castle to my long lost Cock Robin (which I miss dearly) and have been on the hunt for a replacement even since the last location closed in Brookfield.

Once I ran across this post...

Shaggywillis wrote:This is sort of random, but there is a hamburger place on Lincoln east of Ashland, maybe more east by Southport....and it looks old I believe on the sign it says steamed burgers? Sorry I am trying to figure out the name of this place and if anyone likes it?

... and got my hopes up and even did a though search of the area mentioned but with no luck.

Sometimes diners will do a partial steaming process by covering the meat on the grill with a cover but usually there will be some browning involved that distracts from the true 'Slider'.

Good luck on your quest! I will be eagerly following this thread for tips!

(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

Panther in the Den wrote:I am pretty sure that when the term Sliders is mentioned that it is a reference to White Castle and I also believe they coined the term (with a Y as in Slyders). I am not aware of the term being used in any other reference.

My understanding is that White Castle adopted Slyder in the mid-90s for copyright/marketing purposes. But you're right that other places that sell sliders seem to refer to them as burgers. Makes me wonder why White Castle bothered with Slyder after all.

Panther in the Den wrote:In the last few years I have seen Sliders pop-up on restaurant menus (Bar Louie, Barclay's Grill in Oak Park), often as an appetizer, and they are smaller versions of a larger sandwich. Often dressed up and sometimes with alternate meats (pulled pork). Not really a tribute to the White Castle version but more of a 2 or 3 bite sandwich.

Yeah, they're all over the place these days. I did a search on LTH before posting this and gave up after seeing the term dominated by little sandwiches with things like fish and pork belly.

Panther in the Den wrote:I am a big fan of Steamed Burgers from White Castle to my long lost Cock Robin (which I miss dearly) and have been on the hunt for a replacement even since the last location closed in Brookfield.
...

Sometimes diners will do a partial steaming process by covering the meat on the grill with a cover but usually there will be some browning involved that distracts from the true 'Slider'.

Good luck on your quest! I will be eagerly following this thread for tips!

(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

You have done far more research on me and have done some damage to my fading hopes that sliders exist in this town aside from White Castle. Real sliders don't seem like a menu item that restaurants add these days. The ones I've had have either been from White Castle or Krystal, or from places in Northern New Jersey and St. Louis that have all been selling them for decades.

Hopefully someone out there in LTH land can tip us both off. In the meantime, I'll keep looking.

I always thought they were called sliders because they slide out as easily as they slide in.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:I am pretty sure that when the term Sliders is mentioned that it is a reference to White Castle and I also believe they coined the term (with a Y as in Slyders). I am not aware of the term being used in any other reference.

My understanding is that White Castle adopted Slyder in the mid-90s for copyright/marketing purposes. But you're right that other places that sell sliders seem to refer to them as burgers. Makes me wonder why White Castle bothered with Slyder after all.

Panther in the Den wrote:In the last few years I have seen Sliders pop-up on restaurant menus (Bar Louie, Barclay's Grill in Oak Park), often as an appetizer, and they are smaller versions of a larger sandwich. Often dressed up and sometimes with alternate meats (pulled pork). Not really a tribute to the White Castle version but more of a 2 or 3 bite sandwich.

Yeah, they're all over the place these days. I did a search on LTH before posting this and gave up after seeing the term dominated by little sandwiches with things like fish and pork belly.

Panther in the Den wrote:I am a big fan of Steamed Burgers from White Castle to my long lost Cock Robin (which I miss dearly) and have been on the hunt for a replacement even since the last location closed in Brookfield.
...

Sometimes diners will do a partial steaming process by covering the meat on the grill with a cover but usually there will be some browning involved that distracts from the true 'Slider'.

Good luck on your quest! I will be eagerly following this thread for tips!

(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

You have done far more research on me and have done some damage to my fading hopes that sliders exist in this town aside from White Castle. Real sliders don't seem like a menu item that restaurants add these days. The ones I've had have either been from White Castle or Krystal, or from places in Northern New Jersey and St. Louis that have all been selling them for decades.

