Charlie Beinlich's — Restaurant in Northfield Township

I recall visiting this North Shore staple and institution back in 2009, Yet I could not remember why I had never returned in all the years since. Met up with a buddy new to the area and low and behold we ended up at CB. We both ordered a 16 oz Heineken (only 2 beers on tap). My friend ordered a cup of chili and I ordered a shrimp cocktail before our meal. We both ordered cheeseburgers that come with fries and a small side of coleslaw. We were both hungry so the appetizers were woofed down followed by beer. The cheeseburgers arrived open-faced, nearly beige due to the cheddar, 3 pickle chips, raw onion (you can opt for fried), ore ida krinkle kut style fries (also beige) and the small slaw (also beige), If the kitchen was aiming for a study in Monochromatic presentation -- boy they nailed it. Thank God for ketchup, Yellow Mustard, and A-1 steak sauce. Without such condiments to notch up the flavor and mask the unexciting griddle cooked burgers and previously frozen fries. I cannot explain how the burger tasted other than to say it tastes like a barely cooked ground beef patty with melted cheddar draped over it like a good tablecloth. I don't believe I have had a less tasteful (aka flavorless) burger. I have had worse burgers like the one in Paris that was nearly raw and 5 months later had me in the hospital for 6 and a half weeks fighting off 4 strains of parasites that nearly killed me. So I guess you would say I am picky? Not at all, Any fast food burger, school lunch mystery meat burger, or even an overpriced gourmet burger would have been preferred over the pathetic excuse for a roadhouse style establishment to serve its guests. A silly thing like tradition and history can't change the truth your taste buds tell.

Roll foreboding music here: Duh Duh Duh, but wait there's more. Then the bill came. If you go to CB, then you know the drill. No menus, just a semblance of a food list on the wall in the northwest corner of the bar. It is a list, not a menu. If it were a menu it would have prices. Only fine dining establishments much higher up the food chain can get away with no prices, or the all encompassing term: Market Price.

Back to the check, the bill, the scribbles of non-sense. It arrived with a $96 total. Which was wrong and adjusted to $88. We paid the bill plus tip and walked out the door at $104. We realized the star of the meal was the beer, and we're okay with it. Adding insult to injury is the price you are bamboozled into paying. At that price, let's face it, the food is shitty. Wait!! OMG. That's the flavor of the food...shitty. This place left such a taste in my mouth, a dent in my wallet, and hopefully a very long term memory to keep me from ever...

The more things change the more they stay the same. This is true for Charlie Beinlich's Food & Tap. Nothing has changed about the interior decor. I have been visiting Beinlich's (as known to the locals) since the mid-80s and I can honestly say that nothing has changed. From the menu to the wood-paneled covered walls to the fish hanging dead center above the bar; nothing has changed.

I visited last night with my Burger Club (we visit local places that are known for their burgers. Recommendations come from locals, social media posts about local burger joints, and reputable articles in local print media. We do not do this for free food. It's our opinions. And we rate the burgers on a 0 to 5 scale. Beinlich's received a 3.25.

We first started with their well-known shrimp cocktails. We had two for the table. They were medium sized shrimp doused in cocktail sauce. I could do with a lot less sauce and a little lemon. There was a lemon wedge that added a little zest to the shrimp, but the sauce overpowered the taste of the shrimp.

The burgers were pretty good. The bottom bun barely held up to the juiciness of the burger...which one would think was then bursting with flavor. Not so much. If the burger recipe has held true since the place opened in the 1950s, one would think the burgers had good flavor. The opposite is true here. There was little flavor, but it was overly juicy which left you with the flavor of whatever you added to your burger. In my case, the cheddar, pickles and mustard. I could taste all three, including the bun, which left little room for the meaty profile of their fresh burgers that are delivered daily from Lakeside Farms in Winnetka, IL. The fries were made perfectly and were quite tasty. The burgers also come with cole slaw. I'm not a slaw guy, but I traded pickles for slaw with one of the guys in my group as long as he rated the slaw. He said it was very good and on the creamy side (not vinegar).

For a Tuesday night, the place was packed consistently until they closed at 9pm. Make no mistake, this is a local pub and the locals come out for the decent food, drinks (which are quite inexpensive for a pub), and ambience of their local watering hole. It's cash only, so...

Heard from a friend for the famous burger from Charlie Beinlich's. After a while I was in neighborhood so decided to stop by and try it out. Coming in was different than usual pubs that you go. Very old school looking place, feeling is like a cabin deep in forest in 1950's. A lot of wood, fish on walls etc.. There's no menu on tables, there's black board by the bar and there are not many options, burger/cheeseburger, roast beef & shrimp cocktail. There are no prices either. Server was food runner, bartender and server, like back in Europe. I went with double cheeseburger, if you want fries it costs extra and it comes with coleslaw as well, which I don't care for. I put lettuce and mayo, very basic, I wanted to taste meat mostly. The meat was moist, very GOOD QUALITY ground beef, not seasoned too much, but cheese and mayo helped it with taste, I was very satisfied, it is really one of the best burgers I ever had. I believe for most people single burger is enough (it's 1/3 of a pound), I was really hungry and went with double. I don't understand people saying "overpriced", "mcdonalds could save you money" Sure but it's about quality of meat, so I don't agree with those comments and people sayin receipts are written on paper bla bla, I mean people just complaining about not important stuff, menus, receipts, price.. It was 40$ for 2 people, and it was worth every single penny!! This place is CASH ONLY. Huge recommendation for everyone to try...