Hop Haus

I did a search and came up with nothing. Has Hop Haus opened? Has anyone tried this most ambitious appearing of burger spots, with everything from Kobe to kangaroo patties? Any good? My wife and I were thinking of meeting there for lunch tomorrow.

http://www.thehophaus.com/

Not yet.

I go by twice a day. Latest window signs say April 6th.

I would love for this place to be great. Unfortunately, and let's not get into the chain hater thing 'cause I'm not dogmatic, I have a pretty lukewarm feeling about Leona's and have trouble seeing it happening.

For what it's worth, Time Out Chicago indicated that they have consultations from a chef and a sommelier from Alinea... but that almost makes me fear even more a Jenga-like collapse from too many concepts piled one atop the other.

(There's a link on the TOC website indicating it's the text from the magazine, but it gets an error even when signed in as a subscriber.)

Yeah, I saw the Time Out piece. So those Alinea alums devised the menu/beer list, but beyond that it's run by the folks from Leona's? I don't like Leona's at all, but I would still love to see a place like this around.

All the exterior and window signage on the place looks stupid. We'll see.

Well, the day finally came and they have in fact opened. I had not planned on bothering with being part of the opening day shake out, but my boss was in the office today and wanted to go for lunch, so we decided to give it a go.

At lunch, at least, the menu is simple; one side has some appetizers and such, and the other side is burgers. I thought the signage said 24 kinds, but I only counted 20 -- five each in categories "cheeesy" [sic], "world", "pseudo", and "wild" The "pseudo" category is one kind of non-beef -- chicken, catfish, a couple of others, and the "wild" is more non-beef: duck, lamb, kangaroo, ostrich, and wild boar. I didn't spend much time looking at the other two sections, but one of my party ordered an "Italian."

I opted for the Wild Boar, on recommendation from the server. It was ground boar with gouda and bacon. It was more cooked than the "medium" that they said it would be (I deferred to the chef because I wasn't sure what the "right" doneness should be for boar.) In the end, it didn't taste much different from a mildly fancy cheese burger -- the flavor of the boar was not very prominent, especially amidst the gouda and bacon. It was fine, but not something I'd consider worth the $13 price tag. (The non-wild burgers were more like $8-10 a pop)

The burger was accompanied by large rough-cut skin on fries which were uninspired, as well as a pretty good cole slaw and some kind of minced pickle thing which was also a pleasant accompaniment. I also opted for the recommended beer pairing, which was a Schenkerla smoked wheat beer. I enjoyed the beer itself a little more than I thought I would, but was not particularly impressed by the pairing.

Service was inarguably rough, no doubt aggravated by the first day, but also reminiscent of the inevitable long waits we experienced back when this was a straight-up Leona's location. It was the stuff of legend how long our server would go MIA in the middle of our meal, even when the place was dead.

As for the beer front, despite the hype, they only have four beers on draft, and I think I counted 26 bottles. I was hoping for something on a par with the Hopleaf, or at least Prairie Moon or something. Sorry, they only had a couple of beer lists floating around the entire dining room, and I didn't get much of a chance to lock any of them into memory.

I'm sure I'll be back -- the food was at least as good as Leona's, and it's the closest place to my office with table service, so there inevitably be pragmatic occasions to land there -- but based on one visit, I am not going to tell all of you to hightail it down to River North to check it out -- not unless you're just looking for the pleasure of my company for a meal or a beer after work!

Based on Germuska's good write-up, it seems as if there's a mixed metaphor going on here. I'll reserve final judgment until I try it myself, but what I think they're going after at Hop Haus is the relatively recent trend toward better, hipper, more gastronomically sophisticated burgers--as evidenced by DB Bistro in New York, the increasingly frequent Kobe renditions all over the country, 25 Degrees in Los Angeles, and The Counter in Santa Monica and elsewhere (even McDonald's is doing a test of a premium "Angus" burger). With many variations and help from high-end chefs, Hop Haus surely wants to put itself right in the middle of this hot, new culinary strike zone. The problem, though, is that behind it all (and not especially well or even deliberately hidden) are all the Leona's fingerprints. The ownership. The space itself. The design and graphics. It's decidedly not cool, and I predict they will have some trouble capitalizing on this trend because it appears so little effort was put into creating something genuinely new and completely apart from the Leona's operation.

where is this place?

