Three Crowns
Tre Kronor sits across the street from Chicago’s North Park University, a university founded by Swedes. It makes sense that there would be a Swedish-influenced restaurant nearby. I’d seen Tre Kronor several times, but never realized that it serves Swedish-influenced diner food. It’s been serving food since 1992 and is a popular destination for those working and attending the university.
I had my mind set on ordering potato hash with ham and a sunny-side-up egg on top (pytt-i-panna), which was my go to lunch for a few days in the Volvo cafeteria in Gothenburg. It was not to be – it wasn’t on the menu (but perhaps is an occasional daily special?). The menu does have a wide variety of breakfast favorites, including omelets, French toast, waffles, Swedish pancakes, and the very famous muesli over yogurt that was my breakfast nearly every day I was in Sweden. For dinner, things get a little more exotic, and you can get pickled herring, gravlax, Swedish meatballs, and salmon.
Burger with Creamy Havarti
Half View
The half pound Angus burger arrived very juicy, a little closer to medium than medium rare, but fine. The beef wasn’t very seasoned, but it had a slight char to it. The melted Havarti cheese was a nice addition. It was very creamy and mild, slightly buttery-tasting, which complimented the beef. The burger came with raw onions that weren’t overly sharp, along with leaf lettuce and tomato. It also had some very amazing house-made pickles (or pickled cucumbers, according to the menu), which were very expertly made. The crisp, slightly sour, slightly sweet pickle added a different flavor profile and some texture to the burger. This is really a high-end diner burger, probably not among the best in the city, but definitely a pleasant surprise, especially the pickles.
The burger came with a side of pan-fried potatoes. These were large chunks of potato that were very tender and had crisp edges. The potatoes made the burger feel a little more like breakfast or brunch instead of just lunch.
Reuben Half with Lots of Cheese
The Reuben was of very good quality and stacked high with Jarlsberg cheese, probably at least 5 or 6 thin slices. The limpa toast (rye bread) was well toasted and buttery. The Reuben was piled with thick slices of corned beef and a little bit of sauerkraut. I liked the flavor, which had a lot to do with the large quantity of cheese on the sandwich.
Guy Fieri had visited Tre Kronor for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives shortly before my visit, and his insignia was up on the wall. The episode hasn’t aired yet, according to the show website, and I’m not sure if it will in the future. Actually, on the very well designed and stylish Tre Kronor website, it looks as though the episode will finally air on 24 August, so tune in and go behind the scenes. (Perhaps we’ll get to see The Weiner and Still Champion footage on a segment in the new season as well?)
Tre Kronor is serving up some excellent Swedish-influenced diner food, based on the burger and Reuben. Judging from these two standard diner dishes, I can only imagine that the more traditional Swedish and Scandinavian offerings are exceptional, especially if you’re a Swede in America and missing them.
Tags: chicago, hamburgers, havarti, jarlsberg, reuben
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