American Wildburger

American Wildburger located at 1550 E. Okaton St. Des Plaines (with a new Chicago location coming to Halsted & Division around November 1st)  puts the “service” back in the service industry with its fantastic food culture. This family-run gourmet burger joint has got it goin’ on when it comes to meat and taking care of its customers. Got a gluten allergy? They can handle it. Need to know the ingredients in the food? They can handle it. Co-owner and chef Alfredo Esparza shows an extreme passion for using the highest quality meats whether its the free-range turkey, Amish chicken or the specially crafted never frozen Angus beef cuts for the burgers. Trust me: it makes a difference. This very small, counter-seating-only hallowed hall of haute cuisine has something for even the most discriminating pallets.

I went with their Memphis burger-$8.50, while my 7 year old hit the plain beef pattie-$5.95 (as you all already know, he’s so daring), but even that was perfect.  The Memphis is crafted with prime beef, locally sourced cheddar cheese,onion, BBQ sauce and Wildburger slaw. Let me tell you, it put some South in my mouth! This girthie Beal Street behemoth was served on a fresh pretzel bun and and oozed tangy flavor. The BBQ sauce is made locally in Des Plaines and did not overpower the flavor-full Angus beef.

We also dived into a side of Wild Fries-$4.75. This pile of perfect pom frites were mixed with grilled onions, peppers, a dash of jalapeno, topped with cheese and a favorite meat (we chose the crumbled free-range turkey). De-lish. We then washed it all down with a couple of organic sodas by oogave (I grabbed a Key Lime, while the 7 year old hit the Root Beer-$2.00 each). Chef Esparza knows food and realizes that to make the perfect burger all one needs a little sea salt, cracked pepper and a hot grill-which is where Wildburger does its magic. The beef does the rest. But that’s not all. You can build your own mouth watering creation personalized with your favorite toppings or delve into one of  Wildburger’s 9 signature sandwiches. Wildburger will deliver and can accept credit cards at your doorstep-don’t you love technology? They also cater corporate events or personal parties-heck, they’ll even come out and cook at your house! I love these guys. So cruise over to Wildburger before the line starts wrapping around the block!