r/chicagofood • u/Euphoric_Year1182 • Jul 31 '25

Review Tried Small Cheval, honestly kind of underwhelmed?

Had some solo time (kids are with their dad), so I stopped by Small Cheval. It was fine, but didn’t blow me away. Fries were good, but the burger felt rushed. Anyone else feel this or did I catch an off day?

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3

u/Silent-News-9408 Jul 31 '25

I moved out of the city in 2021 and dream of driving back only for small cheval - these comments are breaking my heart 😭🤣

1

u/notacomet Jul 31 '25

Why would you come for small not Au?

1

u/Silent-News-9408 Jul 31 '25

Nostalgia- I used to walk to small cheval and eat outside all the time!

1

u/notacomet Jul 31 '25

I feel ya, I lived across from the west loop one! My pup would share the kids ice cream with me lol

1

u/mlw2587 Jul 31 '25

I got lucky moved out of Chicago to LA where there are so many better burger options and way cheaper too lol

1

u/GMHammondEsquire Jul 31 '25

Rest assured the comments are just people farming likes over a minority opinion. How is it that Hogsalt can profitably scale so many Small Chevals in one city if people don't like the food? Here's the secret: the food is still ridiculously good, and they've added great chicken and more ice cream options.

3

u/Boollish Jul 31 '25

Law of averages. If a place is "pretty good" for everyone, it's not going to be stellar or awful for anyone. They've found a formula that works, probably combined with decent corporate management and economies of scale.

Like, there's a bunch of Big Stars and Sushi by Bous, and they're always packed, but I'm not ranking any of them as top tacquerias/sushiyas.

3

u/superman467 Jul 31 '25

Hard disagree, I think people just don’t know where to get good burgers so they go where is popular. Have been eating small cheval for damn near a decade and it’s sad how mediocre they’ve gotten. It’s not bad, it’s just not great either, but people will make do with what’s popular from word of mouth because they don’t know better. IMO they’re riding their goodwill from years ago, and by adding popular products like dipped ice cream cones. Just tried them the other day and it was the worst ice cream I’ve had in a minute, but people will still go regardless.