It's on the corner of Erie and Franklin in River North. I used to work in that building... sniff *

Hop Haus
646 N. Franklin St.
312-280-8832

11 a.m.-4 a.m. Sunday-Friday; 11 a.m.-5 a.m. Saturday

Sounds like a concept that might work well in Evanston...

Mhays wrote:Sounds like a concept that might work well in Evanston...

From a beer perspective, Prairie Moon in Evanston has Hop Haus beat. I find their menu more interesting too -- I'd rather have one good burger and some other choices than a couple of dozen variations. Unless you were including the late night hours in the "concept that might work..." but we all know how Evanston is about that. (Who remembers when the Burger King near NU wasn't allowed to put your food in a bag for you because of some weird codicil of the 24-hour regulations? Ahh, the spirit of the WCTU may never die, although I think BK is allowed to bag purchases now...)

Prairie Moon
1502 Sherman Ave, Evanston, IL
(847) 864-8328

I met a friend at Hop Haus last night. I hate Leona's and was prepared to leave Hop Haus filled with loathing.

Actually, I rather liked it, and I'm not sure why, though I can say they had me from Jever.

I got the French burger, with brie and caramelized onion. Menu says all burgers are cooked to medium, and they delivered, healthily pink in the middle. Not a great burger, perhaps, but certainly a good burger. And at $8.95, not unreasonable. Fries were okay, but I was impressed with two other sides...a pickle-tomato relish and a "veggie slaw". I really, surprisingly enjoyed both.

It is weird that they only have four beers on tap, but the twentysome bottles are actually quite interesting. In addition to the Jever, I had a Reissdorf Kölsch on tap, which I hadn't had previously, and seemed to me an especially enjoyable Kölsch. Also the recommended-with-my-burger St. Bernardus witbier (an odd recommendation...my sense is these should be ignored). There were a few other good Belgians, some nice American microbrews, and some off-the-wall stuff like a Finnish porter. The beer list alone, though certainly not Map Room or Hop Leaf-like, strikes me as a worthy addition to the neighborhood. Along with Clark Street Ale House, you can find some interesting suds.

The mixed drink menu was intriguing too...their house Manhattan is made with Rittenhouse Rye. They've got some modernish, infused, etc. cocktail takes, and they have a section devoted to interesting non-alcoholic drinks too. Something with rhubarb juice stuck in my mind.

The atmosphere is fairly crappy...lots and lots of TVs, faux Leona's-ish all around. As my buddy noted, observing the "Top Ten Beers" (one of which not yet in stock!?) printed on a fake chalkboard, "even Potbelly's has a real f*cking chalkboard."

But it wasn't crowded, we sat at the bar, and for some reason the general crappiness didn't detract much at all from the experience. It's a few blocks from my Chicago office, and it provides a decent spot for a reasonable meal and good beer. I'll surely be back.

(Aside: I found it difficult to accept spending my one Chicago meal, coming up from KC, eating BBQ, but I did have the fortune to meet up with the last stop on Bridgestone's LTH book-signing tour at Honey 1. My favorite line of the night, mhl reacting to some salt-covered Swedish licorice smuggled across the border by Bridgestone: "Mmmm...that's some good drinking candy.")

The wife and I hit Hop Haus for the first time.
I found the atmosphere pretty decent. Yes there are many t.v.s showing sports, and that goes pretty well with the fact that they're a beer and burger bar. The heavy wood beams and high ceiling gave it a better feel than most bars in the River North area (though Clark Street Ale House is clearly the best).

Our burgers were medium-rare(ish) as ordered and pretty tasty.
We got the Boar with smoked Gouda and bacon, and the Kangaroo, substituting the lamb burger toppings of Feta, olives, and yogurt-cucumber sauce for the listed toppings. They were juicy and the Roo tasted somewhat like venison. The buns seemed quality but too big, and I didn't eat the bun anyway. The pickle relish and slaw were both good and although the fries looked brown, crisp and tasty we opted for the fresh and unexpectedly good green bean salad with blue cheese.

