First Taste: Parts and Labor Chicago Restaurant

If there's one thing I love more than burgers, it's the sensation of eating them in a setting that makes me feel like I'm in a hip garage. So it's no surprise I am smitten with Parts and Labor restaurant, a sentiment especially unsurprising considering my adoration for the new Logan Square burger bar's sister spot, Boiler Room. The team that makes these two concepts tick is one I can get behind for their solid vision and execution of places that are incredibly focused and concise, with abbreviated menus focused on limited items, with well-curated environments that are at once fun, riotous, and refined. Here's why Parts and Labor should be on your burger radar:

(Parts and Labor burger and onion rings)

The Atmosphere

In the same vein as Boiler Room, a pizza bar bedecked with CTA garb designed to capture a transit-themed motif, Parts and Labor skews rustic and grungy with a garage-themed atmosphere. The space is dark, earthy, and loud, pretty much how I expect car repair shops to be on any given evening. Tall ceilings, a sprawling space, and ample windows serve to provide a smooth segue from Milwaukee Avenue to the restaurant, giving Parts and Labor a genuine street feel. Although the vibe is garage, that shouldn't suggest it's gritty and abrasive. Rather, the space takes a highly polished approach to its rustic decor, ensuring all the walls and floors are slick, the backdrop is refined, and each element is thoughtful and smart. A series of dark ladders behind the long, smooth wooden bar are a nice eye-catcher, along with a general assemblage of intertwined metal work throughout the airy interior. It's less like a typical burger restaurant and more like a merry garage party that happens to have killer burgers.

The Food

And speaking of the burgers, Parts and Labor does good work in the ground beef department. The menu is super simple and short, with optional beef or black bean patties and an assortment of classic toppings on fluffy buns. Although the burgers come on buns that are borderline too bready and distracting, this is beefy Americana at its finest. One bite is a transcendent experience right back to the drive-in burger joints of yore, oozing with mayo, lettuce, onions, pickles, cheese, and ketchup. The standard burder order here is a double patty striation, as each patty is mercifully thin and well-griddled. Side dishes are just as classic and well made, from the crisp curly fries to the masterful onion rings, a pyramid-sized mound of flash-fried vegetation entombed in tempura-like batter. There's also a couple salads, fried giardiniera, fried pickles, fried Twinkies, and some floats.

The Drinks

Unsurprisingly for a burger bar, beer is king at Parts and Labor. The drink list sports an ample array of beers that run the gamut from special craft pours to familiar American favorites. Don't overlook the cocktails, however. While I enjoyed my burger and sides, the cocktail practically stole the show. As recommended by our charismatic waitress, the Washington Island Collins was indeed marvelous, an all-too-easy-to-slurp amalgam of Death's Door gin, lemon, and Joia grapefruit soda. Other dandy cocktail options include Fernet & Coke, a random but not unwelcome ode to Argentina, a Dark & Stormy, a Bourbon Buck, and a Jalisco Collins made with Ranchero Silver tequila, lime, and Sioux City prickly pear soda.

The Back Story

Parts and Labor's owner Russ Grant has burgers in his blood. In the good way, not the heart attack way. His father opened south side institution Wonderburger in 1954, and generations of the family have worked there over the years, honing their burger skills and cementing the Grant name as one of Chicago's preeminent burger broods. The restaurant peddles classic thin griddle burgers, something Grant wanted to replicate and pay homage to with Parts and Labor. Mission accomplished.

- Matt Kirouac