Burger Review: Hamburger Mary's

Hamburger Mary's
5400 N Clark St.
Chicago IL

OK, so I've been a member of the Chicago Rocky Horror Picture Show cast, Midnight Madness since the mid 90's and as a straight man who appreciate gay culture quite a bit, I can get behind everything about this place, except the burgers. The burgers are secondary, or possibly even thirdiary (it's not a word, I know, but it works here) to the decor, the atmosphere and the beer list. They have a decent and respectable selection of beers, whether you're into mainstream stuff like Miller products, or if you're looking for Fat Tire or 312. They also have your stock imports like Guinness and Newcastle.
The decor could be a drag queen's bedroom and you would honestly expect to see the ghost of Divine waiting tables. The atmosphere here is great and the wait staff is fairly consistent and friendly. Of course, the busier they are, the less fun the wait staff will have, but this is common with any eatery.
There's a decent selection of appetizers that will accompany your beer well, but unfortunately, their specialty, which they place in the name of the restaurant is not #1.
Their burgers are very obviously frozen patties. This is so incredibly disappointing. Despite them consistently nailing my burger as medium, which I love them for, the over all taste of the meat is that of the cardboard box it came out of. I really really want this place to have better burgers, I really do. Mostly because it's close to home and I really do enjoy the atmosphere.
Now, I'm not saying the burgers are terrible, because they're not. The toppings are tasty and they're very creative with their specialty burgers. I just think that this would go from a good burger to a great burger simply by pressing their own patties. Go ahead, tack on an extra buck to the price of each burger, it's worth it! I'd pay a dollar more for a fantastic burger! Anyone who wouldn't is out of their mind!
That being said, my wife stands behind their turkey pizza burger. This is her usual order and she absolutely loves it. I'm yet to try this, but as soon as I do, I will report back.