The Bad Apple

The Bad Apple
4300 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: North Center
Bad Apple's website

Craving burgers and beers last Saturday night, we ventured to The Bad Apple, a fairly new bar on Lincoln Avenue in North Center. The Bad Apple is known for their creatively topped burgers and an immense and impressive beer menu. There are 15 burgers (2 are veggie) to choose from such as Elvis's Last Supper (bacon & peanut butter) and The Edmund Fig-Gerald (Edmund Fitzgerald porter, fig and bacon relish, goat cheese and smoked onion).


I had a hard time choosing from the many creative burger choices, but ended up picking the El Dorado, a burger topped with spicy corn and black bean salsa and freshly sliced avocado. The burgers are crafted with hormone-free all-natural beef, and despite the wide array of toppings, the the flavor of the beef was not overwhelmed. The burger was juicy and flavorful and the toppings worked excellently with the beef. This was one excellent burger.

El Dorado Burger

Jenn got the Strange Famous, a house-made wild mushroom, seitan, chick pea and corn burger topped with spinach, goat cheese, carmelized onion and Sage marmalade. The "burger" tasted freshly homemade and not frozen or pre-packaged. All burgers are served with house-cut fries, which can be upgraded with seasonings such as curry, creole and sweet & spicy chipotle. We somehow overlooked this on the menu, so we only got the regular non-seasoned fries, which were ok.

Strange Famous veggie burger

In addition to the great burgers, the customer service was also excellent and the beer menu was immense and reasonably priced for a hip, up-and-coming bar (several micro-brew bottles were around $4). The burgers are reasonably priced as well, with most around $8 or $9. Hopefully they will stay reasonably priced as this place will undoubtedly become more and more popular if they continue doing things right. We will certainly be back for more. We give The Bad Apple an 8.6 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.9
Value: 8.3
Atmosphere: 8.5
Customer Service: 8.8
Overall: 8.6

Celtic Crown

Celtic Crown
4301 North Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: North Center
Celtic Crown's website
Celtic Crown is an Irish Pub/Sports Bar located on Western Avenue. If you are in the mood for a decent burger on a Monday, this is the place to be.


Monday is $2 burger day (or $3 deluxe burger with cheese and fries) and we couldn't pass up the deal. The burgers are large (1/2 lb I believe) and cooked to preference. Add a slice of cheese and crinkle fries (or tater tots!) for only a dollar more, and it's still a pretty fantastic deal.

The burger was satisfying, but not great. The crinkle fries (or tots) are hard to pass up. Jenn got the Veggie Flatbread Sandwich and tater tots. The veggies were large and fresh, and it was an overall decent sandwich. The beer selection isn't that great (standard Bud/Miller/Corona/Sam Adams, etc), but it seems that everyday they have a different drink and/or dinner special.

Cheeseburger and Crinkle Fries

Veggie Flatbread Sandwich and Tots

Again, nothing incredibly spectacular about this place, but the Monday $2 burger deal is hard to pass up. We give the Celtic Crown an 8.2 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.1
Value: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8.2
Customer Service: 8.1
Overall: 8.2

Exchequer Restaurant & Pub

Exchequer Restaurant & Pub
226 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: Loop
Exchequer website
The Exchequer is another restaurant/pub in Chicago's loop. It is supposedly known for its famous ribs, but we both passed on that option. The menu is fairly extensive, with everything from pizza, ribs and pasta to seafood, sandwiches and salads. They even have a Capone burger! They also have a bunch of fun Chicago sports and movie memorabilia on the walls.


Despite the plethora of menu choices, we both chose fairly ordinary dishes. I chose the penne pasta with meat sauce. It was alright. Nothing spectacular, but decent and the serving size was rather large. Jenn got the 8" portabella mushroom pizza, a thin crust pizza topped with a generous layer of fresh portabellas. It was very good, but again, nothing to write home about.

Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce

Portabella Mushroom Pizza

Overall, we enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of the Exchequer, but the food itself was nothing special. With that said, we would probaly not go back, except maybe to try those ribs. We give the Exchequer a 7.8 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 7.5
Value: 8.0
Atmosphere: 8.0
Customer Service: 7.3
Overall 7.8

Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant

Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant
111 West Adams Street
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: Loop
Elephant & Castle's website
Elephant & Castle is a pub/restaurant with British inspired pub food. There are 22 locations across North America, including Toronto, Boston, San Francisco and three locations in Chicago. We went to the location on Adams Street, which is in the loop and right next door to Club Quarters.


E&C boasts British pub classics like fish and chips and sheperd's pie and of course provides a great variety of beer and whiskey from the British Isles. They also have their own unique takes on pub food like Guiness Meatloaf and Jameson's Chicken. We were in the mood for burgers and beer so burgers and beer we got. I got the Union Jack Beef Burger, a burger basted with Guinness BBQ sauce and topped with bacon and jack cheese. Jenn got the Veggie burger, which was topped with bruschetta tomatoes and pesto mayo. The burgers were well-sized and came with generous toppings that worked well with each other. Add English chips and the obligatory Newcastle and/or Harp and you get satisfying and filling pub food at a moderate price.

Union Jack Beef Burger

Veggie Burger

There's nothing incredibly amazing about this place, but if you're looking for pretty good pub food, great service and a comforting atmosphere, Elephant & Castle is a great place to stop. We give it an 8.2 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.1
Value: 7.8
Atmosphere: 8.3
Customer Service: 8.4
Overall: 8.2