Although there are only 4 taps, its a decent selection with 2 that rotate. Besides their house Lager contract brewed for them and the Reissdorf Kolsch, there was Founders IPA and Jolly Pumpkin BAM which is a bold sour belgian that is quite brave of them to let occupy one of their 4 taps.

I won't go downtown just for this place, but if I'm going to Clark Street Ale House and want a burger, I'll go again.

griffin wrote:there was Founders IPA and Jolly Pumpkin BAM which is a bold sour belgian that is quite brave of them to let occupy one of their 4 taps.

Wow, I missed the Bam Biere when it was on tap at the Map Room last year. I really enjoy Jolly Pumpkin's beers, and I've yet to try that one. I hope they keep it on tap until my next visit. Thanks for the tip.

Has anyone tried the ostrich burger here? My sister's boyfriend lives right next door and mentioned Hop Haus when I said I had a hankering for a roo burger. Also, does anyone know how ostrich compares to emu? I've only had the latter.

I've not had emu, but ostrich is surprisingly beefsteaky, which I've heard attributed to the almost identical diet and living conditions of farmed ostrich to conventionally farmed cattle. They fill a similar ecological niche in the wild, and the meat-type convergence is magnified on farms. I note from wikipedia that emus naturally eat a wider variety and relative dietary fraction of insects, but I'm not sure if they're fed insects on farms, or if this would change the flavor from ostrich much.

With its other game burgers (which I have tried), Hop Haus seems to suffer from the same problem as Grizzly's Lodge, which is that they order patties pre-formed and in bulk, instead of starting with quality steaks and grinding themselves:

http://www.ostrichesonline.com/shop/cat ... eat_burger

The relatively small number of ordered game burgers causes the frozen product to linger and dessicate; I've never had what I'd call a fresh, juicy game burger at either place. Farmed (and especially wild) game animals are usually pretty lean anyway, but if you've had elk medallions, a buffalo burger, or alligator fritters in the right parts of the country, there is a world of difference between cut to order at the source and frozen/reconstituted.

My vote for the best ostrich in the city: Sol de Mexico.

And anyone wishing to try fresh rattlesnake or venison in traditional Mexican preparations, please join us at GNR Casa de Samuel in two weeks:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=18045

Santander wrote:I've not had emu, but ostrich is surprisingly beefsteaky, which I've heard attributed to the almost identical diet and living conditions of farmed ostrich to conventionally farmed cattle.

...

The relatively small number of ordered game burgers causes the frozen product to linger and dessicate;

This is what I guessed. I know of at least one ostrich farm in Wisconsin. Hop Haus may get their birds from farther away than that, but I imagine my ostrich burger will still have traveled a shorter distance to the table than kangaroo.

So this is where you get kangaroo! Now I feel enlightened.

Lilya wrote:So this is where you get kangaroo! Now I feel enlightened.

You could have had kangaroo at last year's LTH picnic.

If you were going to guess what neighborhood they'd open up a 2nd Hop Haus in, would you guess it'd be Rogers Park?

Interesting decision.

Ate at Hop Haus a couple months ago and was obviously not that impressed since it took me this long to write about. I went there to watch a game and have a burger, and it took at least a half hour and numerous requests for the game I wanted to finally be put on the tv by my table. If a place has flat screens all over the place, I expect more than one employee to know how to actually change the channels on a given tv. As for the food, not that special. Started off with the spinach and artichoke dip, and got a run of the mill rendition, not terrible but not great. For entrees, I ordered the trio sampler of burgers, and got the ostrich, kangaroo, and wild boar. Although tasty, the numerous toppings masked most of the unique flavors of the meat that I was hoping for. Instead of burgers, my friends opted for chicken entrees that neither seemed to enjoy that much. As previous noted, this place only has four beers on tap, which to me is unacceptable for a place claiming to be all about beer. I also didn't like that my bottle of beer was put on the table with an empty glass for myself to pour while the waitress scurried off. If you bring me a glass with my beer, I expect you to pour it for me...you are my "server," and this is what most do. I ended up having a couple drinks in the bar area after eating because I wanted to watch the end of the game, and witnessed the staff carrying/rolling tables and chairs through the crowd as apparently the dining area becomes a dance floor on weekend nights. The food and scene definitely had an upscale TGI Fridays vibe, which to say isn't a good thing.

whiskeybent wrote:If you were going to guess what neighborhood they'd open up a 2nd Hop Haus in, would you guess it'd be Rogers Park?

