Why waste time rating burgers? You can't screw up a burger!

Clearly you have never made one then.

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MANY can tell the difference.

It's the toppings! that's it!

Agreed. I went with a guy I work with to Red Hot Ranch. I had asked him to go specifically for the burger, and he laughed at me (he is a former chef who went to culinary school and everything - food snob). His laughter was misguided. SOLID burger with thin griddle paddies. Burgers don't need to be fancy. I will hit it up again soon when I'm in the city.

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Au Cheval is fantastic, but yes that wait is ridiculous. You pretty much have to go there midday during the week if you ever want a quick table.

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awful take Jet. You definitely need to try the RHR Double with cheese from Red Hot Ranch. Only comes one temp and smashed on the griddle with crispy edges, but it tastes better than any thick gourmet medium rare/medium burger I've ever had.

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I've never had Au Cheval, but don't understand how it could be rated so high. They don't even grind their meat, they buy patties from Sysco! How the fuck can that produce a top rated burger???

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give loyalist or little bad wolf a try. you may change your tune.

You know what place was really good? Back at the downtown shopping mall (that isn't the Thompson Center) there was some joint called something like Coast Burger that absolutely knocked it out of the park as far as "bang for your buck" relative to a quality burger goes. This is exacerbated by the fact they essentially did it in a food court setting, which makes this defunct piece of burger heaven all the more LEGENDARY IM(H/C)O (in my humble/correct opinion)

Otherwise, I gotta go with the OPster snd say that it's hard to screw up a solid/++ burger and thus rankings oughta be in the bang for the buck category or at least to warn you about overrated places (say, example, five guys where IM(H/C)O they have quality food but it's probably not worth the premium price you're going to have to pay for it) if you can find a place with super-quality burger + fries for under $6-7/ish then I think you're on to something with your rankings

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I'm actually bringing the gf to Au Cheval tonight. Hoping that 11pm or so will only have an hour wait!

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Try the marrow. It's disgusting.

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I once got busy in a Sur la Table bathroom

I've had bone marrow before. It was fine, but nothing I would order outside of a fancy dinner. It also probably increases your chance of heart disease by 15%.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Shakes did you ever end up at Paradise Pup?

Also, Au Cheval wasn't that impressive.

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naw, still haven't made it over to PP. One of these days (when I'm not engaged in my usual 6 months of dieting)


I did go to Red Hot Ranch for my last meal before the diet started. Good as ever.

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I'll give them a try. Also hvae to try Bad Apple.

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shakes has never been to Paradise Pup?

Hit it up on a cheat day. It's phenomenal.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

RHR is still the goods.

Small Cheval and Paradise Pup both left me thinking meh. Ok, but not nearly deserving of the hype.

I'm really curious about the burger at Superdawg after this thread. And I still need to make it to BGBRBelly one of these evenings.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Superdawg sucks. That's all.

A good place I found recently is called The Region Burger in Roscoe Village. Simple menu, based off of the style popular in NWI (I believe Schoop's is the archetype for this style.) Essentially griddle, a little bigger closer to 1/2 lb.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Grilled Pineapple Burger at Fat Duck in Forest Park for me.

http://www.fatduckgrill.com/menu/burgers

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Sorry, smashed on the griddle with crispy edges is no way to get a burger. You may as well go to steak and shake...blorf.

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If you don't want to trek to Chicago, Burger Antics in Brookfield is easily a top 10 burger. Huge booze selection for the lushes and even has craft sodas for me.

https://chicagosbesttv.com/2014/05/05/c ... er-antics/

Yep, I'm a bigfan.

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I've heard mixed things, but haven't tried it myself since they are close to RHR and make a similar styled burger to RHR, but not nearly as good (so I've heard).

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It is definitely similar, but the base model is bigger. It strikes me as good pre-barhopping or hangover food, which fits that neigborhood. Shakes are subpar, pass on the those.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

IMU, what was your assessment of Au Cheval?

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

I liked it. It was really good. But it is hard to define 'best burger.' I'd get bacon on the side next time, or not at all. The egg on the burger and on the fries were both perfectly done. I'd also do without the mornay sauce on the fries i'll be back again soon...i also want to get after one of their fried bologna sandwiches and other apps.

We got there around 10:30 and sat at about 11:20 I think. They quoted me an hour wait so it was fine. Went over to Bar Siena for cocktails.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Except when it comes to golf.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley