Had a quick lunch at M Burger today. My experience was similar to most here. A standard cheeseburger was just that…standard. Nothing too good, nothing terrible. A pet peeve of mine w/ burgers is when the size of the bun is larger than the burger patty. You know the burger is going to shrink when cooking, so make it a bit bigger than the bun size. Anyway, I was hoping for a little crispness to the patty, but it wasn’t there. I’ll give solid props to the fries. They were cooked perfectly and had a nice crispness. I was early, so there was no line.

M Burger definitely is not a destination place, but serviceable in a pinch.

schung83 wrote:From my memory, I believe the sauce was some sort of bbq/mayo combination and they also add jalepeno to the burger. You can choose the level of "hurt" from 1-3, 1 being the least spicy to 3 being the spiciest.

Here is the "3rd Degree Double Hurt".



BBQ, raw jalapeño, pickles, cheese (type indiscernible), lettuce and mayo.

Flavor was spicy, beefy and fresh. I didn't expect the jalapeño to be raw, nor did I expect to find pockets of pink in the beef. (Two things you'd never find at McD's.) By the time I got back to my office, the bun was nearly disintegrated by the combination of sauces. Fries have gotten better on each trip. This time they had a crispy exterior while still somewhat moist inside. Wait time was less than 5 minutes from arrival to food in hand.

tried the "all natural" chicken sandwich the other day: flavorless, dry, thinly pounded tiny piece of breast with a bit of grill char and a bunch of mayo and other stuff. A bit shy of 5 bucks. Comical.

My first M Burger yesterday wasn't half bad, actually it was rather good. A double with cheese and some fries shared with the woman really hit the spot. In all honestly, I haven't had a burger in weeks, maybe months, so it would not have taken much to please me, but this burger seemed more than competent - decently beefy, if overcooked patties, good char, soft pillowy bun (I, a sucker for cheap white bread) and yellow cheese that actually tasted like cheese. The fries were even better, chewy-crispy; think McD's style when they were frying potatoes instead of lightweight airplane insulation.

Look it's not a stupendous burger. It's probably not going out of your way for. But its much better then 5 Guys, cheaper and prolly the best burger you can get in Streeterville, MagMile.

M Burger is opening a second location by, supposedly, the end of the summer.

LINK

as rumored, opening a second location. If all goes as planned, it will open at 5 W Ontario St on Thursday, August 26.

Will cross post to the opening/closing thread.

SSDD

I wanted a milkshake today and was in the neighborhood of the M Burger on Huron. I supplemented my shake with a single M Burger. I wasn't wowed by the M Burger -- something on the sandwich was too sweet. I couldn't tell if it was the special sauce or the bacon. (I was too hungry to isolate ingredients. The bacon seemed like it might have been slightly candied.) The secret shake today was strawberry-orange blossom. Went with the chocolate.

One minor quibble: I knew they have the "secret menu" with unlisted burgers, sandwiches and shake. I asked what the secret burger was and the response was "which one? we have several" and she didn't offer to elaborate. I knew about the Hurt, described above. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know what all the secret burgers were.

Although I work nearby, I don't need to rush back to M Burger. Not unless I need a chocolate shake.

I recently tried my first M Burger. My conclusion is that LEYE is trying to pull off some elaborate joke. No better than a burger from McDonald's, IMO.

The GP wrote:I'm not sure how I was supposed to know what all the secret burgers were.

Thats why they're secret

jesteinf wrote:I recently tried my first M Burger. My conclusion is that LEYE is trying to pull off some elaborate joke. No better than a burger from McDonald's, IMO.

Yes, but M Burger makes fries out of "Russet potatoes from the Pacific Northwest".

I also hear they source their Coke from the American Southeast.

Coming soon to the Thompson Center food court.

How was this chosen by the Eater as best burger in Chicago? I just had the M burger and Chicken Betty with fries and a shake. The burgers are small so I am glad I ordered two. The chicken was really dry. The M burger had too much sauce on it. They were both just ok and a decent lunch option if you work nearby as it is definitely not something I would travel for. I am not really a burger person, so the burger has to be really good for me to enjoy one. M burgers are not. The shake on the other hand was really good, creamy and without the powdery taste most shakes have. Also, It was fun to watch the kitchen prepare for dinner while waiting in line!

I've eaten there twice and found the product to be distinctly mediocre. Not much better than McDonalds.

ld111134 wrote:I've eaten there twice and found the product to be distinctly mediocre. Not much better than McDonalds.

