The Bad Apple: Very Good Burger

Per a note in another thread, "Craig Fass and Mandy Franklin, the folks who brought you Menagerie a few years back, plan to literally put two icons together at The Bad Apple (4300 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-360-8406), a gourmet burger joint in the old Feed the Beast space...Beef comes from Pat LaFrieda, New York’s legendary butcher, and Fass says he’s going to try to keep the entire menu under $10 an item."

So, Saturday night, The Wife and I checked it out, and we agreed: they will be very, very popular.

I know nothing of Pat LaFrieda, but the waitress (who was great) informed us that he had created a propriety burger recipe/grind for them. My summation of the burger was that it hit a sweet-spot that mixed Patty's Diner's handmade, beefy char, and some of Kuma's committment to fixins (well, no one really approaches Kuma's committment to toppings/fixins). We split two burgers: the Pat LaFrieda had blue cheese, arugula, tomato and some other stuff, then The Slow Burn which had a really nice kick--befitting it's name--from some sauteed (braised? can one braise a pepper?) peppers. Can't find a menu online, so need to be vague about toppings.

The key is that the burgers were a nice hand-formed patty (it sure seemed, anyhow), with the kind of loose grind that suggests made-to-order. There was great beefy char, and a really nice soft, but up-to-the-task bun. The burgers, ordered medium for my wife's sake, were closer to medium rare. They weren't crazy big, but were crazy good.

Good beer list--lots of micros on tap, and a huge bottle selection. Fries were skin-on, slightly limp, but I loved 'em. Reminded me a bit of Poochies' fries. Prices were really good, space was nice. Hopefully don't even need the disclaimer that I am not involved in anyway with this or any other place. Just a guy who had a really nice experience at a very nicely realized burger-and-beer joint.


The Bad Apple
4300 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-360-8406

I look forward to checking this place out. Craig and Mandy are very talented cooks whose food I liked very much at Menagerie and Cooper's. Craig is a mastermind when it comes to french fries. He perfected the hand-cut, double fry method at Cooper's, a place that has flown far too beneath the LTHForum radar.

Cooper's
1232 W. Belmont
773.929.2667

Is Cooper's the place on Belmont across from the Chicago Theatre Building?

jesteinf wrote:Is Cooper's the place on Belmont across from the Chicago Theatre Building?

yes, post edited above with address

I found a copy of the menu. We had the poutine which was awesome (a real depth of flavor in the gravy...this was the real deal). Clearly they have other intriguing things (The PMO & PBR from the appetizer list might be sufficient to award them a GNR immediately):

http://www.thrillist.com/links/83284

There was just a little featurette about Pat LaFrieda in the most recent (hamburger) issue of Saveur. Although I'm mildly curious about trying some of his burger meat, the thought of yet another burger joint in Lincoln Square leaves me a little cold.

Kennyz wrote:

jesteinf wrote:Is Cooper's the place on Belmont across from the Chicago Theatre Building?

yes, post edited above with address

I haven't been in a while, but when I used to go Cooper's was awesome (and, unfortunately, below the LTH radar). I think I posted about it once or twice, but it never got any traction.

Shasson - thanks for the report. Did they give any indication of setting up an outdoor seating area? I know the planters leftover from Feed the Beast are still out on the sidewalk. I have to say, like stevez, I wasn't terribly excited about another burger place. However, after looking over the menu there are several items that I'm interested in trying.

I went to Bad Apple last night, figuring I should get in now before it becomes too popular. I went in really wanting to like the place and left thinking it was very close to being a great place.

First, let say - the fries are amazing. They have five varieties - truffle, curry, creole, old bay, garlic and regular. I guess that's six varieties. Regular hand cut fries come with the burgers, which range from $8-$10. You can upgrade to one of the flavored fries for $0.75, so I'd say that's pretty good value there for a solid burger and fries. We got the truffle and garlic, both absolutely delicious though I'd have to give the nod to the truffle. They were slightly thicker fries, which is what I prefer, and were cooked just right so that the outside was just crispy enough but the inside was soft and creamy.

Burgers - Like I said, I really wanted to like the burgers and I just didn't love them. I ordered the Bad Apple burger, which is just the standard burger with lettuce tomato, pickle, onion, and provolone. I am a burger purist so I immediately discarded the pickles, lettuce and tomato, leaving just the onion and tomato. I didn't use any condiments, though interestingly the only condiment provided was ketchup. I ordered my burger medium rare and I would say mine came decidedly medium, fairly pink (not red) but not really all that juicy. My wife's burger (the Slow Burn with sauteed chiles and bacon) was ordered medium and appeared to be cooked somewhat unevenly - the first few bites looked medium rare as it was much more red than mine and definitely more juicy. Though as she got to the second half of her burger, it looked like it was more well done as it really wasn't that pink/red. Also, the bacon on the slow burn was burnt to a char. We still both enjoyed our burgers just fine, though I would say they were good, not great.

