Chicago's Best Hamburger 2008

This bar/lunch counter was immortalized on “SNL” for its “cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger.”

Reviews:

• “Smelly, Surly, S**t Hole.”
• “Cheeseborger Cheeseborger Cheeseborger”
• “Best greasy dive in the city”
• “interesting place below the street…”
• “JAYZUSSSS!!! It’s Billy Goat’s !!!!!!!”

Tips: No credit cards are accepted here, so unless you want to wash dishes with the guys in back, bring the green stuff.

Billy Goat Tavern

Old-school ambience and specialty hamburgers draw locals to this 60-year-old South Side spot.

Reviews:

• “Burgers so good you want to eat them with a fork”
• “Great place for the whole family”
• “The Holy Grail of Burgers”
• “PARKING”
• “I found the beef!”

Top-Notch Beefburgers Inc. or email Top-Notch Beefburgers Inc.

Business diners chow on casual American fare in a lovely rink-side setting at Millennium Park.

Reviews:

• “Park Cafe was outstanding!”
• “Best Burger in Chicago!!!!”
• “Great atmosphere”
• “Solid upscale casual”
• “Great Patio Dining”

Tips: The adjacent Park Cafe offers a more casual, grab-and-go option. Choose from wraps and sandwiches, soups and a salad bar. Almost everything is less than $6.

Park Grill or email Park Grill

Great salads and burgers, friendly service and a prime view of Lincoln Park make this a local favorite for laid-back dining.

Reviews:

• “Always A Pleasure!”
• “Only one that deserves a 10!”
• “Mediocre”
• “Love This Place”
• “The Salad Bar….”

Tips: Grunt’s soup of the day (aka “temperature soup”) is priced according to the temperature outside the restaurant at 11:15am. So if it’s 20 degrees outside, the soup costs just 20 cents.

R.J. Grunts

Amiable corner restaurant in Ravenswood Gardens serves up reasonably priced American classics.

Reviews:

• “Love this place!”
• “Great find”
• “neighborhood gem”

Tips: A kids’ menu features corn dogs, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese and chicken tenders, all served with fries and a fountain drink, milk or juice.

Rockwell’s Neighborhood Grill or email Rockwell’s Neighborhood Grill

West suburban dive bar touted for its juicy, doggy bag-required burgers.

Reviews:

• “Not that great”
• “good burgers”
• “Very Disappointed”
• “Great Burgers”
• “They do have good burgers”

Tips: Looking for a burger alternative? A fish fry is offered on Fridays for under $10.

Goldyburgers

Burger joint with handsome steakhouse ambience that caters to business folks on the go.

Reviews:

• “Good Burgers, Not Great, but Good Enough”
• “GREAT burgers, just off Michigan Avenue”
• “consistent!”
• “Damn, that’s a good burger!”
• “Just an overpriced burger joint…”

Tips: Make for the booths along the wall—they have their own sconces, and you won’t have people bumping into you in Blackie’s narrow space.

Boston Blackies

Great burgers and a spacious patio draw a mixed Edgewater crowd to this dark old hangout.

Reviews:

• “Service Problem”
• “Turn on the heat, it’s too cold in here…brrrrrrr =\”
• “terrible service”
• “great restaurant off the beaten path”
• “Best Burgers in town, Great steaks. Awsome salads.”

Tips: Moody’s doesn’t accept credit cards, but there are two ATMs at the nearby Broadway Bank.

Moody’s Pub

Gussied-up comfort food and a Western-chic scene draw River North hipsters to this restaurant and late-night lounge.

Reviews:

• “Fantastic Cheeseburger”
• “Great Bar/Restaurant, and now they have KARAOKE?!!!”
• “Worst Customer Service in Chicago”
• “Great Place for Happy Hour”
• “Cool Spot For a Hot Time”

Tips: For a more laid-back vibe, check out the upstairs lounge, which beckons with couches, custom-made pool tables, and 50-inch plasma-screen TVs.

Rockit Bar & Grill or email Rockit Bar & Grill

Cozy corner restaurant delivers comfort classics to the Avondale neighborhood.

Reviews:

• “Terrible customer experience”
• “Best Burgers in Chicago”
• “Perfect just the way it is…”
• “Great cheese burgers and amazing fries!”
• “After you eat at Kuma’s Corner, you can die happy.”

Tips: Early birds win with a 25-percent discount if dining from 4pm to 7pm.

Kuma’s Corner

Families and couples on dates flock to this restaurant for hand-cut steaks, burgers and sandwiches in a welcoming, unfussy atmosphere.

Reviews:

• “DELICIOUS burger”
• “Great Find!”
• “Tony and Gail have put NO effort into training the waiters at all.”
• “Good Food But need better Service…”
• “Best Cheeseburger”

Tips: Look for coupons on Select Cut’s website.

Select Cut Steak House or email Select Cut Steak House

Local favorite serves up top-quality, Chicago-style “char” dogs next to the Des Plaines River.

Reviews:

• “Have patience folks – you won’t be sorry!”
• “Bad customer relations”
• “solid burger, def top 10 quality”
• “Out of the way, but darn good dogs…”
• “worth the wait”

Tips: Paradise Pup makes for a great lunch if you’re on the way to a matinee show at nearby Allstate Arena.

Paradise Pup

Wollensky’s Grill

Reviews:

• “Burgers in Bucktown”
• “New York in Chicago”

Choppers or email Choppers

A popular spot for sidewalk sipping on warm days.

Reviews:

• “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!”
• “Terrible service – do you want to wait 2 hours for your lunch?”
• “So much potential…”
• “Deceiving”
• “Pontiac – Drinking Excitement”

Tips: The few metered spots below the Damen El stop are usually snapped up quickly, but there’s also a parking lot directly across the restaurant for strip mall customers.

Pontiac Cafe

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