Chef Gordon Ramsay Opened A Burger Joint In Chicago With Ketchup-Laden Hot Dogs On The Menu
Sun-Times - Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is adding to his restaurant kingdom with the opening of his first Chicago eatery.
Gordon Ramsay Burger opened last week in River North (2 E. Ontario), in the 5,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Wahlburger’s. The restaurant joins the 35 eateries currently owned/operated by the Michelin-starred and colorfully opinionated host of hit TV series including “Hell’s Kitchen,” “MasterChef” and “Kitchen Nightmares.”
The full-service restaurant follows in the footsteps of its Las Vegas and London counterparts, with a minimalist menu serving up Ramsay’s signature butter-basted burgers (including the famed Hell’s Kitchen Burger, priced at $17 and topped with Asadero cheese, roasted jalapenos, avocado, roasted tomatoes and jalapeno aioli), fries, hand-spun milkshakes, salads and a nod to vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options including a vegan burger (plant-based patty, vegan bun, bibb lettuce, avocado and eggless garlic mayo for $19).
The menu also boasts three “Hot Dawgs,” and in a bold move that will surely cause debate among Chicago diners, each comes with ketchup. The Standard Dawg ($13) is served with onion, mustard, house ketchup and house pickles. The Chipotle Dawg ($14) boasts cheddar, avocado, chipotle ketchup, Fresno chiles and jalapeno pepper.
“The Windy City is getting my butter-based burgers that so many of you have come to enjoy in Las Vegas ... and one of the most beautifully designed burger restaurants anywhere in the U.S.,” Ramsay proclaimed in an Instagram post earlier this year announcing his plans for a Chicago venue.
First off, I need to just get this off my chest before we address the hot dogs with ketchup.
With all due respect to Chef Ramsay, you can't come into Chicago- a city a stone's throw away from the good folks in Wisconsin, and claim the "butter burger" is yours.
That's spitting right in their faces.
Culver's bro. Ever heard of them?
No? Well, they'd like a word.
Secondly- You know when the little kids that get bullied forever just for being different finally get their big brother to come visit the playground, and the bullies get what's been coming to them, and shit their pants?
Well, I feel like today's that day in Chicago.
No offense to my dear friend White Sox Dave, but he was never going to get the job done.
The resentment against those of us with superior tastebuds, that realize the tangy acidity not only offsets, but enhances the sweetness or spiciness of mustard, bringing through even more flavor from the dog.
The Chicago hotdog hardo community has beat us down for much much longer than I've lived here. But now that Gordon Ramsay is laying down the gauntlet, like Kevin McCallister stepping out on his front stoop, we don't have to be afraid anymore.
Because Chef Ramsay is a different kind of crazy. Guy is an unhinged lunatic.
I mean watch these videos if you're somehow unfamiliar.
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He gives zero fucks.
You know those people that you know, that can go from 0 - insane in a split second, with the flick of a switch. The ones with nothing to lose? Those are the ones you need to be careful of.
There is no way even the biggest hot dog hardo is stepping to Gordon Ramsay and telling him what he can and can't do with his menu items.
I know friends that order their hot dogs through the drive thru lane at Portillo's and keep ketchup packets in their glove box. That's how deep the oppression in this city runs.
Well not anymore.
The meak and the weak together can come out of the shadows today. And you have Chef Ramsay to thank. No longer do you have to live in fear, or shame. You're free.
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Prayers up for Chef Ramsay and his team. That location is where businesses go to die. We call it the Chili’s Curse. A fire Chili’s used to call that space home forever. Great boneless wings, bottomless nachos, and people watching. Just a couple blocks from Loyola’s downtown campus. Then they left due to a rent increase and it went to shit. The last thing in there was the extremely underwhelming Wahlburgers and it lasted even shorter than predicted. Didn’t make it a year I think. Hoping Ramsay turns the tide.
p.s- if you missed it in our Barstool Backstage episode with Loud Luxury, we talked to the guys about Chef Ramsay and his love of partying his dick off in nightclubs in Vegas. Guy is a legend.
p.p.s. - some of the worst people going are the ones who shame others for their taste or preference in music, or food. Who fucking cares what makes other people happy if it's not bothering you? Unless it's ranch dressing on pizza. Then you've got serious fucking problems.
p.p.p.s. - Fun Fact - did you know The Heinz Company was founded in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1869 by Henry John Heinz (1844–1919), who was later to become nationally known as the “Pickle King.”
Henry J. Heinz introduced the marketing slogan “57 pickle Varieties” in 1896. He later claimed he was inspired by an advertisement he saw while riding an elevated train in New York City (a shoe store boasting “21 styles”). The reason for “57” is unclear. Heinz said he chose “5” because it was his lucky number and the number “7” was his wife’s lucky number. Heinz wanted the company to advertise the greatest number of choices of pickles. In fact by 1892, four years before the slogan was created, the Heinz company was already selling more than 60 products.
Heinz opened a pickle factory in Holland, Michigan, in 1897, and it is the largest such facility in the world.
By 1905 it had become the H.J. Heinz Company, the largest producer of pickles, vinegar, and ketchup in the United States.
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First introduced as “Catsup” in 1876 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Heinz Tomato Ketchup remains the best selling brand of ketchup. From 1906 it was produced without preservatives. In 1907, Heinz started producing 13 million bottles of ketchup per year, exporting ketchup all over the world. It is often served at restaurants in the United States and Canada, as well as many other countries. As a condiment for many foods, such as french fries, chips, hamburgers and hot dogs, Heinz ketchup uses the slogan,
“America’s Favorite Ketchup.”
The company’s “keystone” logo is based on that of Pennsylvania, the “keystone state”.