Burgers have always had a special place among my favorite foods. How could they not? Flavorful, juicy meat, a buttery bun, and any combination of scrumptious toppings.
Chicago is generally known for its pizza, but they are not lacking in the burger department either. There are hundreds of places to find burgers in the city.
The hard truth is that many burgers are mediocre or worse. It’s all about finding those places that fulfill your burger craving. So here are my favorite burger places to check out—the best burgers in Chicago.
Butcher and the Burger
At Butcher and the Burger, you make your own burger. You start with the meat. You have eight choices. That’s right, eight. Among them are grass-fed beef, bison, shrimp, and lentil. Then you move to the seasonings, where you have 11 choices. My favorite is the Backwoods Game mix, a blend of salt, garlic and onion. My mouth is watering just thinking about that.
Moving on to the bun, you can’t go wrong. Pretzel buns are always a good idea though. And then the best part? Toppings. You’ve got the normal ketchup-lettuce-tomato-onion deal. But it gets so much better: sriracha mayo, avocado, cartelized onion, fried egg, griddled mushroom, black truffle mayo, and endless cheese options. Also, don’t forget the fries.
Small Cheval
Small Cheval is a retro burger joint. I would describe the burgers as a beautiful, greasy mess. Here’s the menu: hamburger, cheeseburger, and fries. You can add bacon. Besides that, Small Cheval keeps it simple, and they do simple well.
Gather
Gather is not a burger restaurant, but the burger on their menu is damn good. Their burger, which is probably the juiciest meat I’ve ever eaten, comes with white cheddar, house smoked bacon, cartelized onion, red pepper aioli and a brioche bun. Wow.
Owen and Engine
Holy moly. Just look at that perfect egg and those perfect onions. It’s the meat blend that really gets you, though. It’s made of short rib, brisket, and chuck. This burger is incredibly rich, but in the best kind of way. It’s one of those burgers where you want to order three more.
Burger Bar
You can’t talk about burgers in Chicago without mentioning Burger Bar. Burger Bar has a wide range of creative burgers, between the lamb and beef gyro burger with tzatziki and the grass-fed bison burger with tomato chutney, arugula, and goat cheese. Or, if you’re feeling more creative yourself, you can also make your own burger here. So many options.
You can’t go wrong with any of these burgers. Go get yourself a hot, juicy burger with a side of fries. That’s what I’m about to go do.