Fuuuck me. Do you want a heart attack? Do you want to literally feel full for days on end? But do you also have a god damn delicious burger? Then get your ass to Au Cheval. This place has been on my list for a while and after my umpteenth trip to Chicago for work, I finally made it. I "dragged" Eric here on a cold Monday night thinking there wouldn't a a long wait but even then it was an hour wait. Luckily there are tons of nearby bars to duck into for a drink. They will text you when your table is ready which is perfect in this "I don't like to talk on the phone" age.
The decor is straight up, old school wooden panels, kind of like a old time-y saloon - it's super dark in there which is actually a good thing because no one should see what you look like when you're elbow deep in egg and meat juice. While there actually several items on the menu to choose from, just do yourself a favor and order the cheeseburger - the single will be just fine because it's practically the size of a double and get it with the fried egg ($12.95). Eric took it one step further and got bacon with it and we also decided to really do some damage to our health and got the crispy fries with mornay sauce, garlic aioli and another fried egg ($9.95). Yes, the place reeks of burger but it really doesn't matter. The yolk is perfect - super runny and delicious, the meat is super juicy and well seasoned and the bun was soft but not too chewy. To me, it's right up there with Black Tap Burger as a really solid, gourmet yet not gourmet burger. I really didn't want to eat all of it because I truly did think my heart would stop working at some point, but it was too good to stop. It is a bite of a messy meal with the runny yolk and burger juice, so be prepared to go through a lot of napkins and to look like a hot mess if you're on a date (luckily, I wasn't). On top of all that, the fries with the egg and mornay sauce was just so unnecessarily necessary to the meal. The bacon on Eric's burger had the thickness of a small encyclopedia - I can't even imagine eating it everything else that was going on.
I rolled out of this place slightly buzzed, very full and super happy. It's definitely not a place I would go to often purely for health purposes but if you are in the mood for a really spot-on, non-fast food but not snotty burger, make this your first and only stop. Total bill: $60 for 2 with tax, tip and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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