Mike G wrote:In a word, yes. In another word, there are few restaurants in Chicagoland more aptly named than Top-Notch Beefburger. The thinner patty, cooked to a bit of a sear on the outside (not as heavy as some places, but enough), served on a freshly-baked bun with those terrific fries cooked in beef tallow... well, I hate to say "best burger in Chicago" because, really, something like the burger has so many varieties that no one choice could ever exhaust the topic. But best burger in its old school grill-diner class? I think I would give it that prize, I do think I would. It tastes like real fresh beef, not a frozen patty-puck, it positively melts into the freshly-baked bread with delicious beefy cheesy oniony freshly-bakedy unctuousness, those fries are a Proustian rush of the bad old cooking-with-lard days before our food got healthier and we all got fatter... I've only been to the west one in Oak Lawn, which has all the atmosphere of a rest home mess hall, so I suppose I should dock it something for not being as 50s cool as Johnsen's Blue Hi-Top, but purely in terms of what's on your plate, the archetypal no-frills burger and fries, Top-Notch could hardly be bettered. That is... the 1/4-lb. burger and fries at Top Notch could hardly be bettered.
Stopped in at Top Notch a couple weeks ago as well... they do make a pretty
decent burger IMHO (however, I *do* think the burger can be bettered - its a
good burger, but not the best there is IMHO). However, as you say, the
burger-and-fries... thats hard to better, because their fries are IMHO by far
the best in Chicago. And I think their shake might well be the best in CHIcago
as well (well, at least their vanilla-malt might be, thats what I got). Thus, good
burger, fantastic fries, fantastic shake... overall one of the best combinations
in the city IMHO (Paradise Pup, for example, has IMHO a superior burger but
its fries and shake arent close to Top Notch).
For Beyond Chicagoland, BTW... I still find Todd's Grille in Oconomowoc WI to
be the best burger anywhere (Ive tried it a couple more times the past two
months, and its been awesome both times)... if youre ever anywhere near
the area you *must* stop in. The burger at The Spot in Kenosha was pretty
good too, and Cold Spring Inn in Whitewater Wisconsin makes a pretty
good bar burger as well (the 1/2 lb version)... however, the Cold Spring
Inn is I believe better known for its fish and pork etc (it feels like it would
be a quite excellent Wisconsin Supper Club in general).
c8w