Month: August 2023

Members in attendance: Angela, Wayne, DK, Sumana, and Trev
Special guest: Marissa and Will

I.  Ordering

Little Bad Wolf was our third stop for burgers in Chicago. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was a late night burger after an amazing night of drinks/snacks and Magic at the Chicago Magic lounge less than a mile south. I (Trevor) was about 5 cocktails deep by time we left the lounge so my memory can be hazy. Little Bad Wolf was dark inside and had the vibe of a bar/nightclub where the floors felt like they’re still sticky from the night before from all the spilled drinks. Even though we didn’t have reservations, they were able accommodate our large-ish group quickly in a spacious oversized corner booth where we proceeded to order.

Wayne, Sumana and Will split the Bad Burger and the Wolf Burger with fries

Angela and Trevor split the Wolf Burger with the house side salad with house dressing

DK and Marissa split the Bad Burger with fried onions, fries and side salad

II. Burgers

The crew noticed that it’s common for burgers in Chicago to have some sort of horseradish based sauce on the burger. We were pretty split if this is a good or not. So depending on your tastebuds, I’m happy/sad to report that this burger does NOT have horseradish. However I’m very happy to report that the burger was very rich (similar to Au Cheval) which usually leads to a very messy burger. I felt the burger was too salty but the crew had agreed that the beefy patty was nicely seasoned and seared. As can be seen in the picture above the fried onions were a huge hit. The mountain of fried onion smashed down nicely and gave a very satisfying crunch to each burger bite. Lastly and sadly the bacon in the Wolf Burger was too chewy even to our resident “chewy bacon” lover Wayne.

III. Sides

The fries were hot hot hot and fresh! Again I felt it was too heavy handed with the salt.

The side salad was just fine… if you’re there get the fries over the salad.

IV. Miscellaneous

As mentioned in the intro, the restaurant had night club feel which means it was dark and very loud but also open late. The servers were very friendly and the food came out quickly.

No labels on the bathroom doors! This is not the only establishment in Chicago that did this. We’re sensing a trend.

V. Value

The members were asked how much they would pay for their burgers. Our answers ranged from $13 to $21 so the burgers were priced on the higher side.

VI. Verdict

Our scores were 3.9, 4.3, 3.6, 3.9, and 3.8.  Very respectable rating with an average rating of 3.9. Surprisingly, this is the second lowest ranked burger of our trip. If visiting Chicago and you have less than 7 meals, we can recommend 7 burgers that is better than this place. However, if there’s room for an 8th meal or more and that burger itch just needs to itched one more time, perhaps come to Little Bad Wolf… or repeat something else.

Next Burger Crew meeting will be held on Friday, July 7 at Gretel which is a restaurant that shares the same owners as Little Bad Wolf.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 3pm Central (2nd stop in Burger Crew Does Chicago Trip).

Members in attendance: Angela, Trevor, Wayne, DK, Innie, and me (Sumana)
Special Guests: Will, Marissa

2. The Burgers

• Patty: thicker than the usual smashed patty that are generally very thin and crispy; texture of the meat was a rougher ground, was chewy, and had a good sear
• Buns: good and soft
• Toppings: nice cheesy, saucy spread; some people got a lot more horseradish in their burgers and some did not get much at all; pickles were excellent- thin, crispy, and flavorful
• Kansas City Burger: This was the July Thursday Regional Burger that was available every Thursday in July 2023. BBQ sauce took over the taste of the meat of the patty. Would recommend getting this if you enjoy BBQ sauce but don’t get this if you want to taste the meat of the patty.

TIP: Since the pickles came on the side, you can decide to put them in your burger, use it as a palate cleanser between burger bites, or eat them a la carte.

3. The Sides

• Pickled buffalo cauliflower: had a light tempura-like batter; everyone enjoyed these
• Drinks: large selection of craft beer; the various drinks re got were refreshing and delicious all around!

4. Miscellaneous

• Street parking
• Very close to the L/CTA station
• Ambiance: large open seating areas with great décor; a type of place where you can bring a laptop and work during the day and then hang out with friends or have a casual date night in the evening
• They have a shelf of board games that groups can borrow and play
• Order at the food counter (not the bar)
• They will send a text to you when your food is ready to pick up at the counter
• Super fast service at 3pm on a Thursday
• Online ordering is available for delivery, curbside pick-up or pick-up inside

5. Value

$9, $12, $13, $13.50, $14, and I abstained
Average value = $12.30

6. Verdict

3.2, 3.6, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1, 4.4
Average rating = 3.9

A solid burger at a fun location! Definitely a place to check out if you’re in the area!

