kosher Critic: Bay-Ken Burger

There is a short list of things that I refuse to do. But on that list are some items like never shopping on Black Friday or never going to see a blockbuster movie in it's opening weekend. Prominent on my ”not to do” list is going out to restaurants on Erev Pesach. This last Erev Pesach, however, I was presented with the opportunity to go to a kosher eatery in Chicago called Ken's Diner and regardless of the pre Passover mob I eagerly went.

Ken's Diner is a staple of kosher Chicago and has been serving reasonably priced diner style food for the past 20 years. Modeled after Big Boys that was popular in the 50's in Ken's hometown of Milwaukee WI, Ken's Diner is famous for its Burger Buddy, a half pound patty with lettuce, tomato, grilled onion, pickles and special sauce. When I was in Yeshiva in Israel many students would refer to the Burger Buddy as “the hundred dollar hamburger.” This was because many students who would have layovers in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport would take a 45 dollar cab ride to Ken's, buy the 10 dollar burger and then take a 45 dollar cab ride back to the airport. Crazy as this sounds I can honestly not blame anyone who made a pilgrimage to Ken's because, simply put, Ken's Diner makes the best hamburger I have ever eaten.

Now I have eaten a lot of hamburgers in a lot of different places and when I finally sat down to figure it out I realized I had eaten hamburgers at kosher restaurants in 12 states, nine countries and on three continents. And despite how far I have traveled or where I go to get a burger, I still find that Ken's has the best hamburger in the entire kosher world. The particular hamburger offered by Ken's that I believe to be the greatest kosher hamburger is the Bay-Ken Burger. Half a pound patty, the Bay-Ken is served with sautéed mushrooms and onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce and, the pièce de résistance, crispy beef frye. This burger is always cooked to a perfect medium, leaning towards rare, and then smothered in Ken's secret sauce. The finishing effect is a juicy delicious burger whose depth of flavor and texture make for a truly phenomenal sandwich.