Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I worked about two blocks from there for 11 years, until this past March. Figures they'd open there now.

@Daniel: Wow, thanks. The guy who waited on me the afternoon I went was young and clean-shaven. I'm sure I'll be back to give it another go, because the burger really was good.

I just wish they had maybe a half-dozen or so "planned" burgers on the menu, along with the option of build your own. If the guy driving the place is a renown chef, I wanna know what he thinks makes a good burger, you know what I mean?

I once ordered the double cheese at Billy Goat on a "kid's bun," at the suggestion of George Motz, and the sweet lady who has worked the day shift for what seems like forever reacted like she didn't know what I was talking about. I stammered and explained, "you know, like a regular hamburger bun?" and she said, "oh sure, no problem."

It was a decent sized sesame seeded egg bun, and I enjoyed it, but I think I prefer it on the kaiser roll as that's part of what makes a BG burger unique.

One of my favorite burger places in the country. My wife and I make any excuse we can to drive from Chicago to Milwaukee so we can include a stop at Solly's. One time we couldn't think of an excuse so we just drove up to Solly's, ate butterburgers, and drove home.

The wife and I stopped here on a road trip last summer and it was awesome.

Regarding the cooks getting excited when you place an outlandish order, the cook actually questioned me about my choosing American cheese. "Are you sure? You know you can get American cheese everywhere else, right? Are you sure you don't want to try something else?" It was obviously more good-natured ribbing than any sort of pretentious attitude, and the Am-chee perfectly suited that style of burger.

Just this past weekend I asked my wife, "remember when we went to Town Topic two summers ago and how awesome it was?"

@Daniel: I was really impressed with the house burger at Two Brothers. It's a half-pound Dietzler patty, but it's thinner/larger diameter than you typically see on patties of that weight, which was to my great pleasure as it wasn't a jawbuster. I ordered medium rare and while I held it up for just a moment to be photographed, I had juice running down to my elbow. That was before even biting into it!

Anyway, back on topic. How "fancy" a restaurant is Vie? This summer my wife and I have been biking for burgers -- the ride to Two Brothers was about 73 miles round trip, and a ride to Vie looks to be roughly half that. But if it's a fancy, formal place, an hours-long bike ride might not be the best option.

All I know from the list is DMK. It's excellent, but I personally would've given the nod to Edzo's, with The Bad Apple a close second. Whatever the ranking, these are three great new burger spots which opened in Chicago (and nearby Evanston) in the past year, and Epic Burger just opened a second location too.

These days it's Edzo's Burger Shop, Evanston, IL.

The Bad Apple in my neighborhood so the missus and I go there pretty often. They've only gotten better in the six or seven months they've been open, and they were pretty darn good from the get-go. I love the Slow Burn, and the Ole Imperial is another good one. My wife once opted for the portabella mushroom sandwich; I had a bite of that and it was fantastic, too.

The fries really are special. Kevin Pang's Cheeseburger Show did a segment spotlighting them a few months ago, although with no mention of the burgers. That video is here.

In addition to their superb fries, I can't go in there and not order the cheese curds. They're beer battered with Arcadia Angler’s ale and effing incredible.

The beer menu is impressively vast and includes nice descriptions of everything, so you don't feel like an idiot for not being a beer expert. The staff has always been really friendly and helpful, and I've never gotten a beer snob vibe off of them like is so common at other places.

Maybe not a drool-inducing picture, but Town Topic's burgers are absolutely drool-inducing. I went there once two summers ago and still find myself thinking about the awesomely oniony Town Topic burger.

This is another tough one for me thanks to the limitations of multiple choice. I humbly and modestly state that I make awesome burgers at home (thanks in no small part to some tweaks and tips gleaned from this blog). I love doing the work myself; from choosing the beef at the butcher, grinding it myself, doing the prep work, and the cooking process. When I make burgers at home I know they're going to be great, my wife loves them and loves that I'm cooking for her.

Yet I also love burgers at restaurants, for lots of reasons. I know plenty of spots where I'll get a fantastic burger every time, plus I like the thrill (and it is thrilling for me) of trying new places and being surprised and impressed by a new burger. I love traveling and trying regional variations on the burger, or using a source like George Motz's Hamburger America as a guide to good burgers in unfamiliar cities, and an alternate to the chain restaurants that make virtually each highway exit area indistinguishable from the last. Plus there are the "it's a treat" and "someone else is doing the work" and "no clean-up" aspects of restaurant dining.

Thus, I cast my vote for "No preference," although that isn't entirely accurate either, since I frequently do prefer one over the other, depending on mood. Damn this two-party system!

Between eating out and making them at home, I average four a week. I could start blogging to give myself an excuse, but love of burgers is all the justification I need.