We went to the Wriglyville location last Sunday. I had the buffalo chili and the bf had a burger. The buffalo chili was sadly done in the Midwestern style, which bares little resemblance to a bowl of Texas red, or it's predecessor the Mexican chile stews. By midwestern style, I mean not only beans (which is strange enough) but tomatoes and green bell peppers. The first time I was served this by a Minnesotan friend I didn't realize that hamburger stew with kidney beans, tomatoes and bell peppers could pass for chili. All grumbling aside, this was the /best/ version of this sort of chili that I've had. It was made with black beans, coarse ground buffalo, roasted bell peppers and tomatoes. It was saved by the fact that it was generously spiced with cumin and chillies, while not blisteringly hot (which would have been nice), it had a nice robust flavor from the chillies. I didn't like how it was served, which was in a bread bowl. Sure, it looked pretty, especially because they dressed the plate with a confetti of chopped veggies, but for one, it made the chili barely warm enough because the bread was refrigerated and for two, I feel stupid eating out of a bread bowl and wish it had been regular porcelain. The bf's hamburger would have been perfect, 1/2 lb of coarse sirloin piled with grilled onions, mushrooms, bacon and your choice of cheese (blue, swiss, mozz, cheddar or American) along with the usual suspects, except for the fact that his burger was cooked to well, instead of medium rare as requested. The waiter waited to long to come and ask us how everything was, so the bf gave up and dug in, since he was hungry. Once we did get to talk to our waiter, he very promptly and nicely offered to get another burger, cooked correctly, but we turned him down since the other was already half eaten. The fries (which claim to be Belgian fries, I'm not really sure why) would have been good if they were fresh, which they were not. As it stood, they were passable. The beer was not as good as Hopcats, but that didn't surprise us. I didn't get a chance to taste the bitters that they only serve from the cask, there was a problem. I made do with oatmeal stout, and the bf with ESB. The food was better than Hopcats however, and since it's a 5 minute walk from home, I expect we will end up there again.
Chicago, IL