I asked the waitress if she knew what cuts of beef were in the LaFrieda blend they get but she did not know. They did have a nice beefy flavor but I would say they were a little lacking in the juiciness part of the burger equation, which led me to think they might not be using a very fatty blend. They had just opened a few days before so they could still be working out the kinks. I will definitely go back and give them another shot and try the poutine next time as well.

Also, for what it's worth, we both really liked the decor inside and wanted to figure out who did the tree paintings on the wall and have them come paint it on one of our living room walls.

Daisy11 wrote:Shasson - thanks for the report. Did they give any indication of setting up an outdoor seating area?

Called yesterday and asked this question - no outside seating until next summer.

I am the artist who painted the trees at The Bad Apple. If you are serious about getting work done please contact me.
Thanks, John

sublime773 wrote:I am the artist who painted the trees at The Bad Apple. If you are serious about getting work done please contact me.
Thanks, John

You just never know who read this board.

Regards,

sublime773 wrote:I am the artist who painted the trees at The Bad Apple. If you are serious about getting work done please contact me.
Thanks, John

Haha, well I would consider it but unfortunately we still live in an apartment and our landlord might not have the same taste in decor as us.

A possible destination for this Saturday night. What else is on the menu besides burgers and fries?

Dave148 wrote:A possible destination for this Saturday night. What else is on the menu besides burgers and fries?

Shasson posted a link to the menu upthread

Kennyz wrote:

Dave148 wrote:A possible destination for this Saturday night. What else is on the menu besides burgers and fries?

Shasson posted a link to the menu upthread

Sorry - I missed the link. Thanks

BigT wrote: I really wanted to like the burgers

This says it all. Went here tonight with some friends with some very high hopes only to have them dashed by a severely overcooked burger that I dont think would have been that great even had it been cooked correctly. I tried the Texas Burger something - came with soft, soggy onion rings and pulled pork that didnt have too much flavor. The bun was also dry and basically flavorless.

I will say that the fries were outstanding. Fresh cut, nice and crispy....a little bit on the greasy side (and im a guy who likes grease) but pretty tasty. Maybe they're trying to work out kinks, maybe my expectations were too high, but overall I was pretty disappointed in this place.

Almost forgot - the beer list is GREAT.

Too bad about the burger, Commbrkdwn. We definitely did not have a problem with overcooking; if anything they were slightly undercooked (happily for me!).

But, given this is the second poster who had less-than-steller burger experiences, I'll need to give it another try since we enjoyed ours so much. And I want to try the duck and pork sandwiches.

There is agreement on the fries, at least.

A group of us hit The Bad Apple on Friday night for our weekly happy hour. For a place that has been open for about a week, it's getting a ton of business. We arrived at 6:00 PM and were seated in the "party room", their private room that has board games along with foosball, Pac Man and a pinball machine. Our group size ended up being 10, which is why we were seated in the party room. The restaurant quickly filled up, as more and more families were being shown into the party room. No offense to those with children, but shrieking little ones make it difficult to relax. Fortunately, we outlasted them.

Onto the food: we started with an order of cheese curds and a plate of olives. My two Wisconsin friends did not think the cheese curds were from Wisconsin; I enjoyed the one I had -- light batter, curd just a little melted. A mix of dark and green olives with garlic were hard to stop eating. Most of the table ordered burgers and seemed happy with them. No one reported any over-cooked burgers. In fact, burgers skewed to medium-rare, so I'm guessing they're learning the grill better. I had the Earthly sandwich: portobello mushroom, truffled goat cheese, sweet onion and spinach on rosemary-potato bread. I really enjoyed the sandwich and was very sad when I dropped a hunk of goat cheese on the floor. As noted, the fries were very good, although no salt was on the table and never did appear after requesting it.

I was impressed with our server's knowledge of the beer list. It is an interesting list and she was able to quickly give recommendations when a desired beer wasn't on the list. The manager, who was checking on everyone regularly, stepped in to take our food order because our server was MIA and we were hungry.

We liked The Bad Apple and I wish them well. I too enjoyed Menagerie and Cooper's under Mandy and Craig's watch.

