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!