Au Cheval

Au Cheval is 4 Charles Lite. That is not an insult.

The burger began in Chicago as Brendan Sodikoff's attempt to make a very simple diner-style cheeseburger, and the New York version still follows that idea. General manager Erika Golz once explained that calling any burger the best forces diners to compare it against their own nostalgia, so the restaurant preferred to say it made a good burger and let guests decide. That philosophy fits the food.

The naming has shifted over the years. Under the older convention a single contained two patties and a double contained three, with the two-patty version built on four-ounce prime patties. The current New York menu calls that two-patty version the Double Cheeseburger.

We ate it with house dijonnaise and house pickles on a butter-toasted brioche bun from Z Baking, with peppered bacon, fried egg, and foie gras available as additions at the time. The current menu adds onions, no longer names the bun or the bakery, and no longer lists foie gras, so treat those details as what we ate rather than today's specifications.

Then you decide how irresponsible you want to be. The base burger is worth ordering on its own, and it is the cleanest way to understand the diner-style construction before bacon and egg begin taking up space. Then order it again with both. The additions make the burger richer and more decadent, but they do not rescue a weak foundation. Au Cheval works because the basic cheeseburger already holds up.

That is where the comparison begins. Both burgers live in the same broader family, and both can carry bacon and egg without turning completely into breakfast. Au Cheval is the streamlined version. Against Monkey Bar the gap runs the other way: the rest of that meal was excellent, but its burger did not perform at this level.

We have both been more than once, though the most recent visit was in 2025 and our burger field has expanded a lot since. Try it without bacon and egg. Then try it with both. That is the assignment.

Au Cheval separates itself by turning a simple diner-style cheeseburger into a polished and repeatable restaurant burger. The base construction remains strong without bacon or egg, while the additions create a richer version without replacing the burger underneath them.

It sits below 4 Charles but meaningfully above Monkey Bar within the same broader style.