Stop through the doors and you’re surrounded by an island atmosphere. Pictures of palm trees, Jimmy Buffet (he owns the chain) music playing in the background, and Corona bottles filled with salt and pepper complete the laid back vibe. The menu is pretty straight forward with burgers (obviously), ribs, and a handful of desserts. For an appetizer my brother and I go for the spicy queso and chips. The spicy cheese dip blends Cheddar and Asiago cheeses with tomatoes and seasoning. The dip is served warm and delivers with creamy texture and a mild spice.
For our dinners we decide to try, what else, some cheeseburgers! My brother goes for the bacon cheeseburger while I try the pressed burger. All burgers are served with your choice of sweet potato chips, French Fries, vegetable of the day, island rice or coleslaw. When asked how the coleslaw is, our waitress very honestly told us it was terrible. She informed us that it had raisins in it and that it was just plain weird. Gotta love an honest server! Heading her advice I go for the sweet potato chips and my brother opts for the fries.
The burgers arrive and my bothers bacon cheeseburger is a 1/3 lb of ground chuck topped with Swiss, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. What they forgot to put on the burger was any type of seasoning. While the toppings were of good quality, there just is no hiding the bland flavor of the meat. The fries were of the shoestring variety and had a nice seasoning, a seasoning that should have been used on the beef. My pressed burger had almost a grilled cheese quality to it. The bun was buttered and pressed very much like a grilled cheese sandwich. My burger had decent flavor due to the buttered bun but my beef could have benefited from some salt and pepper as well. A nice touch that added much needed flavor to my burger was the salsa ketchup. It’s exactly what it sounds like; they blend salsa and ketchup together for a flavor combination that actually works. Another nice touch was the sweet potato chips that had a great balance of sweetness and saltiness.
What’s a day in paradise without some dessert? My brother decides on the Jamaican apple crisp and I go for the classic key lime pie. They describe the apple crisp as warm caramelized Granny Smith apples with a touch of ginger and cinnamon, abundantly covered with crisp granola walnut crumbs and topped with vanilla ice cream. In actuality it was very similar to apple cinnamon oatmeal topped with vanilla ice cream. While I enjoy a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, having one for dessert wouldn’t be my first choice. My key lime pie had a nice balance between sweet and tart flavors and was topped with whip cream. Well executed and definitely the better of the two desserts.
Final bill with tip was $48 for the two of us. So was it paradise? Not for us. Overall “Cheeseburger in Paradise” offers a comfortable atmosphere, honest service, and average food. Rating * and 1/2 out of ****.
Locations
1472 Market Street
Des Plaines IL 60016
Phone: 847-299-3657
Fax: 847-299-3782
1608 South Randall Road
Algonquin IL 60102
Phone: 847-658-9627
Fax: 847-658-9634
2970 Finley Road
Downers Grove IL 60515
Phone: 630-953-7095
Fax: 630-953-8925
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