Double RHR cheeseburger - a must eat when i have been in the city lately.



RHR
3057 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago.

So hard to pick out one best... but here's my list:

1. Best commercially available / chain burger - Portillo's
2. Best gastropub burger - Kuma's Corner
3. Best nostalgic burger in Chicago - Billy Goat
4. Best nostalgic burger in the northern suburbs - Hackney's
5. Best dive bar burger in the northern suburbs - Meier's Tavern
6. Best burger bar - DMK
7. Best culinary/chef-y/"foodie" (I know many dislike that word...sorry...) burger - Au Cheval
8. Best diner burger - Diner Grill
9. Best mini-burgers/sliders - Bar at The Peninsula
10. Best fine dining burger - Acadia

That's my list. Hard to pick just one, easier and more fair to pick ten.

Royal Lichter wrote:So hard to pick out one best... but here's my list:

1. Best commercially available / chain burger - Portillo's
2. Best gastropub burger - Kuma's Corner
3. Best nostalgic burger in Chicago - Billy Goat
4. Best nostalgic burger in the northern suburbs - Hackney's
5. Best dive bar burger in the northern suburbs - Meier's Tavern
6. Best burger bar - DMK
7. Best culinary/chef-y/"foodie" (I know many dislike that word...sorry...) burger - Au Cheval
8. Best diner burger - Diner Grill
9. Best mini-burgers/sliders - Bar at The Peninsula
10. Best fine dining burger - Acadia

That's my list. Hard to pick just one, easier and more fair to pick ten.

10 best and no Owen & Engine?! That's a bit of a surprise.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:So hard to pick out one best... but here's my list:

1. Best commercially available / chain burger - Portillo's
2. Best gastropub burger - Kuma's Corner
3. Best nostalgic burger in Chicago - Billy Goat
4. Best nostalgic burger in the northern suburbs - Hackney's
5. Best dive bar burger in the northern suburbs - Meier's Tavern
6. Best burger bar - DMK
7. Best culinary/chef-y/"foodie" (I know many dislike that word...sorry...) burger - Au Cheval
8. Best diner burger - Diner Grill
9. Best mini-burgers/sliders - Bar at The Peninsula
10. Best fine dining burger - Acadia

That's my list. Hard to pick just one, easier and more fair to pick ten.

10 best and no Owen & Engine?! That's a bit of a surprise
=R=

Agreed, I'm quite fond of the Owen and Engine offering. That said, while I've been to Au Cheval, and enjoyed it, I've not had the burger there. Given the number of people who've recommended it, including my last waiter at Owen and Engine, I'm beginning to think my burger education is incomplete

Edzo's griddled
Red hot ranch Ashland
Schoops

Phil's Last Stand
Chain: Culvers

I've had four that have stood out: Au Cheval, Owen & Engine, Dry Hop & Duseks.

Au cheval, Edzo's and owen & engine for sure, each for a different burger experience. I did also just have a stellar burger at a10 that I will return for.

Not necessarily best, but still high on my list, with good recent datapoints from each:

That's A Burger
Top Notch
Big Guys
Paramount Room
The Dawson
Flub a Dub Chub's

I still absolutely adore the Moody Bleu burger at Moody's Pub and the Hearth Fire at Duke of Perth. Neither aspires to greatness but there is something about the serious char from a well-seasoned (read: ancient and none-too-clean) grill plus the tang of bleu that makes these offerings more satisfying to me than a studied Au Cheval effort. Owen and Engine with a jar of homemade giardiniera is a happy thing but still is somehow not down-and-dirty enough for me.

Burger Boss and Five Guys both came up at a dinner tonight - both quite satisfying for slightly more corporate efforts. I like the Tom and Eddie's menu concepts but the full burgers never seem to come together.

Maybe I went to O & E on a bad night. Thought their burger was terrible. A worstershire bomb.

Au cheval burger is good, gotta say I prefer the bologna sandwich when dining there.

