Unlike Paul Kahan’s other ventures (Blackbird, Avec, the Publican), Big Star is a bar. But you may have to remind yourself of that, because it’s got probably the tastiest Mexican menu of any bar in Chicago.
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The queso fundido (browned Chihuahua cheese and chorizo with a lush poblano underlayment) is surpassingly wonderful. The tacos are fatty and salty (like bar food should be), but the pork belly and lamb are of such high quality that a little extra lard and sodium are way worth it. Carved from frustums layered in-house, the tacos al pastor are crisp, riddled with golden knurls of flame-licked fat, and served on fresh, delicate, house-made minitortillas that make the big flavors seem almost dainty. All tacos are $2-$3; in fact all eats and drinks alike are priced in round numbers, making fast math easy for even the alky-addled.
It’s easy to see how Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh’s start running Hearty Boys catering informs the “comfort revisited” theme of their new restaurant Hearty. The pair—who’ve parlayed their self-described “accidental” expertise into early-morning Food Network semi-celebrity—have assembled a roster of archetypal crowd-pleasers, a number of which could be exponentialized for remote events. (It’s Casserole Central here.) So much on the menu appealed to my oft-suppressed inner nostalgist—only the strictest ascetics could turn up their sniffers at pancetta-encased meat loaf, pulled pork with root beer BBQ sauce, or short-rib beefaroni—that I’m astonished how few turned out to be as satisfying as they sounded. Take the lobster potpie. I know its heretical to say, but I’m not sure that’s the kindest treatment for the delicate-fleshed crustacean in the first place. But in this instance it didn’t matter: there was barely any lobster to be fished from the tarragon-laced stew of potatoes, fennel, and carrots.
DMK wants to be the burger place for everyone, offering a house-molded veggie option, two turkeys, a lamb, and the aforementioned fungus in addition to six grass-finished beef varieties (notoriously low in fat and more prone to overcooking than corn-fed beef, but pleasantly resistant to the mandibles).
Hearty 3819 N. Broadway, 773-868-9866,heartyboys.com
DMK Burger Bar 2954 N. Sheffield, 773-360-8686,dmkburgerbar.com
