Chef's Burger Bistro

As I have said before, if you want a burger in Chicago, you have a lot of choices without having to resort to a chain fast food place.  You can get one at a diner like Eleven City Diner or a local fast food place like M Burger or Epic Burger, but many bars that serve food have a really good burger.  In fact, I would say that some of these, Kuma's Corner, The Bad Apple, and Burger Bar are among the best burgers in the city.  In addition to these examples, many fine dining restaurants like Naha or Vie also make some really good burgers.  To this list, I will add Chef's Burger Bistro, where I dined recently.  Located off of the Magnificent Mile, Chef's Burger Bistro is located at the same location as a former local burger chain location.  The space is long and narrow with a long bar at the front, between the restaurant and the patio and the kitchen in the back.  In addition to bar seating, there are large booths opposite the bar and some small tables dividing the two.  The space has a hardwood floor and a lot of black trim.  The unfinished ceiling was also painted black.  The space was loud and there were a couple of large flat screens on the walls, so the space almost had a sports bar feel to it (There were no team banners or flags, so the similarity ended with the TVs and the loudness of the space).  The chef at Chef's Burger Bistro has an impressive CV with experience at restaurants all over the world and author of 6 cookbooks.  He is one of 72 Certified Master Chef's in the United States and believes that cooking is an art.  Everything should be prepared with care and with quality ingredients.  In regard to the restaurant, this means that the meat is ground in-house every day and the bistro buns are made several times a day.  Everything on the menu is served a la carte, and while the burgers are the feature here, there are also finger foods, salads, and sandwiches on the menu.  As the only thing that I ate other than the burger was the fries, the only thing that I can say about these things are that they look good.  While I didn't eat anything other than the burger and fries, I did notice that they had a very nice looking milkshake list, so I decided I would also have a milkshake.  I ordered a Chocolate & Chocolate Shake.  It was served in a square Mason Jar mug (with a mug handle) and a straw.  I am not sure why it was called a Chocolate & Chocolate shake as it seemed to have a fairly uniform texture, but it was very thick, very chocolaty, and very good.  The shake arrived before my burger did so it was almost like having dessert before supper.

When my burger arrived, it was served on a large square plate alongside my Bistro Fries which were served in a modern looking serving glass.  It was red with a black rim which was wider at the top than the bottom and had an angled top.  The fries in it were very good.  They were well salted and could very well have been double fried as frites are.  They were crisp on the outside with a fluffy interior and I really enjoyed them.  The burger was fairly large (1/2 pound) and nice looking and pierced by a steak knife.  The burger that I ordered was called The Iberico because it was dressed in a Spanish style.  It was topped with Manchego Cheese, Serrano Ham, an Egg, and Garlic Aioli.  The bun was very fresh but it was very much like a fast food bun and not that exciting to me.  The burger and its accoutrements were very good.  I would say that their burgers fall between a bar burger and a burger at a fine dining restaurant.  The ingredients were high quality and tasted good.  The pairing and the presentation seemed like something that you might see at a fine dining restaurant.  While the burger was good and high quality, it doesn't beat my favorite bar burgers.  The place is definitely an option if I am in the area, but does not warrant a special trip.

Au Cheval

When I think of diners, I think of a counter with a grill behind it, booth seating with some tables if the place is wide, lots of windows, breakfast all day, and bad fluorescent lighting.  While Au Cheval (which roughly translates to "with an egg") has the counter, the grill, the booth seating, and all day breakfast, it is also pretty dark and has an interesting beer and alcohol selection.  I would say that it looks like a cross between a diner and a dive bar but with a much better alcohol selection.  Located on Randolph Street in the West Loop Warehouse district, the windows are darkened and is done in black with tarnished metal trim.  The booths are black leather, there are old kitchen utensils hanging along the walls, and the metal topped counter has a bar with top shelf liquor and a selection of craft beers that aren't seen in many other places.  I came for lunch one day, but as Au Cheval plays as a diner, the menu doesn't change.  There were many things on the menu that really looked good including several things that didn't really fall under the classification of breakfast food.  I sat at the counter/bar and ordered something that, while it didn't have an egg and isn't exactly breakfast food, it also isn't exactly not breakfast food either.  I had Roasted Marrow Bones with Beef Cheek Marmalade, Savory Greens, and Texas Toast.  The marrow was buttery and well salted, and the beef cheek marmalade reminded me of the bacon jam that I had had in the past.  It was both sweet and meaty and had some nice chewy chunks in it.  I was given a small spoon to scrape the bones and I was to eat the marrow on the bread with the marmalade and greens like an open-faced sandwich.  It was all very good and a little decadent and the beer that I had with it was strangely appropriate.  It was a Red from Local Option called Blood ov the Kings.

While it was dark inside and there was a wait to be seated, the food and drink was good as was the service and while the food menu was really good, I would return simply for the unusual beer list.

Eleven City Diner

There are a lot of diners in Chicago and while there aren't as many as there used to be, there are still many Jewish delis around town.  There aren't many Jewish diners around town, however.  In the South Loop, near 11th and Wabash is the Eleven City Diner, a very good Jewish Diner.  Located in what looks like an old warehouse, it has very high ceilings and cement columns.  The decor is classic diner with a checkered tile floor and large half-round booths.  The menu was a large wall hanging on the wall in addition to the menus that were provided to us at our table.  The cuisine is classic diner fare with all-day breakfast, burgers, meatloaf, and mac and cheese.  They also have a classic soda fountain (with a soda jerk), and cold deli sandwiches.  On top of all of this, they also have a full bar.  I came during the early afternoon and while it is perfectly acceptable at a diner to have breakfast at any time, when I saw the Reuben on the menu, I knew what I had to have.  A Reuben is a classic sandwich made with Corned Beef (or pastrami here), Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, and 1000 Island Dressing.  They serve the sandwich here open-faced and garnished with paprika.  There are still two pieces of bread, but they are on top of each other.  Even if it was served in regular sandwich style though, I am pretty sure that I still would have needed a knife and fork because it was enormous.  It was served with a pickle spear and spicy fries.

Eleven City Diner is a very good diner that does very good versions of classic diner fare with a Jewish twist.  I really liked my visit here.  The service was very friendly and the food was good.  I will definitely be an option if I happen to be in the South Loop and am in the mood for diner food.