Lockdown Bar & Grill

Guess what? The burger revolution is over. Any bar and grill worth its liquor license and outdoor patio now boasts a “gourmet” burger, but few are much more than a heartier helping of ground beef, thus the quotes. One of those to remove the quotes is the Lockdown Bar and Grill, which replaces the quotes with an adventurous array of toppings and pretzel buns. I have been a number of times and can attest to the quality of many the thematic creations on the menu. Whoever created this menu has a particular fetish for ham products, whether it is bacon, prosciutto, or carnitas. My personal favorite is the Punk Bitch, a burger served with garlic mustard, the previously mentioned prosciutto, and gruyere. I did not imagine I would ever be a fan of a hard cheese, but when it is melted and melded with thinly sliced ham and accented with garlic mustard I gladly admit to being the creation’s bitch. As much as I do enjoy fries, I prefer to couple the burger with the baked Mac and Cheese. Mac and Cheese is appearing on more and more menus and I must commend the owners for its inclusion here. The simultaneous infusion of crunch and creaminess is worth a trip here alone. It is also worth noting the bar is kitty-corner from the Empty Bottle, making this a perfect location to prepare for a big show with a hearty meal or a good place to escape the concert for an ambitious beer menu for the Ukrainian Village area.

chiburgerblog.com For this review, we took a trip over to Ukrainian Village for a burger from Lockdown Bar and Grill. We’ve heard from a few that this place had some of good burgers in Chicago, so we decided it would be wise to check it out. Lockdown is a unique, modest size sports bar with a gritty futuristic prison-like feel to it. All of the burgers we saw patrons enjoying all looked great and mouthwatering. We ordered two burgers on this trip. All burgers are $12 contain 10 ounces of Certified Angus Beef. One burger was the Hawaii 5.0 which is topped with Braided Pork, Grilled Pineapple, Red Onion, and Makers Mark BBQ. The second was the Border Patrol which is topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, Spicy Roasted Peppers, Carnitas, and Avado. Both burgers came out looking incredibly delicious (just look at the pictures!) and exactly as described. We knew we were in for a treat. From first bite, we knew were closer to our goal of finding the best burgers in Chicago. The meat was cooked perfectly to Medium and had the perfect amount of juiciness, you’d expect on a good burger. The ingredients all tasted as good as it looked. Usually we don’t order burgers with pork on it, but it was perfect with the toppings accompanying the burger. On the Border Patrol, we really liked the Avocado. And on the Hawaii 5.0, the Grilled Pineapples was a sweet treat that went very well alongside the pork and Makers Mark BBQ. We honestly had a hard time deciding which one was better of the two, so we reviewed both and gave them our top rating. We highly recommend that any foodie or burger enthusiasts give Lockdown a try; it gives other top burger joints in Chicago a run for their money. Let us know what you think! Hawaii 5.0 ($12) – Braided Pork, Grilled Pineapple, Red Onion, Makers Mark BBQ Border Patrol ($12) – Pepper Jack Cheese, Spicy Roasted Peppers, Carnitas, Avocado

Coming from out of town I always seek out the city's best burgers when i am in town. I must say that I have had really amazing burgers in Chicago. There were so many burger options that I wasn't sure what to get so I ended up decided on the Lockdown Warden their signature burger with bacon, leeks, garlic and shallots infused into the Merkts Cheddar stuffed burger. It was very delicious and because of their long list of unusual burgers including an Elvis burger topped with bacon, banana and peanut butter and even a kimchi burger. We were also there when they featured 25 cent wings that were very tasty and cheap. Oh, did I mention we got to watch a live Rage Against the Machine concert on one of their many large flatscreen TV's

Lockdown does have inventive burgers that are delicious, but I don't want patrons to overlook the amazing salads. The "Married to the Mob" is my favorite salad. It has a dressing that is made in-house. The sweet dressing compliments the dried cherries and coats the walnuts making them taste like candied walnuts. The Fuji apples lend a nice crunch to the salad. The salad is rounded out with creamy, salty gorgonzola cheese. I LOVE when a meal has both salty and sweet elements.

As a foodie perfectly willing to indulge his hobby to near professional status I have developed quite a discerning sense of taste. It might be so finely tuned it is a fifth and sixth sense. Well, those taste buds were treated to a healthy helping of grilled magnificence at Lockdown Bar and Grill in the Ukrainian Village this weekend. I ordered the Cruelty to Animals, a celebration of pork with thinly sliced prosciutto, succulently braised carnitas, and everyone’s favorite pork product, bacon, on top of a perfectly grilled Angus beef patty. Somehow this burger had re-invented the American summer classic, pork on beef, as I knew it. My son had met me out and he raved about the Punk Bitch, an inventive combination of garlic mustard, prosciutto and a wonderful French cheese. I had to look it up on the menu and found out it was Gruyere, a hard yellow cheese that beautifully accentuated the garlic of the mustard and saltiness of the bacon (obviously I stole a bite…or three). The burgers came with great fries and my son and I both enjoyed a few beers from the rather well rounded beer list. Basically, if I am ever in the mood for a higher quality of burgers and beer I am heading back, especially with the great private patio they have set up in back.