Rockit's 6th Annual Burgerfest!

Rockit Bar & Grill's 6th Annual Burgerfest

The kind folks at Rockit Bar & Grill in River North invited me to preview some of the burgers for their 6th annual Burgerfest. After I tried the amazing chilis from the ChiliFEST tasting back in January, I knew I had to check it out!

The fest works the same way as ChiliFEST with a different burger featured everyday from Monday June 6th, to Friday June 10th. Now, these aren't just ordinary burgers, Chefs James Gottwald and Amanda Downing whipped up five tasty variations on the American classic.

Big Bird Burger & The Big Cheese

During our tasting session, the BF and I tried the burgers from the first two days of the fest. The first was the "Big Bird Burger," consisting of a OSTRICH patty, fried egg, pancetta chip, and tomato onion jam, all between a tasty challah bun. I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to try ostrich, but it was extremely lean and tasty! The meat was not gamey at all and was a tad tougher in texture than beef. I really enjoyed the cheese and the saltiness from the pancetta. What really brought it all together was the fresh challah bun.

Big Bird Burger Extreme Close-Up!

The second burger was one that I had been looking forward to trying because of its creative use of a bun. "The Big Cheese" burger started out with a black angus patty and was topped with shaved pastrami, caramelized onions, and gruyere, all sandwiched between TWO WHOLE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES! This is what I call a genius move. It was next to impossible to take a bite out of this massive triple sandwich but it had to be done. The bread of the grilled cheese soaked up the juices from the burger, allow for a gooey bite of meat and cheese. It was a reinvention of the cheeseburger! I liked the toppings on this burger better than the toppings on the "Big Bird Burger," but I have to say the ostrich was tastier! The BF and I agree that the ostrich burger took the cake.

In case we weren't going to be stuffed enough, we were given two orders of fries to accompany our burgers. The first was an order of the Rockit truffle fries, and the second was a heaping portion of sweet potato fries dusted with cinnamon sugar. My favorite were the truffle fries because of their intense garlic-y flavor. However, the sweet potato fries were a nice sweet treat to counter the saltiness of both burgers, and came with an indulgent aioli dipping sauce.

Sweet Potato Fries

Inside that Juicy Sandwich!

Truffle Fries

We had a great time tasting just two of the five burgers to be featured in early June and can't wait to go back and try the rest of the lineup! Check out the Burgerfest schedule below and come hungry! Rockit's Burgerfest gets 4 stars for its creative take on classic American burgers and their amazing truffle fries!

Rockit Bar & Grill 6th Annual Burgerfest

June 6-10, 2011

Monday, June 6

Big Bird Burger: Ostrich Patty, fried egg, pancetta chip, tomato onion jam, sweet potato frites

Tuesday, June 7

The Big Cheese: Black Angus Patty, shaved pastrami, caramelized onions, gruyere cheese between two grilled cheese sandwiches

Wednesday, June 8

The Locavore: Dietzler Beef Patty, Goose Island beer battered onion rings, Nordic Creamery smoked goat cheddar, Neuske bacon aioli

Thursday, June 9

Greek Chicken Burger: Chicken Patty, oregano, tzatziki sauce, feta, vine ripened tomatoes, kalamata olives, black pepper fries

Friday, June 10

Smoked Salmon Burger: scallions, hardboiled egg, pickled gherkins, whipped dill cream cheese, sour cream and chive chips

Rockit Bar & Grill
www.RockitBarandGrill.com
22 W. Hubbard, Chicago
312.645.6000

The Big Cheese (Photo Credit: Rockit Bar & Grill)

Big Bird Burger (Photo Credit: Rockit Bar & Grill)