Earthshattering South Side Hamburger DiscoveryI did not expect to be compelled to add an addendum to this thread, or any thread, when I accompanied Pigmon and Rene G on an expedition through the south side for a project on which they will post in due course. However, along the way we made a south side hamburger discovery of such momentous importance that when the history of hamburgers in Chicago is written, this day will rate an entire chapter, with footnotes and glossary.
As Huysmans said of his foray into Satanism, "thus did the Devil with his hooked claw draw me back toward the Cross," and so too did our hamburger discovery begin with that storied, if not exactly gloried, antithesis of the conceptually tight and composed hamburger, the gloppy, gutbomby Mother-In-Law. It takes nothing away from Rene G's justly-admired research on that bargain-priced regional foodstuff to note that it is interesting in every way... except as something you'd actually want to eat. So considering the other fine things we'd already sampled that day, including doughnuts and two separate versions of chicken and waffles, the idea of stopping for one at a place called Leo's did not rank high on my list. Nevertheless, we indulged Rene G as he told us that Leo's was an old M-i-L place which had long been on 51st street until its recent move much further south.
As we went in I was more impressed by signs saying that a local TV station had declared Leo's the best hamburger in town. Rene reminded us that that was the result of the TV station visiting only places that declared themselves the best at something. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the claim that Leo's made their burgers from fresh meat, not a frozen burger puck, and so I ordered one while Rene quizzed the guy in charge about M-i-Ls, which he proved to be quite knowledgable about, having started working at Leo's around 1970 (when he must have been still in his teens). (There's an old thread which references this place
here. On 51st it seems to have been called Leo's Castle, but it's definitely Leo's Beef now, same as the one in Alsip-- and the guy in charge confirmed that this was the same business as was formerly on 51st.)
How was the burger? Well, I don't know about best in Chicago. But it was a very respectable burger, well-balanced assortment of toppings that didn't overwhelm the meat (as happens so often at "Greek" burger places, where you get a huge hunk of lettuce and half a tomato and a dozen pickle slices and so on). As for the mother-in-law... when Pigmon finished it he looked at me and said, "You think less of me now, don't you."
Being still in burger mode, despite having now finished our fourth meal of the afternoon, Rene then called our attention back to another sign we had observed on the way south, one proclaiming "Handmade Burgers." Now I knew we had to go and try them; that two places serving fresh beef were extant on the black south side, when such hardly exist at all in the Chicago area, and only on the far white south suburban side (e.g. Top-Notch in Beverly or the Schoop's just this side of Indiana in Calumet City), was a momentous discovery that stood ready to shake the very foundations of the paradigm discussed earlier in this thread, by which freshmade burgers are a product of predominantly white midwest beef-raising farm culture, while black rural culture in this area, of course, comes from the South and manifests itself in pork, chicken and catfish. Yet here was a business, proudly declaring itself black-owned in the window, nevertheless every bit as dedicated to fresh-made beef burgers as any Indiana or Kansas or Oklahoma drive-in-- and what's more, calling attention to the fact in a way that strongly implied that it had reason to believe that predominantly black customers would have a preference for freshmade hamburgers, too. For all the historical racial divides between the far south side white and black populations, it seemed that here, on the subject of fresh burger meat, was where they came together.
Excitedly we went inside and perused the menu, a black customer asking if he could go ahead while we considered our options. "Best burgers in town," he said as we pondered. There were various enticing options-- the Hip Hot burger with jalapenos, for one-- but we settled on a classically simple burger with the holy quartet of mustard, ketchup, pickle and onion.
5 oz. balls of meat were set on the grill and mashed into shape. We were asked if we wanted something on our fries; we didn't really care about fries so Rene G said "mild sauce."
About ten minutes later we got our burger (seen here with the owners). When we saw that the fries were fresh-cut, we were a little sorry we'd asked for them to be drenched in sauce, though we were less sorry when we actually tasted the sauce, which wasn't the sticky-sweet Chicago BBQ sauce you might have expected but had some vinegary bite to it, and would do genuine credit to any barbecue joint that chose to offer it.
Another shot of the burger, showing the rough edges of the genuine freshmade patty:
Going into Hand-Burgers was a bit of a lark at the end of a long day but after only a few bites we were looking at each other with the knowing yet hesitant look that says, "Are you tasting what I'm tasting, a great burger and fries when I'm already too stuffed to eat, let alone like, another bite?" A few nods back and forth and we were ready to say it: Hand-Burgers is an important discovery, a rare-in-Chicago place run by committed, hands-on owners with a vision of what the hamburger should be and the commitment to serve it up right for the dirt cheap price of $2.75, very good freshcut fries included. I hesitate ever to call something the "best burger in Chicago" because there are so many different kinds out there, but I'd be hard pressed to think of a serious rival for the best burger in town at this price point, which after all is a full $2 less than even a modest place like Top-Notch (which, if forced at gunpoint to name one, would probably be my choice). If even that is not enough to get you to 113th and Halsted for a cheeseburger, let me remind you that Old-Fashioned Donuts is barely three minutes away. A shot down the Dan Ryan to grab Saturday lunch at Hand-Burgers and an apple fritter for Sunday breakfast at Old-Fashioned is one of the most profitable uses of an hour and a half and a $5 bill I can imagine in Chicago.
Leo's Beef
734 W. 111th
(773) 285-9133
Hand-Burgers
11322 S. Halsted St.
773-468-4444