Checking in with The Burger Point

It’s hard to believe, but The Burger Point, 1900 S. State St. (at the corner of State and Archer), has been in the South Loop for three years. Not just another burger joint, owners Asha Mathew and David Esterline have been offering their customers hormone, antibiotic, and steroid free burgers since they opened their doors.

One of our faves, “The Gobbler,” a truly great turkey burger.

Going strong with a loyal customer base, The Burger Point is looking to expand in 2015. Mathew says they expect to open another location (to be determined) next year. In the new location, they will probably offer alcohol and a milkshake station. Mathew has wanted to offer premium milkshakes for a long time, but the present location is too small to accommodate one. Like their burgers, the milkshake station will incorporate only the freshest ingredients.

Over the years, The Burger Point has expanded their menu. New items include their burger of the month offerings and turkey bacon. One burger of the month, Saigon Johnny, suggested by a regular customer, proved so popular that it’s now a part of their regular menu.

Where would you like to see a new Burger Point location?

Top Posts of 2013

Hard to believe another year has come and gone in the South Loop, but it has. What were some of the things on our minds during 2013? Following are the top-ten posts which reflect a small portion of what was of interest to our friends and neighbors. Here we go, starting with number 10 at the top.

Strikers at the Congress Hotel

10. Strike at Congress Hotel ends after ten years—It was hard for some of us to believe that this strike was over. It was practically a tourist attraction. As long as we’ve been in the South Loop there was a strike in front of the landmark hotel, but it ended in May of 2013.

9. The Burger Point Delivers—Food and restaurants are always popular topics for us in the South Loop. So when a neighborhood favorite announced that they would now deliver, it was big news. Hmm, I think I want “The Gobbler” delivered to my door right now!

8. Creepy or Art: “Borders” Sculpture Installation in Grant Park—This was a fun post. This art installation just south of the Art Institute had a lot of people talking. It reminded us of the 1950s science fiction classic  The Day The Earth Stood Still, but art is in the eyes of the beholder.

Creepy or art?

7. British School to delay opening—The British are coming! The British School that is. Somewhat of a controversy when announced, the British School will be building an opening a new campus at the Roosevelt Collection.

6. No neighborhood school for the South Loop—When the new campus for Jones College Prep was announced, many had hoped the older campus would become an open-enrollment neighborhood school. It was not meant to be.

5. Wabash Arts Corridor Crawl—Modern and contemporary art lovers found this event interesting and fun thanks to the participation of several local colleges and universities and neighborhood organizations in the South Loop.

4. Kai Sushi Opens Friday in the South Loop—Once again, a new restaurant opening got the attention of South Loop residents. Kai Sushi opened in July in the former Donna’s Café space.

3. A Walk Through Time on the “Sunny Street of the Sifted Few”—This annual fund raiser for the Glessner House Museum is a popular event and attacks crowds from all over Chicago and Illinois. It’s a once-a-year chance to peek inside some of the remaining mansions from the glory days of Prairie Avenue.

The Kimball House

2. “Mildred Pierce”: 4th Film in “High Heels and Fedoras” series at Daystar Center May 14, 2013—This popular film noir classic garnered a lot of attention. The Chicago Film Club features classic Hollywood movies viewed on the big screen with discussion afterwards.

1. South Loop Suicide Attempt Thwarted—It was hard to miss this event if you were commuting to work along S. Michigan Ave. on Friday, June 7, 2013. A man threatening to jump from 1250 S. Michigan Ave. caused road closures and traffic reroutes. South Loop Connection took some heat for covering this story, but it was news, with plenty of media on the scene. 

There were many stories from 2013 that didn’t make the top-ten here, but that doesn’t mean they were less important. What do you think were the top stories in the South Loop for 2013?

The Burger Point Delivers

Our hunger got the best of us

One of our favorite burger places in the South Loop is now offering delivery. The Burger Point at 1900 S. State St. (at corner of State and Archer) will be delivering from Clark St. to Lake Michigan and from Roosevelt to Cermak. For orders over $75, they will “accommodate a larger area.”

One of our favorite burgers is The Gobbler, probably the best turkey burger we’ve ever had. We like it so much that for months, that’s all we ordered. Well on Monday, I asked co-owner and co-founder Asha Mathew to suggest we try another burger. Honestly, all the burgers look great to us, but as Asha was describing The Blue Harvest—blue cheese and double-smoked bacon grilled together, more blue cheese, bourbon bacon jam—we just had to try it. We guess you could say, “She had us at bacon,” which wouldn’t be too far from the truth. We weren’t disappointed; the bacon jam is a great touch. We find most of The Burger Point burgers don’t need ketchup or mustard because they’re so juicy and flavorful straight off the grill.

We also tried a relatively new item on the menu: Burger Rolls. House-made cheeseburger egg rolls served with dipping sauce. We found these “perfect-as-appetizer-treats” addictive, but in a good way.

