Chicago Eats - BadHappy Poutine Shop

Poutine - french fries, fresh cheese curds, all smothered in a healthy ladle of gravy. What's not to like? This French-Canadian dish seems to be getting more and more popular in the city, with it popping up on menus all over. But there's only one dedicated poutine shop, and that's BadHappy, located on the Near North side just down the street from my apartment. Dangerous, considering that BIG & little's is just down the street (and BadHappy actually took over B&l's old spot).

The Chef-Owner Tom and his wife Jaime run a great little restaurant. Jaime stopped and talked with us for a while giving us the history of this place; Tom is Southern, and has fine dining cuisine under his belt. The couple decided to open up a poutine shop in Chicago with some Southern flare...and it works out. Just beware, this stuff is pretty heavy, but definitely worth a visit!

The Good, the Bad and the Happy Poutine

Pork belly, braised veal cheek, fromage beaucronne (cheddar cheese curds), truffle mayo, foie gras mousse & gravy, sunny egg. Wow. Rich. Decadent. Amazing. Maybe a bit too rich and decadent, it was hard to defeat this one. But I did it. This is their signature poutine. Must try.

BadHappy Sauce Burger

Single patty for $8, then just a dollar more for each additional patty. They're about 6oz a patty, so be careful going for that triple burger. This has BadSauce, HappySauce (see pics of the bottles below), bacon, lettuce, pabalano, onion, and 'Wiz (which I assume is the cheese sauce on top). Great burger, but REALLY messy. Oh, and you can order ANY poutine on the side with a burger for only $3; what a bargain!

RedNeck

BBQ pork, fried mac-n-cheese, fried okra, Carolina cole slaw, PBR (yea, the beer) gravy. Not enough BBQ pork IMO. Mac n cheese was a bit sweet. Overall, this dish works, but not nearly as amazing as the Good, the Bad, and the Happy.

The AfterParty

Big forks bacon sausage, frites, lettuce, BadSauce, fried cheese curds, sunny egg, cajun mayo, and pickles. I didn't get this, but I thought it was worth taking a picture of.

BadSauce, HappySauce

Birthday Cake Shake

This is just 1/3 of the original; Jaime gave us this freebie while we were sitting around talking with her late at night. Amazing. The shakes are awesome, and definitely a must-try. Little pieces of homemade cake thrown in made for delightful little surprises.