Walking in, I immediately felt the grease in the air comparable to Blimpy Burgers in Ann Arbor. There are around 15 bar seats (and that may be generous) encircling a flat top grill where they cook all of their food. The place looks like it was transplanted from an earlier era where nothing seems to be modern. This includes their prices. The two dishes ordered were a total of $13 or something like that.
I ordered the hamburger on the advice of a regular customer who had just ordered one. He ordered a single and said that to finish a double you would have to be "really hungry". He may have underestimated me?? Naturally I ordered the double cheeseburger. As mentioned before, the seating area surrounded the cooking area. The cook plopped 2 large ground beef balls on the flat top and formed patties that were weighted down by a hamburger press. After a few minutes the patties were flipped and a nice dark crust was formed on the bottom. A few minutes later, I was served the double cheeseburger with fresh cut fries. The double cheeseburger was indeed pretty large and tasted very good. The thick patties were "seasoned" only by the griddle it seemed, and along with the grease from the ground beef combined for a juicy hamburger. The standard american cheese was melted well, which is a must for any good cheeseburger. There was sadly no mayonnaise, as it was one of the many items they were out of. This clearly did not matter much since I still finished the whole thing. The fries were ok, but I prefer thinner, crispier fries. Though in the fryer for at least 8 minutes, they were still soft on the inside. Perhaps Derek is right that air gives fried items their crispiness?? Can anyone confirm??
All in all, this is a great late-night spot after a long night out and I would recommend it. I would've given it a 4, however in the middle of eating they started cleaning the cooking area. I dont mind sweeping and scrubbing, but they were using a very strong cleansing liquid that was rather unpleasant. We also got a nice demonstration of emptying the oil fryer. I do realize they have to clean sometime (and it was probably 3 or 4 am), but I had to deduct 1 due to the smell. With that said, I give this a 3 of 5 and if you do go, remember you will probably be smelling like grease for the rest of the night.
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| FYI - I had to try some of the beef right away, it did not come like that! |
D&L Snack Shop
3407 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
Ok, so that's cool.
ReplyDeleteThis is vintage Jon: "The place looks like it was transplanted from an earlier era where nothing seems to be modern."
Now, the whole "@" thing...I was wondering in the middle of the review how the place would end up with 3 @'s out of 5. It seemed pretty cool to begin with. The food was good, the place had decent ambiance, and I get the one "@" deduction for the well-explained cleaning incident. But because of that, they're on par with Outback Steakhouse and Cheesecake factory. In this case you could have rated service/cleanliness or whatever separately.
That picture helps a lot. Lightly toasted buns...going back to our bread convo in an earlier review, burger buns (or cheesesteak buns) need to be sturdy to support/soak up the flavorful grease. The cheese and burger ratio looks solid. And knowing you...I'm thinking that those are evenly cooked medium (probably closer to med-well based on that bite you took) angus ground beef patties. Good brown crust too. I agree, I prefer thinner, cripsier fries, but that's not a deal breaker. Those steak fries look solid. Maybe some kind of seasoning would have helped...a la Red Robin's fake Lawry's that you used to like a lot in H.S.
I think I'd eat here before Outback and CCF.
Response review: 3.5 @'s out of 5.
MGOFOOD. SIX FOLLOWERS AND COUNTING.
ReplyDeleteMake that seven...I'm following, but via my Reader (although I can certainly fix that...)
ReplyDeleteChris is the best commenter ever. Also? I want a burger now. Also? I prefer thinner, crispier fries, too.
Why oh why didn't you guys come to Austin for the Yee-union? I could've fed you some awesomeness. Maybe we need a Yee Foodunion?
we could, although chris and i have been trying to just organize a trip and thats hard enough haha
ReplyDelete