I just came back from visiting my family in Chicago. Soooo nice to be at home! I went to visit my brother in the city, and a few of us decided to grab some burgers at Hop Häus on Franklin St. near his apartment.
The sports-themed bar/restaurant is outfitted with photographs of priceless moments during games…many of players caught in some odd position or another.
We were SO pumped to go, especially because a few people in our group have been there more than a few times and said the burgers were always delicious. But first major turn-off: there was only three other people eating at the restaurant and the waitress was NOWHERE to be found. We finally saw her chatting with the other employees, and no combo of our collective and odd arm-flapping was bringing her back to our table.
She finally came after way too long, and we ordered the toasted Jalapeno Ravioli to start:
A+ for presentation. The flavor was a strong chipotle smokey flavor which I thought was just OK though.
On to the real stuff: Hop Häus boasts 24 gourmet burgers (many of which are served in non-traditional wild game meat — think ostrich, kangaroo, wild boar). I wanted to try one of them…I really, really did but I just couldn’t get myself to order kangaroo. They’re so cute.
I wasn’t particularly ravenous either so I opted for the mini Sauteed ‘Shrooms burger instead with mushroom, pepperjack cheese, and garlic parmesan.
You can even customize your own burger, like my brother did with — actually I’m not sure I can tell what was in his burger but here it is:
And if you’re not into meat, they have veggie and even fish burger options…
All burgers come with a side of seasoned fries or mac n’ cheese.
I thought my burger didn’t taste super exciting. The fries were good, but the mac n’cheese was on the bland side. I realized afterwards EVERYONE at our table was underwhelmed with their food, and swore the place use to be a lot better. I’m not sure if the menu changed or what it was, but I’m definitely not missing it.
If the service and food wasn’t bad enough, THIS it what we were given to sign our bill with:
An inkless pen = ultimate fail.
Disclaimer: this is not representative of the otherwise amazing food scene in Chicago, so chi-towners, feel free to suggest better food options for everyone. Thank you.
Restaurant Info:
Hop Häus
646 N. Franklin St.
at W. Erie
Chicago, IL 60610
312-467-4287
x
Shy
ok, back up… a kangaroo burger?!
Yeahh..I dunno..I’m trying to figure out how they manage that
It was good while it lasted. I wish we went to a couple other places we discovered in the past week. But people who know about Hop Haus have been wanting to go back from previous experiences. I have to break the news to them that service and food has gone downhill big time. I’m on the verge of calling them and asking if theyre under new management because that night was completely unexpected.
kangaroo is delicious. i found a halal kangaroo burger and it was yummy!!!
poor…cute…kangaroo…
You should have gone to Kuma’s – they have the the best burgers. However, the line is usually ridiculous.