Stanley's Kitchen & Tap

(Elvis Burger)

Best known for its hangover remedying smorgasboard weekend brunch, killer Sunday night live band karaoke and down and dirty saloon style atmosphere, Stanley’s is one of those citywide institutions that no one can deny its appeal. Especially if you also love quality home cooking.

Known for some of the best southern style fried chicken around town, Stanley’s typically doesn’t spring to mind when thinking about satisfying a burger crave. Not that I’ve ever caught wind of a horror story or anything; frankly, it’s because I’ve never actually heard of someone ordering a burger from Stanley’s at all. They seemed to be nonexistent or simply lost in the mix of all the other soul food offerings.

Until now.

Last week I had the pleasure to be introduced to a sneak peek of its new and improved menu options, revamped by executive chef Jaysen Euler who has been with the establishment for more than a year and has slowly been transforming aspects of the menu and bar.

Our group, led by the efete.net mastermind D.C. and his legion of bloggers (including yours truly), sampled a good mix of items already found on the menu (mac & cheese) and those still to come, such as the delectable Andouille Sausage Corn Dogs and my personal favorite Redneck Poutine loaded with applewood bacon, cheddar, jalepeno jack, topped with gravy over a bed of tots. It’s soul food people, you don’t eat this every day (though tempting).

Poutine in particular has been seeing quite an emergence as of late, popping up on more and more menus across the city and even getting a nod from Time Out Chicago. Thank you, French Canada!

But as luck would be the stars aligned this evening, as much to my mirth Monday’s are now $5.00 Burger Bar night, which comprises of a 8oz Angus beef, turkey or chicken patty, choice of cheese and free range on more than two dozen toppings. Not to mention a handful of fries and dill pickles to boot (as they would say…somewhere in the parlance of the South).

While the new menu boasts a few appealing “Stanburger” selections, notably the Drive-In (cheddar, American & Stan’s secret sauce) and the Elvis (bacon, pimento cheese & country fried onions), I couldn’t help but stick to my ye ol’ druthers and go for the straight up down give me beef and rare together. I mean, how else is a cowboy supposed to get the true taste of the meat?

Topped with a dollop of ketchup and a few sliced jalapeno rings for spicy effect (relax, after a few plain bites), the Fiend was ready for a bib and lookin’ to make a mess. I had just that look in my eye.

And I have to fully admit that I the old gas tank was pretty full by the time the burger arrived, so hopefully it didn’t affect the taste sensors one way or the other, but the burger was pretty dang good. Not the greatest in recent months, but it was definitely tasty and probably one of the best for the price range I could list.

The meat itself was well seasoned and prepared fairly well to order (perhaps medium-rare), but I did question whether it was hand packed in house or not (it appeared to be too uniformly circular, occasionally an indicator of an outside job). The cheddar complemented the beef nicely, as it usually does, but upon a second thought I should have went with a more flavorful choice for a kicker, such as the pimento or jalapeno jack.

The Fiend would absolutely recommend this to anyone that’s looking for a great deal on a Monday evening, or likewise to someone that’s already a fan of Stanley’s classics and are looking for a change of pace...you know…away from that deep fried other, other white meat.

Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap
1907 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
312.642.0007
http://www.stanleyskitchenandtap.com/