Paleo Friendly Restaurant: Au Cheval (Chicago)

A couple years ago we went to Au Cheval with our friend Tom and burgers have never been the same! Every burger has been compared to Au Cheval ever since. If we were to have a burger rating scale, which we kind of do, the burger from Au Cheval is our 5 out of 5.

Saying their burgers are fantastic is an understatement. Even though they don’t use grassfed beef, you simply have to try them for yourself to find out how amazing they are.

We talked up the Au Cheval burger so much to our friends, they questioned whether it would really live up to the reputation…and honestly, we started to question whether they were actually as good as we remembered. So, there was nothing else to do than choose a date and head back to Au Cheval for a burger night!

Jeff & I planned to go with Lynette, her fiancé Manuel, Lynette’s cousin and her friend Konrad. We planned to meet up on a Friday night and the only unfortunate thing about going to Au Cheval is that they don’t take reservations so with our Friday night burger event, we were expecting to wait upwards of 2 hours for a table for 6.

A Little SUP While We Wait

Since we knew the wait time would be long, Jeff & I decided to spend the day in the city. To bypass traffic and all that jazz. We drove in early so I could attend a stand up paddle board event on the lake. I was able to spend a couple hours boarding with professional stand up paddle boarder Chuck Patterson, learning about SUP competitions and we even got to see a cat SUP! When I was done, I got cleaned up and we made our way to restaurant row (aka Randolph Street).

Two Paleo Restaurants in One Day

Jeff & I drove over, found street parking near Au Cheval, put our names in with the maitre’d with about a 3 hour lead time before our entire party was due to arrive and then we walked a few blocks down the street to La Colombe Coffee. We enjoyed a couple cortados and a cold brew coffee as we sat to wait for the text that would say when our table was ready.

Once we got the text from Au Cheval, Jeff & I walked back to meet up with the rest of our party and waited outside, playing with the camera. :)

This is where the story of the greatest burger you’ve probably never had begins.

When you make plans to go to Au Cheval, be sure your entire party arrives at the same time otherwise you’ll have to wait until the last person arrives before you’re seated. Lucky for us, the day we went was a beautiful summer day. We enjoyed the weather as we stood outside, but in the winter the wait could be unbearable. There isn’t a ton of standing room inside to wait around so you’ll want to plan ahead.

The Menu

The thing about the menu is that it’s not very vegetable heavy. As in, even the waitress said you’ll be hard pressed to find a main dish or side that has a veggie focus. Fair warning, you may want to eat a salad before you leave home because Au Cheval is all about the meat.

But it’s totally fine because let me just say, you’re not there for anything but a burger! And they’re quite filling too so don’t go loading up on appetizers before the crown jewel arrives on the table.

The Order

We order a bunless double burger (or cheeseburger, if you’re down with dairy) and add bacon and a fried egg.

Did I mention Lynette doesn’t eat pork? Well she didn’t before this. ;)

The bacon is not your typical thin slice. On the menu it’s labeled thick cut pepper bacon but I’m pretty sure it’s a full slice of pork belly! (You can see the thickness in the photo below.) :)

If you want to try something on the side, we enjoyed the fries (which are cooked in pork fat) and also the hash browns (as seen below).

There are also some really great appetizer options but like I said, be sure to save room because the burgers are super filling and really all you need.

Lynette’s cousin ordered the griddled bratwurst with smashed potatoes & roast garlic gravy and immediately upon it’s arrival I asked “Can I take a picture of your sausage?”. ;)

Give Au Cheval in Chicago a Try

There are a lot of delicious options available on the Au Cheval menu but we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you try their burgers. Even though they aren’t made using grassfed beef, the Au Cheval burger is still our favorite burger…hands down! :)

In terms of burgers, Au Cheval has THE BEST we’ve ever had. So the restaurant gets a 5 out of 5. In terms of it’s Paleo friendliness, it is light on the vegetables and they don’t use grassfed beef so we give it a 3 out of 5.

Are you interested in more Paleo friendly restaurants? Have a recommendation of someplace we should check out? Let us know!