Best thing I ate: The swine flu burger at Kuma's Corner

Burgers are my ultimate comfort food. When I'm feeling stressed out or down I crave a burger - it's the classic American combination that makes you feel better the moment you take a bite. Here in Chicago, amid the gaggle of chefs vying for the best burger in town (read: reinventing the ingredients until they end up with something vaguely recognizable as a burger) are a select few that really stand out. A few that have completely altered my perception of what a burger could be. The first of those to do so was the swine flu burger at Kuma's Corner. (I am totally aware of how repulsive that sounds.)

First of all, Kuma's has become the golden standard for burgers in Chicago. They were at the helm of the (what is now a completely overdone) burger trend that has been sweeping the nation for several years. Back in the day when Kuma's started gaining some street cred as the gourmet burger place I checked it out with a group of friends. The burger was amazing but it was the mussels that blew me away (it was the first time I'd ever tasted mussels) but that is for a different post. The place is essentially a tiny heavy metal bar with a fantastic beer list and every imaginable combination of ingredients on a burger being cooked by a multiple-tattooed chef in a kitchen the size of your biggest closet. Plus, every burger shares its name with a heavy metal band (think Slayer, Iron Maiden, Pantera). (I am totally aware of how intimidating this place sounds.)

It was my second time there when I had the swine flu burger. If you haven't already figured it out, this burger was a special during the first H1N1 outbreak in winter of 2009. They have since put it as a semi-regular on the menu under the name Megadeath. It was about a half pound of ground beef topped with chorizo and red potato hash, avocado, pico de gallo, and tortilla strips on a pretzel bun. It totally changed my mind about what belongs on a burger. Burgers weren't just lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, special sauce for me anymore, they became about adventure and trying new and exciting flavor combinations. This burger was the panacea for my winter blues.

Since then, I rarely go to Kuma's since it's been a two to 3 hour wait for at least 6 years now. No really, you have to go there one and a half to 2 hours before you think you'll get hungry so that when you finally sit down to eat you won't want to devour the whole menu. Plus, there is a myriad of other places in town to get a supreme burger: Owen & Engine (they freshly grind their own beef), Au Cheval (sinfully greasy diner burger), Southport Grocery (cafe burger with the mind-blowing addition of sour cream) and the most recent best burger I ate, the kimchi burger at Little Goat.

Little Goat, the offshoot of Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard's, Girl & the Goat, is what I'd call an elevated diner. Open from 7am to 2am their entire menu is available all day long. I rarely go there for anything but breakfast but one day my friends and I decided to meet there after work for dinner. I'd heard legends about this kimchi burger so of course I had to try it. The menu states it as kimchi, bacon, egg, spicy mayo, on a squish squash roll. The squish squash roll is made with butternut squash, which gives it its yellowy orange color. This roll is like the best thing to happen to bread since bread happened to bread. It's squishy and pillowy and so soft with a subtly sweet slightly nutty flavor. This burger is insane and takes burgers to a level I did not previously think was possible. It doesn't come with a side for reasons I'm sure you can figure out. I'm still a sucker for a basic cheeseburger, but it's hard to eat anything that doesn't stand up to these bad boys.