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Chicago: Rosebud Steakhouse

192 E. Walton St. Chicago, IL (312-397-1000)

Any city that glorifies steak as much as Chicago does is going to be a great burger town, too. What makes Rosebud’s burger the very best? It starts with 12 ounces of custom-ground prime beef, about 80-percent lean, cooked with steakhouse precision and placed on a yielding but substantial pretzel bun that easily handles the burger’s weight and juiciness. The meat is slightly sweet but with a beefy tang and richness that makes melted cheese utterly superfluous. All this in a splendid white-tablecloth, cherrywood-clad dining room. The burger is the star of the lunch menu and technically is only on the bar menu at night, but the truth is that you can ask for the burger anywhere in the dining room and the waiters won’t bat an eye. Standard features include lettuce, tomato, pickle, and hot, bistro-thin fries. Optional equipment includes cheese, applewood bacon, caramelized onions, or mushrooms —Phil Vettel, Chicago Tribune restaurant critic

Photos courtesy of Rosebud Steakhouse

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GRUBSTREET.com- Three more locations of Elevation Burger are coming this summer, bringing the total number of future Philly-area Elevation Burgers to eight. The arrival of the Virginian organic burger chain is like a perfect storm of all that is desirable right now: burgers; organic; tran fat free olive oil cooked fries; and LEED certified restaurants. Indeed, Chris Phillips, the owner of the the three newest additions to the franchise, goes into his reasons for picking Elevation (as opposed to 5 Guys): “Elevation Burger is still very much an indulgence like 5 Guys, but their organic burgers, fries cooked in olive oil, and environmental focus make Elevation Burger unique and very much fitting with today’s trends.” [Franchise Wire]

[Photo: burger and fries from Elevation via william couch/Flickr]

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DuMont Burger, 314 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718-384-6128)

The hamburger at DuMont Restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—foodie central in recent years—was so good they opened a dedicated shop cross town named after the dish. The key to success: perfect balance of great raw ingredients. The lightly toasted, gently domed brioche bun is neither so fluffy that it dominates the sandwich nor so thin that the thing breaks apart willy-nilly in your hands. The bun-to-burger ratio works; the brioche absorbs the meat’s juices as it should. Vibrant veggies—Bibb lettuce, sliced tomato, shaved red onion, and house-made pickles—are served on the side so you can either handpick the amount of toppings you want or just place the whole heap on top of the patty (eight ounces of 80% lean ground chuck from cows raised on grass and corn). The end product stands approximately four inches high, a monument of beef surrounded by golden fries just begging to be squashed down to mouth size and consumed. Big appetites can add cheese (American, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Danish Blue, Gruyère) or other toppings (bacon, avocado, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms) for a buck or two more. Small appetites will appreciate the mini burgers—which pack the same oomph into five-ounce patties.
—James Oliver Cury, executive editor of Epicurious.com

Photos by James Oliver Cury

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Seattle: Lunchbox Laboratory

7302 1/2 15th Ave. NW @73rd St., Seattle, WA (206-706-3092)

For those seeking supernal spin in their burgers, look no farther than Lunchbox Laboratory’s “Burger of the Gods.” This ambitious sandwich combines sweet, balsamic-soaked onions and tangy Gorgonzola cream sauce with a freshly ground mix of grass-fed sirloin, rib eye, and prime rib—served on an organic kaiser bun. The Burger of the Gods is one of several house combos at this quirky Ballard-based burger shack, but chef/owner Scott Simpson encourages invention. In addition to beef, there are lamb, falafel, “churken” (chicken and turkey), and “dork” (duck and pork) burgers, at least a dozen homemade sauces, plus numerous toppings, cheeses, and sides. You can even select the seasoning salt for curly, straight, or sweet-potato fries. The cramped space jammed with vintage, well, junk maintains the eclectic theme, but most of the seating is outdoors anyway. Hours can be erratic, but the burgers are dependably divine. —Providence Cicero, Seattle Times restaurant critic

Photos courtesy of Matthew Lankford

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