Roscoe Village Burger Fest

By Jonathan SooHoo

July brought the 13th annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest. This year twelve restaurants came out in the hopes of being named the Best Burger in Chicago (or this north-side neighborhood, Au Cheval didn’t show). To add to the drama, fan favorite Kuma’s Corner was noticeably absent this year. The festival is free to enter, but they do ask for a $10 donation which goes towards the cost of the festival as well as local nonprofits and charity organizations; this year the charities were animal-rescue focused. My friend and I made the bold decision to attempt to eat at least one burger or slider from every vendor, which started out quite enjoyable and ended with me in a severe food coma for several hours after getting home. And we only made it through eight. Hover over the pictures for my thoughts.

Butcher & the Burger

What is it? Prime Beef Burger, cheese, sauce.

This is a decently flavorful, straightforward cheeseburger. While tasty, I honestly was hoping just a little bit more of something.

D.S. Tequila Company

What is it? The Bourbon Street - Cajun seasoning, monterey jack cheese, bacon, fried onion strings, jalapenos, mixed greens, bourbon aioli, brioche bun.

The defending Best Burger in Chicago comes with quite the list of toppings. However, rather than making a towering burger, they opted to cut down the amount of each topping to… (see the next picture)

D.S. Tequila Company

…well you can see the picture. If you did get a bite of everything together though, it was a damn good bite.

Select Cut Steakhouse

What is it? Cheese, caramelized onions, peppercorn sauce.

This is a messy burger drenched in peppercorn sauce and caramelized onions. It saves the burger from being dry, and the seasoning is nice if a little one note.

Billy Goat Tavern

What is it? The Cursebreaker - Bacon, pickles, caramelized onions, jalapenos, interesting bread, cheese.

If the Cubs were relying on this burger to get them out of a funk, it would work solely because the amount of jalapenos would burn their faces off. If you remove 80% of the peppers (which overwhelm everything else), it’s not bad, but a little dry.

Just a tad unnecessary (another jalapeno half not pictured).

Broken Barrel

What is it? Bacon, Merkts cheddar, zucchini pickle, arugula, chipotle mayo.

I honestly like this burger a lot. While other stands have Merkts cheddar at their brick-and-mortar locations, Broken Barrel is one of the only ones to bring it to the festival. Some might say that the combination of the sharp cheddar, sour pickle, and chipotle mayo is too many strong flavors, but I think it works well.

Byron’s Hot Dogs

What is it? The Punisher - Double cheeseburger with gyro meat, lettuce + all toppings from a Chicago hot dog.

Did I say something about too many strong flavors? The Punisher does exactly what it says it will: punishes your taste buds. The burger itself, cheese, and gyro meat are all fine. The combination of mustard, tomato, lettuce, relish, pickle, onion, sport peppers, and celery salt was overwhelming and numbed my sense of taste to just relish and mustard. This was a crowd favorite last year, so I guess people must have stronger taste buds than I.

Tandoor Char House

What is it? Lamb patty, curry sauce.

Honestly a bit disappointing. After looking at Tandoor Char House’s website, I found that they don’t usually serve a lamb curry burger and it shows. The “patty” was actually several small ground lamb chunks overcooked individually and the sauce didn’t have the depth of flavor of a curry. I’ll stick having my curry with with rice.

Fatso’s Last Stand

What is it? Lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, Fatso’s sauce and the 2019 CRITICS’ CHOICE WINNER.

This doesn’t look like anything more than a regular burger, but it’s probably one of the best tasting classic burgers in Chicago. A good char flavor and mouth-feel gives this burger the Critics’ Choice Award for 2019.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to try everything missing out on offering from Bop’nGrill, Reggies Chicago, Carol’s Pub, and the 2019 PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER The New Houndstooth Saloon. With Alabama roots, the southern-style patties and charm won over the Roscoe Village crowds.

Have you tried any of these restaurants? Have your own thoughts on the best burger? Let me know at jonathan@amazingediblescatering.com

(Oh, and in case you were curious, here are the 2019 Top 25 burgers in Chicago according to the Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-viz-chicago-best-burgers-20190226-htmlstory.html)