Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Counter

Last Friday, we headed out to celebrate some recent FABULOUS news for my dear friend Christie.  I feel weird revealing her personal life on my blog (my friends are troopers enough with my constant camera toting and blog talking) but let me just say, its big, amazing, and fabulous news.  In short, she is getting a huge award/fellowship to finish her Ph.D in Italy!  Oh yes, you read that right...ITALY.  See, I told you it was big news!  And what better way to celebrate big news than gourmet burgers, fancy fried pickles, and "adult" milkshakes :)

DSCN4706After a year of me living in Chicago, I think Christie has finally gotten used to my train photo opps :)

DSCN4710After hearing about The Counter, one of Chicago's favorite build-your-own burger joints, on Gilt City, I knew we had to try it.  (And the discount deal didn't hurt either.)  The "check yes or no" paper menu approach is broken down into 5 catagories: Choose your burger, cheese, toppings, sauce, and bun.

DSCN4715Hahaha, I love this picture.  Jess and Christie were deep into burger building at this point.  Though all the ingredients were amazing, fresh, and some pretty unique, it was totally overwhelming to narrow down your choices!

DSCN4714Me and my burger builder :)  I decided to go with a beef burger with brie cheese, bacon, dried cranberries, lettuce, cucumbers, and apricot sauce on a pretzel bun.  I know it sounds a little crazy, but...

DSCN4717...it was SO GOOD!

DSCN4719And to finish off the meal...adult milkshakes!  We chose the Banana Split which was a banana milkshake with cherry vodka and whip cream.  And not only was it delicious, but the Skyy cherry made it taste just like a one-sip banana split!

DSCN4716The fabulous guest of honor!  I can't wait to see all that God has in store for her in ITALY, eeek!

Anyone else out there a major fan of build-your-own burger spots?  The Counter has several locations across the country, so check out their website to see if there is one near you.  And by the way, in case you're wondering, I am already scheming how I can get myself to Italy to visit Christie.  I mean, I can't let her experience all that fabulousness without me? :)

8 comments:

Unknown said...

We have a few fancy burger joints in my city too, and I love them! I celebrated my 26th birthday with a fancy burger and a spiked milkshake!

Alex Byer said...

Aaaaaah I loveeee The Counter! We had one when I went to school in Connecticut, and it's so delicious. I wish we had one in Massachusetts!

Pilar said...

I haven't been to The Counter yet, but I'll add it our list of burger places to try in the City. The burger looks delicious!

Admin said...

wowzers!! there's nothing like that in England. I think it'd take me half an hour to order!

That's amazing news for your friend. I spent my gap year in Italy and had the best time ever. I met some amazing american girls over on scholarships actually. Very jealous of your friend. She'll have an amazing time. Maybe you should encourage her to start an Americam girl in Italy blog so we can live vicariously through her adventure??!! x

Alison Kinsey said...

this place looks like so much fun! definitely a perfect way to celebrate your friend's big news! :)
those milkshakes look amazing by the way. i definitely would have indulged in one.

PursuitOfLLT said...

yum, yum, yum! this is right around the corner from my friend's place!

and yayayaya for Italy. So jealous...you must find a way to get over there!!

Anonymous said...

I love the Counter!! I didn't realize you can have adult milkshakes, next time my friend, next time :)

Object of Maya*ffection said...

HOW exciting that you are in the Chi too! I've never heard of that burger place BUT the adult milk shake sounds YUMMY!