Business & Tech

Say Cheese: Who Makes the Best Cheeseburger?

This week, Patch sought out the best cheeseburger in the Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and Palos area for our ongoing series "Chowdown Showdown."

Welcome to “Chowdown Showdown,” a weekly feature where we take one type of food and ask readers to nominate their favorite restaurants in Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and Palos. This week’s food in focus was cheeseburgers. We tallied the votes on each respective Patch site and Facebook page.

We backed away from the table after filling ourselves on some of the tastiest cheeseburgers in our little corner of the Southland. See who we selected as the Grand Poo-Bah of cheeseburgers.

Oak Lawn Patch: We got a lot of recommendations for our own locally prepared beef-cheese cuisine, including new kid on the block , and . BJ's reigned supreme, with a burg served on a poppy seed bun and custom tailored to one's taste. This two-handed burger put me into a food coma of ecstasy. 5 Stars.

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Palos Patch: This was a big burger that would satisfy even the biggest of appetites. With the variety of toppings available it is a meal onto itself. Bar food at its best. 5 Stars

Evergreen Park Patch: Wow, what a burger! BJ's cheeseburger patty was unbelievably flavorful with a thick, but not too thick patty. Charbroiled to perfection, the burger had American cheese and was topped off with ketchup, mustard and raw unions--not too many. 5 Stars

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Oak Lawn Patch: A nicely blended canvas of beef, cheese and condiments that all lent to the tasty end result. I loved its simplicity.  4.5 Stars.

Palos Patch: This was a classic burger that seemed to use quality ingredients. The result was a fresh tasting burger that had a great blend of flavors. The thin patties gave the burger a lighter feel than you would expect from a cheeseburger. This burger would go great with a milkshake. 4.5 Stars

Evergreen Park Patch: Tastee Freez served up a nice classic cheeseburger--with no extra toppings. I wasn't expecting it to be a double! Although the burger was very suculent, it was a bit too much bread for the thin patties for my taste. 4 Stars

Oak Lawn Patch: A cheeseburger worthy of Rod Blagojevich's last meal before reporting to federal prison, with a great blend of cheese, savory beef and relish. 4 Stars.

Palos Patch: I really enjoyed this burger's bun and the mix of flavors was great. On a side note, the hand cut fries are amazing as well. 4.5 Stars 

Evergreen Park Patch: Just a few months in Evergreen Park and Moon's had an overwhelming amount of suggestions! My favorite part of this burger was the cheddar cheese, which I prefer to American cheese. With no onions, Moons served their burger with lettuce, tomato, mustard and pickles, topped off with an order of delicious hand-cut fries. I would have opted out of the pickles, but it still seemed to work well on this cheeseburger. 4.5 Stars

And the winner is: BJ McMahon's in Oak Lawn. BJ's is the closest representation to the archetypal cheeseburger we've ever tasted. What it lacks in prettiness it makes up for in char-grilled greatness shaped like the kind of burger your dad or crazy husband would throw on a flaming Weber.

Please don’t discount the other two sandwiches, this is, by far, the hardest Chowdown Showdown decision we've had to make yet. All of our local nominees served up a delicious sandwich complete with mouthwatering beef and cheese.

Looking for local eats? Start with your local Patch Places food and dining directory. Please post a review on your favorite restaurant's profile page.


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