Interesting decision.

I bet the rent is cheap. And it's within striking distance of Edgewater and Evanston, two places which are more likely to have some kind of demographic they have in mind than perhaps RP itself.

Can't say I'm excited to have a Hop Haus within walking distance of home, but I never heard anything good about Amphora, so hopefully at least they can make it into a stable business. And maybe they'll get more people going near African Harambee and thinking about trying it out?

germuska wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:If you were going to guess what neighborhood they'd open up a 2nd Hop Haus in, would you guess it'd be Rogers Park?

Interesting decision.

I bet the rent is cheap. And it's within striking distance of Edgewater and Evanston, two places which are more likely to have some kind of demographic they have in mind than perhaps RP itself.

Can't say I'm excited to have a Hop Haus within walking distance of home, but I never heard anything good about Amphora, so hopefully at least they can make it into a stable business. And maybe they'll get more people going near African Harambee and thinking about trying it out?

I made my first foray to the new Hop Haus in Rogers Park on Monday night. It is not a bad place at all to watch a game. We sat at a high table in the bar and had a good view of several TVs. Inexplicably, a few of the TVs above the booths on one side were set to some music videos.

As for the food, we were all pleased with our burgers. Our friends ate before we arrived. One friend did the three wild mini-burgers. The other had the Smokehouse (gouda and swiss cheese, bacon, roasted red pepper, chipotle sauce, lettuce and tomato.) Mr. X had a burger with a fried egg on it -- I don't remember which one. He seemed very happy with it. I wanted something relatively simple so ordered a burger with cheddar and sauteed mushrooms. The burgers came medium rare as requested. I thought the bun was really good and added to the meal. (I was getting full, so tried some of the burger bun-less.) We also all enjoyed the veggie slaw, which is shredded broccoli, cabbage and carrots in ranch. The shredded pickles were interesting, but I'd rather have some decent slices to put on my burger.

I agree with what has been said upthread about the beers. The name of the place is somewhat misleading: Hop Haus implies "haus of many beers" to me. However, they do have some interesting selections. The Gavroche I had hit the spot.

The choice to put Hop Haus in that corner of Rogers Park is interesting. I think there is a dearth of walkable pubs in that part of RP, so for that, I am happy to have it there. I enjoyed the burger and definitely see it as a viable burger option. I'm most curious about the 4 AM bar time. That could make for some interesting people watching in the wee hours!

Hop Haus
7545 N. Clark - 773-262-3783
646 N. Franklin - 312-280-8832

pigOut wrote: For entrees, I ordered the trio sampler of burgers, and got the ostrich, kangaroo, and wild boar. Although tasty, the numerous toppings masked most of the unique flavors of the meat that I was hoping for. Instead of burgers, my friends opted for chicken entrees that neither seemed to enjoy that much.

Yes, the family went there a while ago and I also was too underwhelmed to post immediately. I had the same trio with the same reaction to it - we mentioned that to the manager who stopped by and asked after our meal, but I'm guessing the burgers are there more as dare fodder than as an exploration of exotic meats. Fries were OK.



I will say that the accompanying broccoli cole slaw was very good, and the shredded dill pickle was a nice foil to some of the sweet sauces on the burgers.



The spouse went for an appetizer of chicken wings, which appeared to have been lightly floured before frying and which were mild even for me - but they were big, juicy pieces and the accompaniments were good. (the color is a bit off in the photo, they looked pretty good) The spouse had the same fairly low opinion of the beer list: there are better, cheaper options in Evanston - even the Firehouse Grill just up the street has better options.



Sparky opted for the mac and cheese, which came with some kind of oreo cakey thing. It was pretty good; there were both macaroni noodles and lasagna noodles in there, which Sparky really liked.



