Paleo Friendly Restaurant: Grange Hall Burger Bar (Chicago)

An unassuming place. The facade resembles a nice white panel cabin in the deep woods. Walking through the door gave me a sense of what it must feel like when you stumble upon the county’s best burger joint and I must say Grange Hall Burger Bar’s foyer made me feel comforted as if I had just walked into grandma’s 100-year-old home.

It’s dinnertime and I have developed quite an appetite. On top of that, Chicago winters are cold. Not just refrigerator cold, or even freezer cold, but hell-has-frozen over cold. That may sound terrible, but those who live in Chicago simply learn to wear lots of layers and move along like the trailblazers or pioneers of yesteryear. As you can imagine, I needed this sustenance to keep my cold, weary body moving and Grange Hall Burger Bar was the perfect place to make it happen.

I started out my venture with the Ultimate Burger (100% grass-fed beef topped with Muenster, bacon, arugula, caramelized onions and horsey sauce). They called it ultimate and I have a passion for finding food that is considered the greatest, so I had to see for myself.

What does an Ultimate Burger consist of?

Aside from the fact that the burger is 100% grass-fed beef, I believe this could very well be the best burger in the county. The Ultimate was layered with flavor. The burger was seasoned very well and was excellent on its own, but that’s not why I would consider this ultimate. I needed more convincing and they delivered with delicious bacon, only they didn’t stop there. They added fresh and local Muenster cheese from Wisconsin to counter all of the protein and enhance the salty and yummy bacon. The bitterness of the arugula and sweetness of the caramelized onions created a perfect balance. I thought it couldn’t get any better, but alas, it’s called the Ultimate for a reason. They took it yet another step further and jazzed it up with some horsey sauce. And yet, they still were not finished. They took it up a notch by topping all of those ingredients with an egg. This was truly an ultimate burger.

With my first burger being considered ultimate paired with the fact that I came with an enormous appetite, I decided to order one more burger. My choice this time was the Beetroot Burger (100% grass-fed beef, roasted beet, tomato, arugula, Feta cheese and basil aioli). The only reason I chose the Beetroot was because it was unique.

I mean, who puts beets on a burger? This one also started with a well seasoned burger, but this time it was layered with a roasted beet. At first it seemed odd but the roasted beet added a strange kind of sweet that made this burger unique. It was growing on me. The tomato added some acidity along with a pleasant earthy sweetness. Plus, the texture was quite pleasant. The beetroot burger was hearty.

The next layer of flavor was the bitterness from the arugula and a sharp creaminess from the addition of feta cheese. Wow, this burger was making me jump for joy. Then they hit me with the basil aioli and another egg. I almost fell out of my seat! What perfect flavor. I think they should’ve called this one “ultimate.” It had everything one could desire.

Even though my appetite could also be considered ultimate, I needed to eat something green. Next up was Miss May’s Seasonal Salad (field greens, clementine wheels, red onion, avocado, candied walnuts and dried cranberries). Surprisingly, I actually prefer salads over burgers. I really believe that salads that are prepared properly can be just as complex and tasty as any other dish. This one was almost there.

Miss May’s Salad had all the basic components but not enough of a bite. I think some parsley would have made this salad exciting. The bright acidity and citrusy sweetness of the clementine wheels balanced out the red onions nicely. It also had some creamy avocado to bring down the intensity. The salad was topped with some candied walnuts and dried cranberries which didn’t really do much for me, but it did add tartness with the hint of nut. Personally, I’d go with some seasoned roasted walnuts to bring some spice to the dish, but for $7 this is worth every penny.

Once I hit all of the basics, I turned my focus on another dish. This time, just a side dish. The Picnic Slaw is made from cabbage, carrots, onion and a vinaigrette. However, I made a substitution for the tangy dressing because of a possibility of something in the mix not being Paleo, so it wasn’t as tasty as I imagined it would be. I wish I could have tried it the way they had intended because all it was really missing was the tang.

They get extremely busy, so the service is attentive, but can be slow at times. This is important to note because the faster the burger gets to your mouth, the more pronounced the individual flavors are. We made some modifications to the menu, but Grange Hall was very accommodating and allowed us to build out a predetermined menu, that we agreed upon, before we arrived.

Grange Hall Burger Bar knows it’s burgers and it starts with grass-fed beef. They source their beef from Tallgrass beef (one of the best in the midwest!). Their cheese is from Wisconsin and their greens are regional and seasonal.