Edgewater has started to develop interesting restaurants. Speakeasy, Indie Cafe, Blue Elephant, South, and Sizzle are all recent additions to the neighborhood. Chicago Magazine wrote Sizzle up for their chorizo burger but a couple of months before I got a door hanger announcing the chorizo burger. I’ve been thinking about the chorizo burger for a while and finally tried it last night.

I’d had drinks at The Pumping Company before and Sizzle still looks fairly similar. I was expecting a beer garden as well but got a beer patio. The place has an identity crisis. It’s still a smoky bar but one that serves $5 mini lobster tail plates and halibut entrees. But they offer $1 bud lights. And the chorizo burger.

It’s served on a big yellow bun with pickled jalapeños and spicy cukes. A side of slim sweet potato fries were tasty. It was spicy but not too spicy. They ask you how you want it cooked… I wondered with the pork-chorizo if that made a difference. It must be cooked then mixed in. It’s very tasty but at the same time missing something. Maybe a sweet chutney or salsa mayo with the fries would do the trick. It’s definitely different and not bad.

We did get the house salad that was soaked in dressing and served with slices of tomato around the circumference. Not too hot. The $5 mini-lobster tails were okay with a nice diced mix of onions and peppers. It needed some cilantro or more fresh garnish parsley. It also needed to be drained a bit better. The dish ended up a rummage through a pool of liquid.

For a place that seems to be trying to make a mark with their food I was surprised at the lack of planning when it came to the diner. Sizzle is still very much a bar with mechanical bull for sale another bar in the basement. If they were to make the lower bar the drinking/smoking bar and the bar upstairs the eating, non-smoking bar there would be more seating and better space for diners. Who would very likely head downstairs for an after dinner game of darts, pool and a pitcher and wait for their friends to arrive.

I need to go back to Iggy’s, another late night restaurant/bar. It was 2am last time I ate there and if given the same vodka-tonic parameters I think I would have liked Sizzle more. Their menu does change after 10pm but I hope the $5 tasting menu is part of their late night offerings. It’s has fun, partial entree style, options.

Sizzle on Broadway
6157 N. Broadway