Phil's last stands burger is 2nd to RHR for me when I schlep into Chicago. Too bad they can be inconsistent.

For me the list is:

Bad Apple
Edzo's
Top Notch
Hackney's
Burger Bar
Wiener Circle

I've yet to try Owen & Engine's, I always seem to go in another direction when I'm there, I need to rectify that.

Edzo's definitely (are they still offering the Spicy Sconnie? I'm drooling)
Owen & Engine
Culver's -- way more reliable than any other chain/fast food place

I used to be a big Hackney's fan, the last couple times I've been it just hasn't clicked for me.

I'll add Tuman's Slagel Beef burger to the list. Top 5 burger for me. They can be a bit inconsistent but when done perfectly, it is up there with Rootstock and O & E.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:So hard to pick out one best... but here's my list:

1. Best commercially available / chain burger - Portillo's
2. Best gastropub burger - Kuma's Corner
3. Best nostalgic burger in Chicago - Billy Goat
4. Best nostalgic burger in the northern suburbs - Hackney's
5. Best dive bar burger in the northern suburbs - Meier's Tavern
6. Best burger bar - DMK
7. Best culinary/chef-y/"foodie" (I know many dislike that word...sorry...) burger - Au Cheval
8. Best diner burger - Diner Grill
9. Best mini-burgers/sliders - Bar at The Peninsula
10. Best fine dining burger - Acadia

That's my list. Hard to pick just one, easier and more fair to pick ten.

10 best and no Owen & Engine?! That's a bit of a surprise.

=R=

I'm not sure I enjoy that one. Perhaps need to re-think and re-visit that one.

Red Hot Ranch
Illinois Bar and Grill
Wieners Circle

Royal Lichter wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:So hard to pick out one best... but here's my list:

1. Best commercially available / chain burger - Portillo's
2. Best gastropub burger - Kuma's Corner
3. Best nostalgic burger in Chicago - Billy Goat
4. Best nostalgic burger in the northern suburbs - Hackney's
5. Best dive bar burger in the northern suburbs - Meier's Tavern
6. Best burger bar - DMK
7. Best culinary/chef-y/"foodie" (I know many dislike that word...sorry...) burger - Au Cheval
8. Best diner burger - Diner Grill
9. Best mini-burgers/sliders - Bar at The Peninsula
10. Best fine dining burger - Acadia

That's my list. Hard to pick just one, easier and more fair to pick ten.

10 best and no Owen & Engine?! That's a bit of a surprise.

=R=

I'm not sure I enjoy that one. Perhaps need to re-think and re-visit that one.

I will happily revisit it with you.

Gonzo70 wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:
I'm not sure I enjoy that one. Perhaps need to re-think and re-visit that one.

I will happily revisit it with you.

LOL, as they say "further research is needed."

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Gonzo70 wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:
I'm not sure I enjoy that one. Perhaps need to re-think and re-visit that one.

I will happily revisit it with you.

LOL, as they say "further research is needed."

=R=

It seems like EVERYBODY in Chicago is talking about burgers today!

12 Killer Burgers to Try in Chicago - Chicago Magazine

The 9 best egg-topped burgers in Chicago - Thrillist

1. O & E
2. Edzo's
3. Au Cheval
4. Redhot Ranch
5. Hot Chocolate
6. Bad Apple
7. Lockdown
8.DMK
9. Kuma's
10. Flub a Dub Chub's

Subject to change, but this was my list when I moved out of Chicago a month ago (to Seattle, which fortunately boasts a shitload of fantastic burgers).

Okay, I'll play along. But first, my burger manifesto: with a few exceptions, I've learned that I prefer the fattiness of a good corn fed beef burger, or at least corn fed finished. And damn it, I want 30% fat, and I want the f'er dripping. And don't give me just chuck or round . . . how about some short rib, brisket, maybe sirloin or ribeye . . . I want flavor. I also tend to stick to the very simple burgers. I don't want 10 ingredients interfering with me tasting the beef, and that includes gobs of strong-flavored cheese. Why is it people love a great steak with just salt and pepper, and then drown good ground beef so they can't even taste it. And don't you dare give me a pretzel bun -- it's too dense, it's too strongly flavored. Get it the f*~& away from me! Give me a great, brioche bun (though a patty melt on rye will always bring a smile to my face).