For all this, our bill came to slightly over $45 - for one entree, one appetizer, one beer, two drinks and a kid's meal. If it had been cheaper, the just-ok-ness of the food wouldn't have bothered me as much, but I'm not running back. Another thing - the decor was straight out of Spencer gifts: we were seated in a booth that had small "sports-themed" photos running the length of the wall at eye level: one of a man streaking (hand strategically placed,) one of a woman streaking (conveniently turned away from the camera,) one of a woman licking a phallic-looking glass trophy, one of a man grabbing his crotch. Fortunately, Sparky was oblivious - but, being sober, it was a bit unpleasant for us adults to look at. I'll take the decor at Kuma's any day.

Looking for a something different for lunch and a place easily reached by public transport, I climbed aboard a PACE 290 bus headed to the Howard St. Rapid Transit/Bus terminal . . . and Hop Haus, a short walk from there. This was my first visit to the restaurant.

Workmen are readying the dining patio on the north side of the building. I wonder how the residents of the condo building on that north side who have balconies overhanging this dining area are going to like having activity below them.

The cheapness - or cheap look - of the decor is, I'm assuming, most noticable during daylight . . . but I quickly became accustomed to it. I chose a high table/stool next to a window overlooking Clark St., which was a good vantage point to peruse the many gtelevision sets.

The restaurant seemed moderately busy, with families with small children noticible as they came and went. A couple of mature-aged Harley owners were seated at the bar, one with his biker mama. Service was slow, both from the waitress and the kitchen.

Bleu Burger



My burger choice was the Bleu Burger: the meat topped with blue cheese, blue cheese dressing, mushrooms, lettuce and tomato. What arrived at the table was a mountain of a burger and its fixings. I quickly learned why you're given a knife and fork when burger is served. I ordered mine medium and that's how it arrived. The bun was good tasting and substantial enough to support the burger et al. The pickle relish added nice contrast to the other fixings and the vegetable slaw is something I'd like to see used more often in restaurants; very fresh-tasting.

I washed-down the burger with some Blue Moon - good for the sunny day.

With the Bulls in the playoffs, we were looking for a place to watch Tuesday's game. Hop Haus in Rogers Park works for many of us, especially with the free parking. It continues to be a decent place to watch sports. The beer list is still small, but I was happy with $4 Bell's Two-Hearted. I keep forgetting that they like to put sauces on their burgers/sandwiches. I had a couple of sliders (one chicken, one burger) and regretted not asking to hold the sauce. I enjoy their sides (the veggie slaw and mac & cheese) more than the mains. With the ample seating and TVs and free parking, we might be back again during the playoffs. It's not a place I'll go out of my way for the food.

The GP wrote: The beer list is still small, but I was happy with $4 Bell's Two-Hearted.

Alright, now you've got my interest. That is a big enough beer list for me. $4 2-hearted (pints, I assume), in the hood. Who cares what the food tastes like as long as it sops up the sudz. I have watched this place go through many changes since "My Place For ?" Some good, mostly bad. What was that phase with the really pushy waitstaff and the mirrored urns that looked like Salvador Dali disco balls? Actually I had some OK lamb chops then. Is the bar still open til 4am? Anywhere I can get a pint of 2 hearted after 2 am is OK in my book (not that I make a habit of that much anymore). I wonder what they did with the Ed Pashke mural? I hope it was detachable, and is being kept safe somewhere.

d4v3 wrote:

The GP wrote: The beer list is still small, but I was happy with $4 Bell's Two-Hearted.

Alright, now you've got my interest. That is a big enough beer list for me. $4 2-hearted (pints, I assume), in the hood. Who cares what the food tastes like as long as it sops up the sudz. I have watched this place go through many changes since "My Place For ?" Some good, mostly bad. What was that phase with the really pushy waitstaff and the mirrored urns that looked like Salvador Dali disco balls? Actually I had some OK lamb chops then. Is the bar still open til 4am? Anywhere I can get a pint of 2 hearted after 2 am is OK in my book (not that I make a habit of that much anymore). I wonder what they did with the Ed Pashke mural? I hope it was detachable, and is being kept safe somewhere.

d4v3-

I believe the Two-Hearted is only $4 on Tuesdays for a pint. I don't recall what their hours are. I too have moved on from needing to know where to get a good pint of beer after 2:00 AM.