for not that I need more burgers in our
we always need more burgers
[Music]
from unique regional specialties to
high-end classics Chicago has built a
reputation for being a major burger
destination of the Midwest so who better
to combine forces than with the city's
hometown hero the spice Lord Himself
Sean Evans we're gonna go on an epic
burger crawl with local burger expert
Kevin pang to explore the best of what
Chicago has to offer guys welcome to the
burger show we are long overdue for the
Midwest and we're in Chicago baby it's
so great to be back I left Chicago five
years ago moved to New York at the time
I was working as a copywriter for the
city's Tourism Board what was awesome
about it you'd know about restaurant
openings before they happen and then
even before that I was doing
architectural tours of the Chicago River
Quinn's me give me a building I'll tell
you how tall it is the Sears Tower
now the will stone 1451 feet tall Kevin
there's no real ability how tall is that
there those are the towers of Marina
City designed by Bertrand Goldberg in
1967 I can't give you a height she
failed at her job
shoutouts acog goes first lady shout out
Chicago architecture foundation amazing
we're going to three places today that
represents burger from the street
version to a much more classic Chicago
smashed version and then a place that I
consider to be the finest burger in
Chicago right now even better than au
cheval I'm psyched what makes a Chicago
burger well I mean you read the jungle
when you're in high school right Upton
Sinclair cliffnotes all right me too but
you know it's a meeting potatoes tab
you're gonna get a lot of chefs who are
doing the high-end burgers but also the
the street burger I mean I think that's
kind of what we're doing today is kind
of seeing the burger for the masses and
then the burger for the classes yes yeah
and I feel like Chicago nails that all
right well I'd love to sit and chat with
you guys about architecture all day long
contextualism postmodern the booming 20s
it's all fascinating stuff but I'm
hungry and it's time to
some lunch let's do it after dinner he
favors wrinkled old fairs hot stocks
balls they go by little
all right so I don't think that I'm
overstepping when I say that this is
very much a quintessential Chicago
dining experience down to the color
scheme you have the Vienna beef signs
all around us we have hot dogs that have
been run through the garden and then of
course this burger right here yeah weird
fasteners last and mooches a this is
like a classic Chicago hot dog burger
stand this is pretty representative the
type of burgers that you're gonna find
at these sorts of hotdog stand amazed it
looks great it's char grill it's got two
four ounce patties so it's half pounds
got a brioche bun it's got their
proprietary sauce and of course it's got
mirch cheddar which is this spreadable
sharp cheese from Wisconsin I can't wait
let's dig in oh dude it's almost it's
like a more complex and like people
might hate me for saying it like cheese
we take that with pride this is just one
man's opinion but I always feel like you
should maybe go three toppings are less
on our murder agree this type of
restaurant is it's like a commodity in
Chicago there's so many of these growing
up and we'd go to Northwestern football
games or Bears games then my dad would
always take us to Hackney's that was
really sort of a taste of my youth this
is the type of burger that you'll find
close to schools and that after school
after football practice you come here
this is the type of burger that you'll
get on that note Sean a little birdie
told me that you're a star quarterback
for one game in high school what was
that about well as the story goes at a
front Christian color and he was he was
a really good quarterback
I had a varsity blues any given Sunday
moment where he went down with a broken
collarbone and they had to be like
where's Sean where's Sean backup
quarterback I never got any reps in
practice it was just straight spacer
work during the summer so I have to go
try to find my helmet I've run out there
in my first game I'm like Doug Flutie
I'm rolling out I'm making plays third
as long throwing touchdowns
I'm on top of the world we beat Dundee
crown you know I feel like this is my
Johnny Moxon moment we lose the next
game we lose the next game we lose the
next game we lose the next game we lose
the next game we lose the next game we
lose the last game to Grayslake by 40
some points and you were the quarterback
yeah yeah I reading burgers all right
Shawn you were a copywriter for the city
of Chicago sell me this burger elevator
pitch a true taste of Chicago nailed it
win all right Fatso's you shut a high
bar now it's on to the next one
favorite actor Dennehy favorite drink Oh
Jules bears hawks Sox full play football
with the guy's wife make curly fries
drink about for lost ground it out to
pop flies in the village now
stop and get some more brats on sale
chicken and buying sausages gentlemen we
are now at the Loyalists about three
years ago I came down here with my wife
and I had this burger and back then
everyone was talked about
Osia ball which was sort of the reigning
champion of like the fancy Chicago
burger and I had this and I thought we
