Pretense is the fastest way to lose my business. I don’t care what kind of awards you’ve won, if you thumb your nose to your customers, you’ve lost me forever and I’ll tell everyone I know to avoid your establishment. You might think this could be the experience at a place like Kuma’s Corner, whose ingredients for a single burger includes things like brie, pancetta, caramelized onions and bourbon-soaked pear on a pretzel bun. But you’d be wrong.The place is about as unpretentious as it gets, and is frequented by tattooed death metal lovers. Hell, most of the time they’re blasting death metal in the place. But the meat, oh the meat! You won’t be happier spending $12 for a burger anywhere else in Chicago.

Another place I’ll never tire of is the L&L Tavern in the Lakeview neighborhood, which I was more than a little upset to hear made Bigstupididiot.com’s list of the 20 Worst Bars in America. They mentioned things like people showing up in the afternoon to watch “Jeopardy!” and that Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy were rumored to have been patrons. To me, that just adds color to a great neighborhood bar instead of another corporate chain that’s the same from city to city and suburb to suburb, no matter where it is in America. The $2 bottles of PBR never hurt when I need a break from the expensive craft beer I usually buy, and the bartenders are always willing to let me try a little sip of one of the many whiskeys before deciding on my poison.

(burger photo via Joe M500)