Hopefully someone out there in LTH land can tip us both off. In the meantime, I'll keep looking.

MarlaCollins'Husband-Where in St. Louis are these slider joints you speak of? I'll be down there here and there as the weather warms and wanna check them out.

Panther- I've actually never been to JITB but I think the hard shell tacos from The Dog Joint on Armitage in Lincoln Park might be the closest thing to what JITB is. They just take a frozen hard shell taco already filled with beef and fry them and you can have them put toppings in them afterwards. Good drunk food I guess, just like real sliders. I think the best hopes for both of you is making them at home, I make both often and they're pretty easy and better than anything else...although I love a well run* White Castle.

*A badly run one, is just awful.


Hard Shell Taco from The Dog Joint

The Dog Joint
350 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-687-9573

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:I am pretty sure that when the term Sliders is mentioned that it is a reference to White Castle and I also believe they coined the term (with a Y as in Slyders). I am not aware of the term being used in any other reference.

My understanding is that White Castle adopted Slyder in the mid-90s for copyright/marketing purposes. But you're right that other places that sell sliders seem to refer to them as burgers. Makes me wonder why White Castle bothered with Slyder after all.

Panther in the Den wrote:In the last few years I have seen Sliders pop-up on restaurant menus (Bar Louie, Barclay's Grill in Oak Park), often as an appetizer, and they are smaller versions of a larger sandwich. Often dressed up and sometimes with alternate meats (pulled pork). Not really a tribute to the White Castle version but more of a 2 or 3 bite sandwich.

Yeah, they're all over the place these days. I did a search on LTH before posting this and gave up after seeing the term dominated by little sandwiches with things like fish and pork belly.

Panther in the Den wrote:I am a big fan of Steamed Burgers from White Castle to my long lost Cock Robin (which I miss dearly) and have been on the hunt for a replacement even since the last location closed in Brookfield.
...

Sometimes diners will do a partial steaming process by covering the meat on the grill with a cover but usually there will be some browning involved that distracts from the true 'Slider'.

Good luck on your quest! I will be eagerly following this thread for tips!

(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

You have done far more research on me and have done some damage to my fading hopes that sliders exist in this town aside from White Castle. Real sliders don't seem like a menu item that restaurants add these days. The ones I've had have either been from White Castle or Krystal, or from places in Northern New Jersey and St. Louis that have all been selling them for decades.

Hopefully someone out there in LTH land can tip us both off. In the meantime, I'll keep looking.

I'm not sure that sign is there anymore about the steamed burgers but I also have a vague memory of it. Its now an apartment building where the sign I'm thinking of used to be.

MarlaCollins'Husband-Where in St. Louis are these slider joints you speak of? I'll be down there here and there as the weather warms and wanna check them out.

Panther- I've actually never been to JITB but I think the hard shell tacos from The Dog Joint on Armitage in Lincoln Park might be the closest thing to what JITB is. They just take a frozen hard shell taco already filled with beef and fry them and you can have them put toppings in them afterwards. Good drunk food I guess, just like real sliders. I think the best hopes for both of you is making them at home, I make both often and they're pretty easy and better than anything else...although I love White Castle.


Hard Shell Taco from The Dog Joint

The Dog Joint
350 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-687-9573

Pete's Pizza sells what they call "All American Sliders". I have never had one (I quite enjoy their pizza, though). I don't know if they are steamed over onions, or simply little burgers. They seem about 3x as expensive as White Castle burgers and sell by the half-dozen or 1,2 or 3 dozen.

Pete's Pizza
3737 N. Western Avenue,
Chicago, IL
773-966-1230
http://pizzapetes.com/

Aren't steamed burgers a specialty of some tavern in Connecticutt or something? I seem to remember seeing something on tv about it.

