The Daily Grub

To say that I love bacon would be a huge-ass understatement — I practically worship it. There currently are four different varieties of bacon hiding in my fridge, and in my Bacon Du Jour blog (which offers up daily tributes to what I fervently believe to be the world’s perfect food). Luckily for my arteries, I only eat a little each day — otherwise I’d be the size of “The Bean” in Millennium Park, and about the same shape.

Unfortunately, not enough Chicago restauranteurs share my love for bacon. If it were up to me, I’d put bacon in every item on every menu; vegetarians of the world be damned. Here in Chicago there are a handful of restaurants that offer up a decent amount of baconlicious foods at their joints — many will bring them right to your door.

Bacon Paddy Burger

Paddy O’Splaines
There are many reasons to love this Lincoln Square bar and grill. There’s the prices — most entrees fall around or below the $10 price range, so you can stuff yourself and not go broke. Plus, I’ve ordered from the place on a handful of occasions, each time the food arriving lightning fast and nuclear hot.

If you’re a bacon lover, you’ve got many reasons to fancy the Paddy O’Splaines menu — the various dishes that feature bacon actually include a healthy dose of the stuff. Order one of their two-fisted burgers, and ask them to put bacon on it.  It’ll only cost you an extra buck, and whereas some restaurants only put one flimsy strip broken in two, this place piles a decent amount of thick strips on.

Other bacony bites include the potato skins app, a crave-worthy salad topped with bacon-wrapped dates, the grilled chicken sandwich and the turkey club — each is excellent, and the bacon don’t stop.

Paddy O’Splaines, 2434 W. Montrose, Chicago, IL

The Fifty/50
Bacon isn’t just a featured player at this Ukrainian Village Restaurant — it’s a main attraction. If you’re a kindred-spirit bacon lover, you’ll be in heaven at brunch, where they offer all-you-can-eat bacon, or a sizeable order of maple-glazed bacon. Unfortunately, they only offer evening delivery, so you can’t log onto GrubHub.com and ask them to back up the truck at your place. You can order for evening delivery the BBBLT — slices of ripe roma tomato, lettuce and plenty of bacon.

Another star-player bacon dish is The Fifty/50’s BLT salad, which sprinkles liberal amounts of bacon over romaine with egg, cherry tomato, and bleu cheese. Many of their sandwiches and house burgers feature bacon, as do the Chicago Club (ham, turkey, bacon and cole slaw) and grilled pork chop (topped with bacon vinaigrette). If you’re parched, you can stop in and order up a “Wobble Stopper”— a porter-kissed bloody mary garnished with a strip of bacon.

The Fifty/50, 2047 W. Division St., Chicago, IL

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Cupcake

Bleeding Heart Bakery
The combination of bacon and chocolate might sound weird, and it is — but it’s also damn delicious. No one knows it better than the good people at this sweetery in Roscoe Village. Nestled among the other gourmet and organic cupcakes in their tantalizing display case is their chocolate peanut butter bacon cupcake. You could leave out the bacon and still have one kickass cupcake — the chocolate cake is rich and moist, and the peanut butter frosting is the best I’ve ever tasted.

With the bits of Nueske’s bacon mixed in the batter, and the slice balanced atop the whole shebang, the sweet treat is elevated from excellent to orgasm-inducing (sorry to be graphic, but it’s just that good). If you’re stuck at home or work and can’t get there to pick up one of the cakes, don’t fear — order through GrubHub.com and BHB will bring them right to your door.

Bleeding Heart Bakery, 1955 W. Belmont, Chicago, IL

Jenni Spinner is a Chicago-based freelance writer and the head lab tech at BaconDuJour.blogspot.com, a blog dedicated to paring various food stuff with the world’s perfect food — bacon.