Advice to those considering a visit to The Bad Apple: get the "steak frites" burger, and order it cooked one notch less than you really want it. The steak frites burger is just a plain old pure beef burger (probably about 1/3 pound), but it's got terrific meat and an absolutely fabulous "beer-naise" sauce that's got plenty of tarragon to let you know that's the dominant flavor, but not so much to overwhelm the beef. Though I couldn't really detect beer in the "beer-naise," I still thought it was better than "bearnaise" sauces you'll get at even some of the best steakhouses. When I pointed out that my medium-rare burger was more like medium, the chefs/ owners agreed and said that week 1 has been full of the trials and tribulations of perfecting the use of unfamiliar kitchen equipment. They swiftly took it away and returned one cooked just-right a few minutes later.

With one of the city's better beer lists, more-than-fair prices, fantastic french fries, wonderful sauces made by talented chefs, and really good burgers that I predict are soon-to-be perfected, The Bad Apple figures to become a neighborhood fixture.


full disclosure: though I've never met her in person, I know Mandy Franklin's mom through the online card playing world.

Kennyz wrote:Though I couldn't really detect beer in the "beer-naise," I still thought it was better than "bearnaise" sauces you'll get at even some of the best steakhouses.

So, do you detect the flavor of bear in the bear-naise sauces?

nr706 wrote:

Kennyz wrote:Though I couldn't really detect beer in the "beer-naise," I still thought it was better than "bearnaise" sauces you'll get at even some of the best steakhouses.

So, do you detect the flavor of bear in the bear-naise sauces?

I think I would if it were hyphenated, yes. I don't detect anything unusual in tomato sauce, but give me Tom-ato sauce, and I suspect it would be much less balanced than the norm.

Boyfriend and I went there last week, they're obviously still trying to get everything worked out, our server didn't know the names of the beers we ordered, and that's understandable as they have a great beer selection. We started with the salmon salad, which was served on a ridiculous plate that was completely flat, no edges, no lip, no curve. When we tried to eat it, lettuce kept sliding off the plate as it was only 3 inches wide with nothing to hold the salad on the plate. If you don't mind eating off the table itself instead of a plate, the salad was good. For entrees, I had the black and blue burger, which was overcooked, and I couldn't taste any blackening spice. Also, the bun was a little tough, I would prefer something a little softer like a pretzel roll. Boyfriend had the duck grilled cheese sandwich, which he was not overly enthusiastic about. Our server was "in the weeds" and didn't have much time to check on us.
I would give them a little time to work out the kinks, and this could be an okay neighborhood place.

My dinner there on Sunday was pretty consistent with experiences others have described above. The burgers themselves had nice beefy flavor, and next time I'd order it less adorned than the "Slow Burn," as I didn't find that the accompanying chiles brought much to the party. Kennyz's suggestion to under-order doneness by one notch is a good one -- my medium rare was pretty close to the mark though a bit more done than I'd prefer, and my wife's medium was cooked through without much juice. Also, while we enjoyed the burgers, neither of us were fans of the buns; it was nice bread, but too much for what ends up being a modest-to-reasonably sized burger. There was about 1/4" of bun overhang all the way around, calling to mind an immodest plumber. (Thank you, folks, I'll be here all week!)

I'll add my voice to the chorus of praise for the excellent fries and the wide-ranging beer list (including I'd guess about 15 on tap). Those provide reason enough to come back and enjoy another burger, even if it does end up being only my second favorite rendition on the 4300 block of N. Lincoln.

had a late-ish dinner at Bad Apple last night.

Mine was the "Ole Imperial" - a burger with sauteed mushrooms and onions and cheddar cheese served on an english muffin. I thought it was quite good, but would have benefited from some pickles or other crunchy, acidic element. It was perfectly medium rare, as ordered. I had thought the english muffin was an odd choice for a bun, but it actually stood up very well to all the drippy juices. I thought the patty was perfectly sized - I would agree it seemed about a third of a pound. I'm tired of those gargantuan gourmet burgers that seem to try to justify their price tag with proportions on steroids (and they must be more challenging to prepare to the correct temp, I imagine). The fries were good, but I don't see what the fuss is all about. they're maybe a bit more browned and crunchy than other fries.

one of my companions had the "Slow Burn" - he thought it was kind of bland and devoid of any heat whatsoever, in spite of the green chili topping. He also complained that it was too small.