Da Beef wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

Panther- I've actually never been to JITB but I think the hard shell tacos from The Dog Joint on Armitage in Lincoln Park might be the closest thing to what JITB is. They just take a frozen hard shell taco already filled with beef and fry them and you can have them put toppings in them afterwards. Good drunk food I guess, just like real sliders. I think the best hopes for both of you is making them at home, I make both often and they're pretty easy and better than anything else...although I love White Castle.


Hard Shell Taco from The Dog Joint

The Dog Joint
350 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-687-9573

Thanks! Da Beef! That looks like it.

Tasty Dog in Oak Park used to serve them until they switched over to Authentic Mexican Tacos (sic).

I will give them a try.

The closest sliders that I actually dream of (if I happen to dream of sliders ) are those at Powers in Ft. Wayne.

Powers Hamburgers
1904 Maumee Ave.
Fort Wayne, IN 46803
(260) 422-3227‎

1402 South Harrison St
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
(260) 422-6620‎

Note: It's the top one that I can vouch for.

Da Beef wrote:MarlaCollins'Husband-Where in St. Louis are these slider joints you speak of? I'll be down there here and there as the weather warms and wanna check them out.

Eat Rite Diner - it's about two blocks south of Busch Stadium

622 Chouteau
St. Louis MO 63102
314-621-9621

Panther in the Den wrote:(Now if I can also get a lead on my beloved deep fried tacos (ala: Jack-in-the-Box, fried with the meat inside) I would be a happy man )

Not sure if you are aware of the fact that Burger King has had tacos on their menu for a while. They are "extremely" similar to JITB. See this guy's review of them in the link below. Not only that, they're like 2 for $1.50 or something.

http://www.pusateri.org/cruft/docs/bktacos.html

Enjoy!!

John

Panther in the Den wrote:I am pretty sure that when the term Sliders is mentioned that it is a reference to White Castle and I also believe they coined the term (with a Y as in Slyders). I am not aware of the term being used in any other reference.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:My understanding is that White Castle adopted Slyder in the mid-90s for copyright/marketing purposes. But you're right that other places that sell sliders seem to refer to them as burgers. Makes me wonder why White Castle bothered with Slyder after all.

The way I understand it, slider is an older, somewhat derogatory term for any hamburger that only more recently has become essentially synonymous with White Castle's burgers.

The Big Apple can be a useful site when researching the etymology of food terms.

In The Big Apple's entry on Sliders, Barry Popik wrote:There is considerable evidence that “slider” was a term used for a hamburger in the United States Navy, perhaps as early as the 1940s or 1950s.

Selling 'em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food traces the term back even farther.

David Hogan wrote:After successfully dodging the term slider since the 1930s, White Castle finally embraced it [in the 1990s] and featured it in its advertising but changed the spelling to Slyder for copyright reasons.

After the "burger wars" of the 1970s many giant national corporations were left in ruins but somehow tiny White Castle emerged relatively unscathed. This was a mystery to many business analysts and probably even to the company itself. It became apparent that White Castle catered to a very small but intensely loyal market segment, often compared to a cult. Finally in the 1990s White Castle adopted new advertising tactics that celebrated their differences and appealed directly to their most faithful fans. Following other minorities during this period, they took a formerly derogatory epithet and turned into a term of pride.

d4v3 wrote:Aren't steamed burgers a specialty of some tavern in Connecticutt or something? I seem to remember seeing something on tv about it.

Steamed burgers are a specialty of Meriden CT but they are quite different from those griddled over onions. For some pictures of Meriden-style cheeseburgers you can look at this post on Ted's.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:What are some places to get real traditional sliders - thin patties of ground beef cooked atop a bed of steamed onions?

I don't think any real slider emporiums remain in Chicago (other than White Castle, of course). A quick search shows nearly a hundred Chicago restaurants with sliders currently on the menu, but when the list includes places like Berghoff, Primehouse, Cheesecake Factory and even Tank Sushi you can be sure the term has lost all meaning. These nouveau-pseudo-sliders have little in common with the genuine article except their small size. Fifty or more years ago Chicago had its share of White ____s and ___ Castles (fill in the blanks)—imitators of White Castle, but I think they're all gone.

