The Feed: Burgers

Sometimes you get a craving for one type of food, and it almost doesn't matter where you get it. The Feed takes a look at local restaurants that all serve a single food in common with one another. This week The Feed gladly pays you Tuesday for the food it features today: the cheeseburger.

The Claim Company (CC) may have originally been rustled up in Chicago, but since then, it's become . Everything on this Southwestern-themed menu either roots or toots. There are no trips to the salad bar here, rather one visits the "salad saloon."

So too is the case with CC's signature burger, The Motherlode. One of the menu's centerpieces, the burger is 10 ounces of beef served on any of six choices of bread--with seven cheese choices. After that, hungry ranch hands get to add a variety of toppings and even sauces.

Want a burger on a pretzel roll with goat cheese, avocado and teriyaki sauce? Not a problem here. It doesn't even have to be a burger--at least in the strictest sense. Instead of a beef patty, CC offers a chicken breast, a veggie burger, a turkey burger or a tuna steak. The price of striking the motherlode: $10.29.

The Maestro Grill is an oddity in Northbrook. This upscale take on Russian-modern-American-fusion cuisine is appreciated locally for its quirks. The  restaurant's website encourages potential diners to come in and use the space for "bussiness affairs." The site has other small, charming mistakes.

 The space, however, is immaculate, lounge-like and cozy, and the menu is free from error and quite inviting: wasabi mashed potatoes exist side by side with maple leaf roasted duck and escargot. The burger here is yet another anachronism, as the beef is from Japan's Wagyu cattle. Known commonly here as Kobe beef, it's a delicacy that is highly regarded for being attractively marbled, tender and fatty. At Maestro, it's served a half pound at a time, with mushrooms and onions on brioche. $12.

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Both of these mom-and-pop Vienna Beef hot doggers showed up on the Northbrook scene about the same time. Each one has been in town for just more than 40 years, and though Louie's and Wolfy's do things differently, they have a few aspects in common.

First off, they're both sporting the gold and blue, meaning that each restaurant is supplied by Chicago's Vienna Beef company. Second, they're both beloved fixtures in the community.

Louie's website features yearly family portraits going back to 1983, and the group in the photo almost seems to expand exponentially. Meanwhile, Wolfy's gets tons of street cred from being listed in Never Put Ketchup on a Hot Dog by Bob Schwartz, Vienna Beef's senior vice president.

 As for the burgers, Louie's offers up a 1/3 pound burger on a pretzel bun for $7.43, and 1/4 pounder on a regular bun $3.36. Fries are separate on both of those. Wolfy's does 6-ounce patties, serving up a double (a whopping 12 ounces) for $6.49. Just like Louie's, fries are extra.

In a former life, the Landmark Inn was the Cypress. It's a part of old Northbrook that many remember from growing up, and it may remember you too. Locals say that it isn't uncommon to run into a family friend asking about their parents. That's a big part of the draw: that sense of familiarity.

An even bigger draw is the outdoor patio, live music and cheap drinks. Regulars say that the crowd changes depending on the night of the week: weeknights see young 20- and 30-somethings, while weekends draw a casual, older crowd.

As far as burgers go, there are no less than a staggering 18 options at the Landmark Inn. Each burger is half a pound, though regulars swear it seems to be bigger than that, and they range from the traditional to the interesting. For example, there is the half pound Montreal steak burger rubbed with 'Montreal steak seasoning' and topped with grilled onions and mushrooms in a red wine reduction with provolone cheese for$9.25 or the more interesting Greek lamb burger, served on pita bread topped with lettuce, tomato and a yogurt cucumber sauce for $9.75. Veggie burgers, tuna burgers and even crab cake burgers are offered as well. No burger is more than $10, and they all include fries.