August 2010
3 posts
Day 14: Burger and a Beer at Branch 27
I admit it. I’ve become a burger snob.
Branch 27 has a burger-and-beer special for $12 on Tuesdays; seeing as the beer is Bell’s Oberon, this was a no-brainer for me. Apparently they were named one of the best new restaurants of 2010 by Chicago Magazine. Note that it’s not best new burger.
I really need to start bringing a real camera for these things. I promise that when I...
Day 13: Burger Nostalgia at Goose Island
Back in the day, when my now-husband first moved to Chicago, we had one thing we’d order at Goose Island: the Stilton Burger with a wedge salad. The menu has changed quite a bit since then — they seem to be following the Hopleaf trend of reinventing themselves as a gastropub — but the burger has stayed. (The salad has not. Too bad. It was a great salad.)
So is it as good as I...
Day 12: Feast
Feast isn’t particularly known for their burgers, and it wasn’t on my list of burgers to try, but my friend and I were hungry, and it was close, and I had a 2-for-1 deal with my WBEZ member card.
To mix it up, I got a turkey burger, and a side of salad – a little lighter than the usual.
Unfortunately, my burger tastes have gotten too sophisticated with all this eating. The...
Day 11: The Fast-Food Burger
I’ve been passing by the giant wall mural advertising “Choppers – Home of the Chop-pak” ever since I moved to Chicago, and I’ve always wanted to know what exactly a Chop-pak is. I had the same reaction to the “Redamak’s – Bite Into a Legend” billboard outside of New Buffalo. I am living proof that billboards do work.
The Chop-pak is, according to Choppers, “The Happy Meal for...
Days 9 and 10: The Battle to Be the In-N-Out...
Only a week in, and I’m already behind on my posts…but never fear, I haven’t slacked off on the burger consumption. These last two burgers fall into what I would call the “In-N-Out” category for being fast-food burgers that don’t taste like fast food (named for the legendary burger chain on the West Coast). Maybe I should call them “nouveau classic drive-in.” The kind of...
July 2010
10 posts
Day 9: Upscale burger at Hot Chocolate
So, the plan was to try the foie gras burger special at Sweets & Savories, which is on special for $10 Wednesday nights. There weren’t any reservations available this morning, but I figured if I went early enough I could at least wait for a table, you know, like at a normal restaurant. Nope. They were all booked and couldn’t possibly take anyone else.
“But…what if a...
Day 8, Fast-food Burger, Fancy-Pants edition:...
First, let me just say this to all the super-picky eaters out there, the ones who only eat the same ten meals their entire lives: I don’t know how you do it. I’m only a week into my Month of Burgers, and I’m already getting a little tired of having the same thing every day. Not to mention that having six to eight ounces of beef every day, often accompanied by fries, is a wee...
Day 7: The Hole-In-the-Wall Burger
My housemate, Abdul, has accused me of only eating are “elitist” burgers. To which I say: half the point of this is to go sit in air conditioning, which they don’t usually have at your local hole-in-the-wall.
But I thought he had a point, and eating “gourmet” burgers every day is getting a bit expensive, so I decided to go to BIG & Little’s, where...
Day 6: The House-Made Burger
It was finally cool enough to stay in the house today, and perfect grilling weather, so today’s burger was homemade, I mean, housemade:
Patty: 90/10 ground beef, well-done, thanks to all the flare-ups on my grill. The beef is from the overpriced grocery that is the only decent grocery store within walking distance; I don’t know if it’s grass-fed/organic/yada-yada, but at that...
Day 5: a Brunch-y Burger at J Wellington
J Wellington’s is a burger joint about ten minutes from my house and one of the inspirations for the Month of Burgers, since they have seriously good burgers, shakes, and fries that I’m going to miss while I’m gone. The store is named for the burger-loving character from Popeye (last name: Wimpy), and the menu is filled with what I’m guessing are Popeye references, none of...
Month of Burgers, Days 3 and 4: sparing the steers
Some might argue that a non-beef burger doesn’t qualify, but I’m making the rules, so I will include them. Besides, just because you don’t eat red meat, or any meat, doesn’t mean you don’t get a hankering for a juicy patty of mince between some buns. Last night I had a turkey burger from Birchwood Kitchen, which is one of those cozy,...
Month of Burgers, Day Two: Small Bar
Small Bar has the distinction of the closest place to my house with both A/C and burgers, so I escaped my stifling house for lunch. Luckily, their burgers are delicious.
I remembered to take a photo this time:
The genius of this burger (the Juicy Lucy, a “Minneapolis specialty,” according to the menu) is that the cheese is inside the patty. Further, it’s Merkt’s cheese spread...
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Month of Burgers, Day 1: DMK Burger Bar
When I tell people I’ll be living in Malaysia for a year as a trailing spouse, the question I’m most often asked (besides “…And where is that?”) is, “What are you going to do?” Since saying “Sit by the pool and eat bon bons” will make people too jealous, I’ve been telling them I’ll start a food blog. And eating is Malaysia’s national sport, despite the how thin...