My other friend had the "Late Breakfast" sandwich, which was just a sloppy mess. A truly ill-conceived sandwich. Lots of wet juicy elements held together with soft bread that disintegrated at the first bite. Big ribs of romaine lettuce and a giant pickle slice really strained the integrity of this sandwich. My friend had to wash her hands after endeavoring admirably to the halfway point of this sandwich.

we weren't drinking last night, but I couldn't help noticing the very impressive beer list (Rodenbach!).

the service was a bit over eager, but otherwise okay.

the prices were great.

ok, here's why I won't be going back, except for takeout or to impress beer-loving out of town guests: this kind of decor and atmosphere is not my thing at all. Sort of sexy-trendy-night-clubby. I prefer more comfy, less "lacquered" spaces (less "trying so hard"), especially if I'm having burgers. That it was about 80% empty did not help matters. I do hope it does well, though - these are quite good burgers after all.

I finally made it over to Bad Apple last weekend. I had the black & blue burger which was very good. Enjoyed the accompanying fries - esp when I kicked up the seasoning with a bit more pepper. Tried two beers which I had never had before and enjoyed both (don't remember the names but one was from MI and was similar to a Belgian trippel).

My only issue is with the seating in the bar area which I thought was very uncomfortable. Along the Cullom Ave wall is a series of large high top tables. The bench seats along the wall have a straight plank of wood behind them which was uncomfortable to lean against. The bench seats opposite the wall have no backs. The chairs at the bar do have backs as do the chairs along the counter on the Lincoln Ave wall. However, if I'm there with a group of more than two people the high tops are the best option for conversation with the group. But with the uncomfortable seats I'm not inclined to suggest Bad Apple as a place for a group of friends to hang out for an evening. A shame given the interesting beer list.

When we were there, we started at the high tops in the bar area before we were moved into the party room. We moved for the very reason Daisy11 points out -- the uncomfortable bench seating. We would have preferred to be in the dining room, but a fluid group size wasn't going to work in the dining room.

Kennyz wrote:Advice to those considering a visit to The Bad Apple: get the "steak frites" burger, and order it cooked one notch less than you really want it. The steak frites burger is just a plain old pure beef burger (probably about 1/3 pound), but it's got terrific meat and an absolutely fabulous "beer-naise" sauce that's got plenty of tarragon to let you know that's the dominant flavor, but not so much to overwhelm the beef. Though I couldn't really detect beer in the "beer-naise," I still thought it was better than "bearnaise" sauces you'll get at even some of the best steakhouses.

Just had the steak frites burger with beer-naise tonight and I too was very impressed. First, I ordered it medium rare and it was a perfect medium rare. It was also pretty juicy, just not dripping juice but that's ok. It had a nice char and the quality of the lettuce, onion and tomatoes were first rate. And I agree that the beer-naise was very nice and I definitely noticed a flavor (likely the beer) that set it apart from a traditional bearnaise sauce. My dad ordered the simple Bad Apple burger and it was also cooked a perfect medium rare.

As for the fries, the flavor was nice although they were a tad limp and a little salty, but they were miles better than the rather bland fries I had at the Happ Inn the other night. I wanted to substitute the poutine for the fries (and I told them I was willing to make up whatever the difference in price), but they would not let me. As much as I love poutine, I couldn't justify ordering essentially another order of fries.

In any event, I really liked the burger a lot and I will definitely be giving the Bad Apple another try.

They need to figure out their poutine deal. I forgot to post about this, but I ate their last month and was very disappointed with the amount of poutine that $8 bought: literally just 2-3 bites apiece for three people. When the waiter asked how things were, my Canadien dining companion informed him as politely as possible that such a delicate serving of poutine was completely missing the point. They comped us another plate, so good on 'em there, but I hope they start offering them as a side or doubling or tripling the size of the appetizer.

Burgers seem to be the real deal at the end of this summer, so I made my way over to the Bad Apple, south of Lincoln Square.

The board's consensus is pretty much right on (there is wisdom in numbers). The fries are most impressive - and the truffled fries are particularly good. They have the right to be proud.

I ordered the Black and Blue Burger and was disappointed on many counts. Let me first emphasize that it was not a bad burger. It was OK (although not cheap at $9). I ordered my burger "rare," and the server repeated "rare" so I know that she heard it. The burger that was served was medium-rare/medium. Not rare in any imagining. Add to this, there was not a lot of blackening or blue cheese, and a white-bread bun that was pretty tasteless (although it did hold up). But this was far from an outstanding burger, although the meat itself was clearly of high quality.