Which actually makes the Thompson Center food court the perfect spot for their next opening.

Maybe I ate my burgers too fast to notice otherwise, but each time I've eaten there I've found it to be quite a bit better than McDonalds. The burger patty was not gray or dry, the jalapeños were fresh, the cheese didn't have any weird, plasticky, hard corners, the avocado was ripe, and the onions didn't appear to be rehydrated. I also quite enjoyed the fries.

Khaopaat wrote:Maybe I ate my burgers too fast to notice otherwise, but each time I've eaten there I've found it to be quite a bit better than McDonalds. The burger patty was not gray or dry, the jalapeños were fresh, the cheese didn't have any weird, plasticky, hard corners, the avocado was ripe, and the onions didn't appear to be rehydrated. I also quite enjoyed the fries.

Ditto. For downtown, particularly streeterville, I thought they made decent to great fast food burgers. Easy, simple, satisfying. Better than Five Guys.

jesteinf wrote:

ld111134 wrote:I've eaten there twice and found the product to be distinctly mediocre. Not much better than McDonalds.

Which actually makes the Thompson Center food court the perfect spot for their next opening.

Just had lunch at the Thompson Center location now that the crazy lines have died down.
The fries were good, nice and crispy right out of the frier.
As for the burger, next time I'll go 50 feet to the left to Pinky's (the grill man here knows what he's doing and when he's on, he's on).

The Thompson Center location has been offering a shake "happy hour" from 2 to 4 where shakes are half off ($1.50 as opposed to the usual $3).

Had my first M Burger today, courtesy of the batch of shiny green coupons LEYE mailed me this summer. Generally, I'm pro-LEYE, but aside from the efficiency and pleasantness of the order takers, it was a 100% forgettable experience. Nothing bad, just nothing that would make me remember I'd been there. Had the double M. I liked the soft bun soaking up juices, but neither the cheese nor the "sauce" nor the beef itself and any distinctive flavor. Fries were essentially McD's with skin on, which is fine by me (and, it must be said, perfectly salted), but otherwise nothing special going on.

New m burger in Skokie is now open...welcome addition to the north suburbs...had the m burger with fries...pretty much tastes like an upscale Big Mac...which for me isn't necessarily a bad thing...the fries were not memorable...but I'll be back when the mood strikes me!

hlmil wrote:New m burger in Skokie is now open

Don't look for the address on the M Burger website or the LEY website, because neither has yet been updated. It's at 3654 Touhy Avenue, in the Touhy Marketplace near the new Walmart.

nsxtasy wrote:

hlmil wrote:New m burger in Skokie is now open

It's at 3654 Touhy Avenue, in the Touhy Marketplace near the new Walmart.

Where I found myself this evening so tried M Burger for the first time,
had the "classic"

JohnH wrote:... I think with the expectations of LEYE some of us expected a little more from them (or at least I did).

agreed, nothing special whatsoever, I can't even give it "if was back in the area" praise.

Given the high price and long wait, I'd just as soon go to the nearby Five Guys or Wendy's for the drive thru.

M Burger isn't bad when it's cooked right, but it can be totally forgettable when it's not.

Hi,

Last night, I noticed the M Burger on Touhy in Skokie is closed. The only time I visited was when I would not wait in line a Jollibee.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Last night, I noticed the M Burger on Touhy in Skokie is closed. The only time I visited was when I would not wait in line a Jollibee.

Apparently, so have locations on Huron St and Ontario St in Chicago as well as one in Aurora have closed, too.

Locations still open:
M Burger
5419 N Sheridan Rd, #116, Chicago, IL · (773) 878-7340

M Burger
100 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL · (312) 578-1478

Cathy-

I noticed the Touhy location was closed as well. Where did you get your intel about the other locations? M Burger's website shows five sites: 161 E Huron, 100 W Randolph, Water Tower Place, 5 W Ontario and Aurora. The Sheridan address is the corporate HQ for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Hi,

Via google ... which I guess kicked me in the butt? I will go back to edit to confine my comment to Skokie location.

I noticed on the Yelp, there were comments about the Impossible Burger from March or April at the Touhy location, so this closing was recent.

M Burger on Ontario is still open but the question is for how long.
The M Burger in Skokie opened next to Wendys and I'd like to
know the strategy behind that decision. If your going to compete
with national chains pricing is very important.

I'm pretty sure the M Burger location on Ontario is used as the commissary for any delivery orders, so I'm not sure why people are speculating that it's going to close soon.