forget the dog. Go to Ricobene's. they have a location downtown. have the Breaded Italian Steak sandwich. Only one in the USA. With red sauce, provolone, sweet peppers...get the big one. French Fries. You will thank me...or on west Ontario is Big Al's Italian Beef. You can get a great sausage there too. The italian beef with sweet peppers and dunked. do it... another place that will deliver and is a one of a kind: Perry's on Franklin. NY deli type sandwiches. There is a Gold Coast Dogs in Union Station.

In Northbrook there is Little Louie's. top chicago dog and fries. northbrook is just east of Wheeling.

Dottie, I am the burgermaven from Chicago. Near the airport is Paradise Pup. I sent Guy 'Guido' Fieri there for Diners Drive ins. Problem is that its only open Monday thru Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. long wait but worth it. Best diner burger in USA. Char Cheddar medium rare. french fries and real malts. The italian beef is superb. Hot dogs are good but burgers are #1. On desplaines river road north of Touhy and south of Oakton. 10 minutes from Ohare.
The Assembly: in Hoffman Estates. Eat at the bar. great burgers on char grill.
Kuma's Corner. Belmont and just off the Kennedy. 20 minutes from Ohare. Heavy Metal bar and great - best burgers.
Ricobene's: breaded Italian Steak...there is one downtown. only kind in USA
Big Al's Italian Beef. look for locations.
The above are all cheap but great food quality and quantity.
Northbrook: DiPescara for good food: seafood, burgers, etc.
Pizza: you should try Gino's; Lou Malnati's; Due's; for deep dish Chicago pizza.
Look for coupons on restaurant.com big discount.
For a splurge Morton's has some specials: go between 4 and 6 pm Monday thru Friday and in the bar they have $10 items for $2 and $3. burgers, steak sandwiches, crab cakes. some great deals. One near airport.
Enjoy...

Dear Hungry: excellent seafood is at Real Seafood just down the block from Ritz golf resort. The lake perch are as good as Phil Schmidts in Hammond Indiana. All fish is fresh. Sam Snead's bar for a simple sandwich place on Vanderbilt across from entrance to resort. Then Old Europa for fine german and slavic food. small family owned eastern european place. Stonewood is decent food but long wait. Sushi Thai on Airport just south of Vanderbilt is also good Thai and Sushi.

Randy's is fresh and good around 104th north on 41. Not a far drive.
Great burger: go to Cruiser's. 99th and 41. Burgers, real malts, fries and onion rings.

Hope this helps.

skip burgermaven..

Well we are 2 couples in their early 60s. We had a very pleasant light dinner in their grill. One person had the short ribs and they were as good as anywhere. melt in your mouth. I had the chicken parmesan and it was ok good..
We had the flat bread pizza as an appetizer for the 4 of us and it was excellent. The proscuitto and fig of course. Waiter named Kevin couldn't have been nicer. The short ribs were the best. The burger was also close to excellent. My wife had it and it was cooked perfectly. We had 8 pm reservations for a Bocci ball court (never played before) but we had taken some extra time over dinner. Kevin took care of changing our time for bocci ball. The wives vs. the men. Guess what? The wives won both games. it's easy and really no effort. We had drinks on the table by the bocci ball court. Outside there was a jazz/blues singer and guitar player.
We all decided we'd go back.
(yes if you have 8 people playing bocce ball at $7 per person per hour...that's expensive)
Oh the bowling lanes looked beautiful. We were there on a Thursday night but we heard that Friday's get very crowded.

Give it a 'thumbs up' for new and creative and good food.

Again you are absolutely right. But when its hot and fresh off the grill it is delicious. so I order in the bar and have them make it medium rare to rare. Then I know its fresh. I had one and ordered it medium and it was a re-heat job. Lucky my friend told me to go back and get it medium rare and fresh.

Hi guttergourmet, I am Skip the Burgermaven. Travel the USA for the great burger. Agree on Corner Bistro. Bistro burger at the bar so you get it hot. Medium Rare with Cheddar. Fantastic. Went to NYC last month to try two more places. Bobby Flay and Anrew Zimmern love JG Melon's. it was very very good.. bun sucked.
A better burger: ARthur Schwartz sent me: go to original BLT Steak on 57th around 2 pm when its quiet. Get the regular burger (about $12) not the foie gras one at $35. This burger is excellent. Just looking at it is special. And the fries come with Bernaise sauce and you get the best ever cheese popover to start. I could only eat half and took other half back to hotel. Put in frig and had it cold that night. Still excellent (ok I put some bearnaise sauce on it). But a cold hamburger that retains its taste has to be good.

Lastly: you cannot be a burger critic and still put the burger joint on any list. What a phony place. "what's the grind/meat in the burger? Hamburger boss!" The only thing good is the price and you can get served in less than 20 minutes. It truly sucks. Not worth any list. I told Nina and Tim already. By the way the Green Chile Cheeseburger at Bob Cat Bite is one of my top 10. Tell everyone the hours though.

will be trying the Dumont Burger this May...

chef from Sola in Chicago is cooking at James Beard house. Her burger in Chicago is one of the top in Chicago and could make a top 20 in USA..

be well and keep eating. (Oh I drive 250 miles for the best burger once a month: 125 miles there; have a burger and relax; then drive back home) (now you know I'm crazy.

How was the dinner? Now I realize its a few months late. I had a wonderful meal there: the pasta, the calamari, the desserts/flan and polenta cake..
let me know
Burgermaven