The Burger Roll, with dipping sauce and fries

For a quick peek at The Burger Point menu, click here.

#FF Follow Friday: Local South Loop Happenings

The Burger Point at 1900 S. State St. has their official grand opening on Friday, November 4, 2011. They’re soft opening was last week and it’s gone fairly well, so we’ll be expecting more great burgers and wings.

Jazz Night at Donna’s Café

Jazz, featuring the Randy Ford Trio at Donna’s Café every Friday 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. BYOB with a $5 minimum purchase. Donna’s Café is located at 1255E S. State St.

Friday Night Fish Fry at Weather Mark Tavern. All-you-can-eat fish fry for $9.95. Fish fry includes Cruzan rum battered fish, fries, and red cabbage coleslaw. Weather Mark Tavern is located at 1503 S. Michigan Ave.

Dinner at Waffles. Waffles is open till 8 p.m. on Friday nights. Dinner specials will be served along with the rest of their regular breakfast and lunch menu. Waffles is located at 1400 S. Michigan Ave.

GiGi at 13th and S. Michigan

GiGi’s Bake Shop food truck should be at 13th and S. Michigan Friday selling some great cupcakes. Follow the “purple bus” @gigisbakeshop. Have you had one of GiGi's cupcakes? Do tell if you have.

Urban-Remix at 1468 S. Michigan Ave. is an upscale consignment shop featuring home furnishings, artwork, and antiques. Find them on Facebook.

On Target: The Burger Point

If you’re like many people in the South Loop, you’ve been anticipating the opening of The Burger Point at 1900 S. State St. Well the wait is over. Their official grand opening date is November 4, 2011, but they’re in the midst of their soft opening, so we decided to try a burger and meet with co-founder and Chicago native, Asha (pronounced ah-sha) Mathew this afternoon. The owner and the other co-founder is David Esterline, who is originally from Harrisburg, PA.

 I’ll Have The “Crunchy Burger”
The corner location seems the ideal place for a restaurant like The Burger Point. Their “limited soft opening menu” currently features 10 burgers with names like #6 The Jersey Shore, #8 Spanish Revolution, and #10 The Gobbler, which is a turkey burger with philly cream cheese and a cranberry reduction sauce. For our visit, we opted for #1 The Burger Point, which included roasted chile peppers, fried egg, smoked bacon, and pepperjack cheese on a pretzel roll. It was moist and tasty with all the toppings nicely blending together in my mouth. We also ordered the sweet potato fries, which were sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon. It was a taste we weren’t expecting, but we found ourselves gobbling them up. Also on the menu were 10 types of chicken wings. We’re guessing the “3 Mile Island” wings are pretty hot.

 iPod Ordering
The space itself is pleasant and nicely decorated. The windows wrapping around the corner make it bright and comfortable inside. The Burger Point was bustling when we arrived at 2 p.m., so it’s hard to imagine it being any busier once they officially open next Friday. In the not so distance future, you’ll be able to electronically order your burger, customizing it any way you want, by punching your burger and toppings choices on one of three iPod stations waiting to go live.

 Happy Beef, Better Burgers
One thing to consider when ordering. All burgers are cooked to order and are made from fresh AGA certified 100% grass-fed beef. None of their chop meat is ever frozen, which means you may wait a little longer for your burger, but we think you won’t be thinking about the few extra minutes once you’ve had a bite.

You can find The Burger Point on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Getting to The (Burger) Point

The Burger Point at 1900 S. State St. looks like it’s getting closer to opening, but as far as we can tell, no exact opening date has been set. Walking by yesterday, there was a lot of activity inside. It looks like they have a long way to go with the build out, but things are definitely moving forward.

S. State St. to the left, Archer Ave. to the right

Someone posted a recent image of the interior work to The Burger Point’s Facebook page. From the pictures posted here, you can see that both the State St. and Archer Ave. entrance doors are open to accommodate contractors. Their Web site still says opening summer 2011, but it looks more like an early fall opening to us.

Since early spring, we’ve seen lots of entrepreneurs set up shop on S. State St., The Burger Point is the latest.

What do you think? Are you happy to see a new burger place in the South Loop?

New Burger Place Opening in the South Loop

 

Coming This Summer

According to their Web site (under construction), The Burger Point will be opening this summer. The new eatery will be opening at 1900 S. State St., in the space formerly occupied by Kutting Edge Kidz.

Pita Heaven and Tribute Close to Opening

According to a recent posting on the Greater South Loop Association (GSLA) Facebook page, Pita Heaven at 1250 S. Michigan Ave. looks ready to open. As of today, they still don't have an grand opening date listed on their Web site.  

Tribute, 800 S. Michigan Ave., which is supposed to open in about two weeks seems like it has a long way to go before the space is complete. I walked by Tribute last night and noticed some pretty elaborate light fixtures that were just installed. They posted the picture below to their yfrog account yesterday. It looks like it's going to be an interesting space.

Nice light fixtures: Tribute, 800 S. Michigan Ave.