A burger with fries from Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Red Robin has just opened a new Burger Works location at Madison and Wells, and the place was already jumpin’ only 3 days later, in the middle of a workday afternoon. You can easily satisfy your hungry-man-woman appetite here with a nice selection of hefty, fire-grilled hamburger sandwiches, all in the $6.50 to $7.00 price range. The turkey burger is fat and juicy like a real burger, with the feel and texture of a piece of sausage. Try a Guacamole burger with guacamole, swiss, bacon, tomato, onion, and lettuce. French fries, ordered a la carte, are crisp, salty and tasty. Sweet potato fries are delicious, though very thinly cut, and served with their signature Thai Chili Ketchup, a gently zingy mix (homemade chili sauce mixed with regular ketchup).
They offer cheeseburgers and chicken tenders for the kids anytime, and burritos and sandwiches and potatoes for breakfast, plus even oatmeal and orange juice. And if you want a hamburger for breakfast, this is the place to get it.
Red Robin’s got 500 restaurants in the US and has been serving hungry folks for 40 years. At the Burger Works locations they take the most popular items from the full-serivce Red Robin locations and make the menu from those. The point is good food, served fast (under 5 minutes). The day we visited the average time from order to service was 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
To keep the menu fresh, RR rotates the regular menu with new items. The goal is to be great at a few items rather than just okay with a lot. They make some lovely shakes – soft serve whipped up with other flavors and ingredients. The Salted Caramel was very nice; the strawberry tasty. So thick and slow to melt, they’re more like dessert than a drink.
The new location plans to be open weekends for all the downtown denizens who live nearby and perhaps want to satisfy a craving for tasty, filling food at a cozy, comfortable corner shop instead of going out to a fancy restaurant. You will feel welcome here, and and their Red Robin Burger Works menu offers nice options to get yourself well-fed.
Byron’s owners Mike & Ann Payne with the POTUSOnly he-men dare!
Did you know the owners of a Chicago legend, Byron’s Hot Dogs, were invited to serve their fare to the President and First Lady at the White House? Yep. Theirs was one of only four restaurants chosen to participate in a picnic-on-the-lawn back in 2011. Byron’s represented the entire Midwest. You go, Chicago Byron’s!
The picture is of the Lord Byron burger – a quadruple burger with cheese on every patty. Mustard, relish, onion, lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, tomato, pickle and celery salt. Hot peppers on request. Owner Mike Payne said this was the burger featured on Chicago’s Best television show on Channel 9 – where they asked him to eat one on screen. He couldn’t finish it. Mike said they sell a surprising number of these giant concoctions. Are you up for one? Byron’s also offers normal-sized dogs, burgers and a pretty tasty veggie burger, all with fresh veggies to your taste. Good fries, too. Two locations: 1701 W. Lawrence – the bigger store with lots of indoor seating, and 1017 W. Irving Park – limited stool seating plus an outdoor space that’s heated in winter. Order ahead online.
