TV show descends on Yorkville, declaring it a ‘Burger Capital’

Yorkville’s burger scene is getting noticed, with one Chicago-based television show traveling west to highlight outstanding local restaurants.

While visiting restaurants for the premier episode of NBC Chicago’s “Poochie & Pang Eat Chicago,” food writer Kevin Pang said during the show, “I think within a 5-square radius of here are some of the best burgers anywhere in Illinois.”

His co-host, Roberta “Poochie” Jackson, from the famed The Wiener’s Circle in Chicago, said comically during the show that Yorkville should rebrand itself as “the burger capital of north central Kendall County.” The show airs on NBC at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 and can also be streamed on YouTube.

Denise Siddon, who, along with her husband Mike, owns Bristol Tap, one of the featured restaurants in the show, said she could feel the buzz in the community once she posted about the camera crew coming.

“Our customers were so excited, it was wall to wall with people by 11 a.m. for the filming,” she said. “Everybody loved being a part of it, the filming lasted 2-3 hours. Our community has always been very supportive of us. They enjoy seeing such a small town being put on the map.”

Mike Siddon said since buying the restaurant three-and-a-half years ago, he made sure the secret burger recipe, unchanged for 30 years, continued strong. They make the patties fresh every morning with meat directly from Dave’s Meat Market in Yorkville. He called Dave’s “the best meat market this side of the Fox River.” He said along with their traditional burgers, their brat burgers and marinated chicken have become favorites.

“When people first walk in, they notice the grilling smell because the flat grill is right behind the bar,” Denise Siddon said. “People love watching us cook and prepare their burgers. When we took over as owners, we wanted to keep the hometown bar feeling that attracts the community. Keeping that meant a lot to us and to the people who have been coming here since they were of age.”

Yorkville Mayor John Purcell is also featured in the show when Poochie comically presents a tourism promo video to him. The mayor respectfully rejects it due to its crass language.

“I’ve never been a part of something like that, it was actually quite fun,” Purcell said. “I now realize how many takes TV shows like this do. I’m excited for people in Yorkville to see it, but I don’t think I’m going to get an acting job out of it anytime soon.”

Purcell said he was surprised when the NBC crew reached out to the town. He said it was a tremendous opportunity to show the whole Chicago region what great restaurants and culture Yorkville has to offer.

“We have a lot of mom and pop restaurants with really unique identities and food,” Purcell said. “We don’t really have a lot of the big chains here. I think that’s what really sets our town apart and the fact that our community is so open and friendly to visitors and each other.”

Rafael Gomez, owner of Crusade Burger Bar, another of the burger joints featured in the show, joked that he was becoming comfortable in front of cameras because his downtown Yorkville restaurant was also featured in an episode of WGN’s “Chicago’s Best.”

“It was surprising because the show reached out to the village and to us,” Gomez said. “People tend to love our menu because everything’s over the top. The burgers are over the top. The shakes are over the top. They really tend to stand out from the rest of the restaurant crowd.”

Gomez said he was nervous opening up his restaurant back in 2016, because he wasn’t sure if the community was going to embrace his experimental burgers. He said the support of the community has continued to inspire his staff to be as imaginative as possible with new menu items.

“It’s such a group effort, I’ve turned in recipe ideas, our chefs and managers have all had ideas, even my kids have turned in ideas,” Gomez said. “We do new burgers monthly, sometimes weekly, and take inspiration wherever we can find it. Our most popular burger right now, called ‘Bite the Flesh,’ has mac and cheese on top.”

Gomez said he hopes the show helps spread the word of Yorkville’s great cuisine and small town feel, where everybody knows everybody.

“People associate us as a metal music bar, but at our core we are truly a family restaurant,” Gomez said. “Being a father of six, we love showing people how family driven we are. Being able to see kids and parents together, teammates of my kids, and local teachers, it’s such a prideful thing for me.”