The Detroit area has a rich slider heritage as well as an active current scene. Telway, Greene's, Bate's and Campau Tower are some of the classic grills that are still slingin'.

Hi,

Prince Castle, later renamed Cock Robin, began as a seasonal ice cream store. They did borrow their hamburger style from White Castle when they expanded the menu. This allowed their stores to be open year round.

Regards,

Panther in the Den wrote:I remember, way back when, downtown, on State Street... There was a Prince Castle not far from the State-Lake Theater (both now defunct) that served a sandwich the same as the White Castle Hamburger.

Do you remember approximately what years Prince Castle was there? I thought they were all in the suburbs. Might you be thinking of King Kastle?

Cathy2 wrote:Prince Castle, later renamed Cock Robin, began as a seasonal ice cream store. They did borrow their hamburger style from White Castle when they expanded the menu. This allowed their stores to be open year round.

I believe Prince Castle started in 1930. I wonder when the Princeburger joined the One-In-A-Million shake.

Hi,

Whenever I find the Prince Castle - Cock Robin documentary, I will listen again for a time line on the burger.

Regards,

stevez wrote:The closest sliders that I actually dream of (if I happen to dream of sliders ) are those at Powers in Ft. Wayne.

Powers Hamburgers
1904 Maumee Ave.
Fort Wayne, IN 46803
(260) 422-3227‎

1402 South Harrison St
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
(260) 422-6620‎

Note: It's the top one that I can vouch for.

Are you sure? Your pictures appear to be from the Harrison Street location. I don't know if the Maumee one exists anymore; its phone has been disconnected. In any case I can certainly vouch for Powers on Harrison, serving superlative sliders since 1940.

Rene G wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:I remember, way back when, downtown, on State Street... There was a Prince Castle not far from the State-Lake Theater (both now defunct) that served a sandwich the same as the White Castle Hamburger.

Do you remember approximately what years Prince Castle was there? I thought they were all in the suburbs. Might you be thinking of King Kastle?

I think you are right and I was mistaken. I now think it was King Kastle. It was way back in the mid 70's.

Thanks!

While the exact definition of a slider can vary depending on where you're at, I did find a pretty good example at what I believe to be the only Hoagie Hut left in Chicagoland. It seems as though this location in Waukegan took over for an old fast food place whenever it opened. They still use the drive thru if you dont feel like getting out around there.


An old Northshore favorite located upshore

There are quite a few threads dedicated to the old Hoagie Hut in Highwood which was around for a while before shutting down. At one time they also had a location in Lincoln Park which I really liked now and then when I got the hankering for a cheesesteak hoagie in the wee hours before heading home after making the rounds around town. I stopped into this location when I rode by after filling up on gas en route back into the city. They mentioned they now serve "sliders" and at a dollar and change for one with cheese I decided to try.


Mini cheeseburger/Slider

These weren't bad at all. They were made more so in the style of Powers in Fort Wayne mentioned up above but I wouldn't put these on their level. Despite the fact they do take a fresh ball of ground beef and put the onions on top before flattening it into a mini patty something was missing from these. Nonetheless still very good and way better than any burger from most every fast food chain around town and cheaper too. The Chicago style cheesesteak hoagie was as good as I remember them to be and I wasn't even drinking. Seemed to me like they made it the same way as back in the day. If they were anywhere near me I'd of been back for a few of them by now.


Cheese Steak Hoagie

Hoagie Hut
2807 Grand Avenue
Waukegan, IL 60085
(847) 249-8300

First, I had no idea Hoagie Hut lives on in Waukegan. So happy to hear it. I was a frequent vistor of the Highwood and LP locations. There is no chance I am getting sliders over the cheese steak sando tho if I make my way up to Waukegan.

Second, not sure if they classify as classic sliders but the ones from Devil Dawgs rt now are the best I've had in a while. Love that you can get them with green chiles a la New Mexico style.

Devil Dawgs
2147 N Sheffield Ave
(773) 281-4300