have a new winner retire the trophy Wow
and I think I like this because as we
talked about the ethos of simplicity
right it's cheese and onions onions
onions onions onions and is essentially
it onion mayo
we've got pickled onions I've got raw
onions cucumbers every time we go to
like a nice place you know I put I know
any bust off the bib I put the bib off
you know it's serious so Travis yeah
it's delicious
there's like different kinds of textures
yeah you can tell that there's a custom
blend in this Chuck and short rib
delicious you definitely feel like this
is an elevated dining experience I've
always been a strong believer of beef
and onions being besties and this one
takes it to the next level you told chef
make me a classic diner burger this is
what he would come up with what are your
thoughts with baller snacks being that
you ate gold leaf chicken wings with
Casey and I said I did I mean for
whatever reason I'm either extremely
high or extremely low so I like doing
food yeah kind of but I like to eat food
off of a truck and then I like the most
expensive thing in the category the
middle doesn't do anything for me
understood if somebody is like it's our
fine-dining take on the Big Mac that
Pete's man I'm in yeah every time I'm on
the gram right now and this burger has
clout yeah so it has its own Instagram
we have 5,000 180 followers only
following Mia Khalifa so this is one of
the more famous burgers my Mia Khalifa
right this Burger has [ __ ] guys a loyal
springer fantastic you know those places
that put like uh like a piece of pork
belly on there yeah or like beef brisket
yeah like no how
would you pitch this hmm there are worse
ways to spend $16 all right gentlemen we
are at the region
we're in Roscoe Village in Chicago and
this I think is Illinois and Indiana's
greatest contribution to the burger
gastronomy okay this is the smash burger
now I know that it's big at Shake Shack
and Steak and Shake but this takes the
smash burger to the extreme and so the
way I like to describe it is it looks
like the planet Saturn
yeah you don't wanna be it's the meat
it's gotten rings this restaurant was
inspired by a chain out of Northwest
Indiana called shoes and the chef here
at the region actually worked at troops
when he was a kid the beef here as you
can see is that it's not just smash but
he takes a trowel like like what a
bricklayer uses any crap rest is it it's
like a piece of chip like a potato chip
yeah it's a beef crisp the smash burger
is probably my favorite style of burger
and it looks like it's like 20 ounces
right yes 7 ounces more burger than
anything we've yeah not that I need more
burgers amazing I try this Wow
the edge perfectly seasoned this is a
smash burger turned up to like Mach 5 I
think the thing that I love about the
smash burger is that it's so idiot-proof
you know making it is so simple and then
the burger is a simple man with simple
tastes just meat cheese bun Chris penis
yeah you have experience doing this
you've done it before shots of babish
right over here oh so easy you cannot
[ __ ] it up
try really hard you can't you know it's
it's super exciting to actually taste
this from a restaurant because I've
actually had this at George Motz his
house he made us a Lacey edge burger and
he showed us the technique where you're
like smashing the burger
and then your tapering out all the edges
you know you have this hyper influential
super-regional burger that has not touch
my radar this has been going around in
this area for a really long time and in
LA this is hot this is new this is the
new way like there's like guys popping
up out of nowhere making this style of
burger it should be known it should be
no this is where it's from we've been
doing this burger this stuff for like 75
years you know the hottest trend in
burger comes from the Midwest and then
in Chicago gives the [ __ ] we don't give
a [ __ ] it's like this is a good burger
we enjoy it right period period maybe if
we can change one thing about people's
eating habits when they come to Chicago
all right they come to Chicago they
could see the Sears Tower then go to the
Navy Pier right
don't eat the deep-dish pizza forget
what copywriters who've written for
Chicago Tourism Board says they're
trying to sell you an elevator pitch
right like just come to burner places go
to the Fatso's and the Loyalists and the
regions of the world and like try
something that is uniquely Chicago I
know what Chicago was about through meat
cheese and bun it's amazing
Kohi hold hands for a second and just
COO by achieve this understanding of
Chicago through the burger
[Music]
and before we close out I just want to
say thank you to you guys you know I
always love coming back to Chicago and
today I feel like I saw a different side
of it you know it is always hot dogs and
pizza at the front of the conversation
and the burgers need more shine and I'm
happy that we did that today oh yeah man
that was great thank you thank you that
was fun
through meat cheese and bun burger show
baby
[Music]
what's up burger fam it's Alvin Kyle on
from the burger show
thank you for your continual support
make sure you hit that like button
smash that subscribe button turn on your
notifications if not for me for the
burgers please and thank you