And let me just say that my list is probably quite incomplete: there are so many well touted burgers I just haven't gotten around to trying. That being said, and in no particular order:

Three Aces
Bad Apple
Au Cheval (an exception to simple burgers: an ooey, gooey, sunny side up egg)
Red Hot Ranch (another exception to simple burgers: I love thousand island dressing on a burger)
Hot Chocolate (but this is the one I haven't tasted in quite some time)
Owen & Engine
Edzo's


Acadia: very good, but I thought that too much bacon jam overwhelmed the beef just a bit.

Hackney's: used to be a favorite, but last time I had it (a little over a year ago) it was pretty mediocre.

Kuma's: the change to pre-formed patties was not a good change.

The cheeseburger in that RHR picture looks awesome.

Reading the top ten lists I was surprised to see no mention of Weiner and Still Champion or Poochie's, then I realized the subject line restricts the topic to Chicago so they are out of bounds.

Best burger, I have no idea. But I sure enjoyed my Bloody Mary Burger at Publican Quality Meats this past weekend. Which is a pretty useless recommendation, since this burger was a weekend special that is no longer offered. But still.

I haven't gone to all the places listed but the ones I did go to I did like.

1. RHR
2. Au Cheval
3. Duseks
4. Leadbelly
5. Moodys
6. Hopscotch .. this one is in my neck of the woods by Ohare in the suburbs ..Franklin Park, and I really love their burgers....but sorry they are on pretzel buns. I guess that eliminates them for a lot of you. The beef is angus beef from black earth farms in Wisconsin.
7. Burger Boss

Agreed with what a lot of people are saying.

Owen & Engine is my favorite burger in the city, though I haven't tried all of the well-regarded ones. Haven't had it in a while, and I really need to get back there.

And RHR is one of my favorite burgers ever. Late at night, there is nothing my body craves more.

On all y'all's recommendation I went to Owen and Engine for a burger last night. It was disgusting. And I am completely baffled.

Because like many of you, I also really enjoy RHR, Au Cheval, the Kumas of yesteryears, Poochies, Edzos, DMK.

But holy man, that O&E burger was hot garbage! (The fries weren't bad, thankfully!) WHEW.

disagree wrote:On all y'all's recommendation I went to Owen and Engine for a burger last night. It was disgusting. And I am completely baffled.

May I ask, what about it was disgusting? (I haven't been to O&E.)

Just a note to add based on reading umpteen articles about our best burgers... It seems like they come down into two camps: burgers that are praised because they are traditional burgers prepared extremely well, and burgers that are praised because they use non-traditional ingredients (e.g. bacon jam, eggs, waffles instead of a bun, etc).

I'd like to represent the Southwest Side by nominating the Big Baby from Nicky's, @ Archer & Austin in beautiful Garfield Ridge.

I have to comment here. I think the Owen & Engine burger is, by far, the best burger I've ever tasted. Bar none. And having experienced it more than 10 times over the course of the last two years, I cannot for the life of me imagine how someone, short of a vegetarian or vegan, could find it disgusting. I've never found anything at Owen & Engine to be less than yummy.

Perhaps the issue is that the burger is very beefy. There's a lot of delicious flavorful fat in it and maybe whoever ordered it didn't expect that. But that's the beauty -- it's one of the most beefy burgers I've ever tasted. You need very little on it -- because it stands on its own as a delicious, perfectly cooked, beef extravaganza.

I'm sorry that it wasn't enjoyed but I had to say something in its defense. I think it's simply the best.

It was so incredibly greasy that it made me want to throw up.