Next stop, Little Bad Wolf.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at 11a.

Members in attendance: Angela, Trevor, Sumana, Wayne, DK, and me (Innie).

Special guests: Chris, Marissa, and Will

Burgermeisters-in-training: Marty and Lucy

It was three long years in the making, but Burger Crew finally made it to Chicago!  From the time we initially planned on making Chicago our annual burger destination trip back in 2020, the crew collectively went through a global pandemic, the births of 2 burger crew babies, the addition of a burger crew pup, a lots and lots of (local) burgers.

Au Cheval was the inaugural burger of the 2023 Chicago Burger Crew trip, and it came with high expectations. Of all the hyped burgers in the city, Au Cheval likely has the longest history of rave reviews.  It was on our radar back when we initially planned out our 2020 trip, and we were relieved that it survived the restaurant industry’s rough waters amidst the pandemic.  We all arrived eager to eat and ready to share our war stories of flying into Midway. (Let’s just say that some of the crew were blessed to fly with the Han Solo of Southwest pilots, and some of us were not.  A detour to Minneapolis and 3 extra hours on a plane later, the rest of us arrived; tired, hungry, and ready to eat some burgers!)

I. Ordering

Au Cheval keeps a pretty tight list of burgers on their menu: single cheeseburger and double cheeseburger.  For reasons I still don’t quite understand, the “single” is 2 patties, and the “double” has 3.  Apparently, this is a “diner style” of patty mathematics, but I hadn’t heard of it before.  Perhaps the Midwest is just more generous with their meat products than us Californians are.

A single cheeseburger sets you back $14.99, while a double is $16.99.  Optional add-ons are bacon ($6.99) and egg ($2.99).

Trev ordered a single cheeseburger with both egg and bacon. Angela ordered a gluten free single cheeseburger with bacon, which substitutes the buns with hash browns.  Wayne ordered a double cheeseburger, DK ordered a single with bacon, Sumana ordered a single with bacon and a double, and I ordered a single with bacon.

II. Burgers

It’s easy to assume that the star of a burger is always the meat/patties, but I think the beauty of Au Cheval’s burger was how every component balanced and worked with each other.  Each element was delicious in their own subtle way, but the sum tasted even greater than its parts.

The patties were juicy, rich, and nicely seasoned.  Each patty delivered a great sear, with little crunchy bits of browned beef between the patties. (Credit to Sumana for that revelatory way of interpreting a good sear!) There was a slice of melty cheese for each patty, which really amped up the richness and indulgence of the burger.  The buns were slightly sweet and toasted on both the tops and bottoms, which stood up really well to the juiciness of the patties.  No soggy bottoms here!

Angela’s GF version of the burger came with an impressively thick slab of hashbrowns instead of the buns.  The potatoes were finely grated, fried golden brown, and had a texture similar to crispy rice. Angela thought they were a great option for those who needed to avoid gluten, but much preferred the buns.  She also noted that the gluten-free version seemed to have much less burger sauce than the gluten-full counterpart.

Moving on to add-ons, the candied bacon was thickly sliced and caramelized with a sweet glaze.  The sunny side up egg had the perfect level of yolk doneness, where it added creaminess without running all over.  Trev noted that the egg’s whites were the exact diameter of the burger.  Nice attention to detail by Au Cheval!

DK’s burger had too much mayo/dijonnaise.  Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for DK, the rest of us didn’t notice the same issue. 

III. Sides

The fries were crispy, light golden and seasoned well.  They were served with a side of mayo, which prompted some of the crew to compare them to Belgian frites.  All in all, solid fries to accompany a solid burger.

IV. Miscellaneous

Au Cheval does not offer reservations, and all members of the party must be present before they seat a group.  We didn’t have much of a wait since we went on a Thursday morning, but long lines are common for this A-lister of a burger.  Bathrooms were clean, and the beer list was good.  What more could anyone ask for?

V, Value

Here are the value and ratings given by the crew:

Me: $16/4.2

Trev: $18/4.8

Angela: $16/4.0

Wayne: $17/4.7

DK: $18/3.8

Sumana: 4.8

VI. Verdict

On the last day of our Burger Crew Chicago trip, Trevor asked all of us what our favorite burgers were. I didn’t have a definitive answer then, but thinking back on it, I think Au Cheval was my top pick of the Chicago burgers.  It was a great location to start off our long awaited Chicago tour, and (spoiler alert) was the first of many great burgers on the trip!