Right around my 50th burger, I began to dream in ground beef. You'd imagine that devouring so many would result in some fat-fueled nightmare, that grease would have clogged my brain and saturated my blood stream. But I felt lucid and sharp, closer than ever to understanding the mystery of America's favorite food. (Call it burger enlightenment, if you will.) In January, I had challenged myself to find the best burger in Chicago. To do so, I knew I'd have to eat more than a lot. Though I tried my best, no human could or should eat every burger in Chicago. I made it to 71, which I think is sufficiently crazy for a month of work. Plus, I never plan to stop. I hope to update this list regularly. New burger spots keep opening, and I still have a group of 50 places or so that I need to eventually get to. Look out for updates. But at this moment in the quest, this list comprises Chicago's 25 best, ranked from least to best. No dish comes close to matching the burger's all-encompassing popularity. It is everywhere. Chicago may be famous for its hot dogs and pizza, but more chefs obsess over the burger, from the tiniest fast food stand to the fanciest downtown hotel. Lavish this much attention on any food, and you'll end up with fascinating results. That's definitely the case here, where one-upmanship has led to a burger scene stuffed with a wild assortment of styles and sizes. (Not to mention prices.)

You, no doubt, have definite opinions on the right kind of cheese, toppings and bun for the perfect burger. I used to. But slowly over the course of the month, I realized that there are many kinds of great burgers, both big and small, spare and complex, and that the summit of burger mountain can be reached by innumerable paths. I learned so much over the month. You should be able to pick a burger apart, to examine every element, and it should taste good. But a burger is not just about the beef, nor is it about the toppings and the bun. It's about how all those combine into something better. That explains how a dive bar burger at less than $5 can satisfy more than a $20 monstrosity downtown. Quality matters, but so do construction skills. That said, onions play a far more important role than I ever imagined. Before this quest, I thought of them like backup singers — a great addition to a band, but not exactly essential. But they are as important as the drums. They add crunch and sharpness when raw, and savory sweetness when caramelized. They somehow make beef taste beefier. There's not a burger on this list without them. For transparency, and to hopefully ward off unnecessary emails from clogging my inbox, I'll list all the places I visited but that didn't make the top 25. Many of these are quite good. In fact, the standard in this town is frighteningly high. The best weren't just good, they somehow achieved greatness.

Map of the top-25 burgers in Chicago

The rest Restaurants where I tried the burger, but they didn't make the cut for the top 25. 25 Degrees Big & Little's Big Guys Sausage Big Jones Bistronomic Boba Burger Boeufhaus Butcher and the Burger Chicago Cut Steakhouse Chop Shop Chow Bros. Cold Storage Devil Dawgs Eight Bar Frunchroom GT Prime Hamburger Heaven Heritage Kevin's Hamburger Heaven Little Bad Wolf M Burger Maillard Tavern Marc Burger Mikkey's Retro Grill Mindy's Hot Chocolate Monnie Burke's Mordecai Mr. D's Shish Kabobs Nicky's Grill & Yogurt Oasis Nicky's Hot Dogs Nickys The Real Mccoy Pacific Standard Time Poochie's Prairie Grass Cafe Pub Royale R U Hungry RPM Steak Scofflaw Small Cheval Swift & Sons Swill Inn That's a Burger The Burger Point The Moonlighter The Region Twain