Opinionated The Bad Apple’s $26 Wagyu burger

The Bad Apple (4300 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-360-8406) entered the city’s burger fray late last year with a beefy bang: Named Metromix’s best burger in Chicago and boasting 17 different burgers on any given night, the North Center eatery is giving the much-lauded Kuma’s Corner (2900 W. Belmont Ave., 773-604-8769) a run for its meat money, and with far shorter wait times.

And its expanding menu is now giving other burger joints a case of the meat sweats. Just this summer, The Bad Apple introduced something no other burger spot in town has: Wagyu Wednesdays. Wagyu cattle are bred to yield an intense fat marbling, and the resulting meat is largely considered to be the best in the world. The best doesn’t come cheap, though: The Bad Apple’s take on it—prime rib dry-aged for 90 days then burger-fied—will run you a cool $26 without tax. When all the other burgers on the menu top out at $10, is this splurge worth it?

In a word, yes. It’s almost off-putting how not burger-like this thing is, in the very best way. The meat itself tastes, strangely, almost nothing like actual meat. It’s extremely buttery, with no beefy aftertaste and a smoother-than-smooth texture. It’s astonishingly and deliciously different from everything a burger normally is, bite after bite.

Served on a toasted bun, it’s topped with whatever the chef feels like including that week (in this case, it was roasted tomatoes, brie, and mixed greens) and served with hand-cut fries and a tangy homemade ketchup. Overall, this thing’s an absolute mouth-buster. It’s huge, messy, and everything a good burger should be, but better.

However, at about a dollar a bite, it’s also a budget-buster, especially for a bar and grill. If this burger were served at David Burke’s Primehouse (616 N. Rush St., 312-660-6000) or The Publican (845 W. Fulton Mkt., 312-733-9555), the price would be perfectly acceptable. But when the Cubs game is on in the corner, it’s a hard mouthful to swallow.

Still, this burger is as much of an experience as it is a meal. Everyone at the table will want to try it, and in turn, this burger’s probably better for sharing than it is for solo grubbing. Order one for two people, throw in some of the Bad Apple’s poutine or a salad to split, and that’s a meal that will leave both wallets and stomachs happily full. Grade: A-