Blog

Nearly every day there is a new “Best Burger in Chicago,” “Best Burger in the United States,” or “Best Burger in the World” list in my email inbox. I believe the idea that anyone, either through their personal experience or by collecting votes, can come up with objective list of “best” food and restaurants is fundamentally flawed. Sure, I can tell you what burger I liked best – as far as I can remember every burger I have ever eaten, but how am I to know what you like?

Having said that, I do check out places on these lists when I get a chance. While I may not agree the burger is “the best,” is is very likely to be darn good, so it’s a safe bet.

David Burke’s Primehouse in the James Hotel often appears on lists of the Best Steakhouses in Chicago and no less an authority than Food and Wine Magazine pronounced their burger as the Best in the USA. I will save the steakhouse review for another day, but I will say the steaks, sides and desserts are all worth your attention here.

I had a free afternoon when Valeria was off with her mom, so I decided to try the Best Burger in the USA for myself. The restaurant has a nice bar area as well as the main restaurant with lots of windows looking out on Rush Street. This makes it much less dark than most steak houses, but it still has something of the same feel.

I had a lot to do that afternoon, so I can’t do my usual cocktail or wine review. (A glass of wine at lunch puts me to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.) The iced tea was, well, cold and tea-y.

I started with a bowl of the soup of the day, Crimini Mushroom Soup with Crème Fraîche and Fried Scallions.

This was delicious. Thick and rich, with plenty of mushroom flavor and nice pieces of mushroom for texture. The crème fraîche added another layer of flavor and creaminess, as did the fried scallions. Definitely a winner on this cold afternoon.

Next, the best burger, which is actually called the “Burker” on the menu: 40 day dry-aged prime steak “Burker,” with spinach, caramelized onion, bacon, black pepper aioli, fries, and cheddar. I asked for the Black Pepper fries, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

This is one solid chunk of beef. 10 ounces of juicy, flavorful goodness. The thick-cut bacon was smoky and flavorful, the spinach cool and fresh. I like caramelized onions on my burger (though fried onion strings are my favorite). The cheddar had enough flavor to show up, so it must have been a good one. The black pepper aioli was good on both the burger an the fries.

Alas, where the Burker fell short for me, at least, was the bun. In my experience, it is far harder to come up with a really good bun than a really good hunk of meat to put on the bun. The bun has a tough job. It must be large enough to hold the patty, but not too large—no last bites of bread only. But it can’t be too small, either, as a burger must be eaten by hand, not with knife and fork, no matter what the high born may try to tell us common folk. It has to be thick enough to hold the juices without falling apart, but not so thick it gets in the way of the meat.

The Burker bun was first-class bread, but, for me, it was too thick and not big enough. Or perhaps the burger was too large—8 ounces might have been just right to match the diameter of the bun, but that would just make the already too much bread even more out-if-balance.  This is not to say the overall effort was not excellent—it was—but I would not pronounce it the best burger in the USA.

The fries were first rate and the pepper was a nice touch, but give me the Parmesan-Truffle fries at, say, The Capital Grille or Eddie Merlot’s any day. They take the fries to a whole new level.

Would I order the Burker again? Absolutely, but I would rather be there for dinner, which I will report on another time.

David Burke’s Primehouse
Address: 616 N Rush St, Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 660-6000
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: http://www.davidburkesprimehouse.com/
Dress Code: Business Casual
Price Range: $31 to $50
Hours of Operation:
Lunch: Monday–Friday: 11:00am–3:00pm
Dinner: Sunday–Thursday: 5:30pm–9:30pm, Friday–Saturday: 5:30pm–10:00pm
AMEX, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa