White Sox Rookie Yermín Mercedes Honored With New Burger

South Side restaurant honors Yermín Mercedes through food originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Yermín Mercedes has already made his mark on the baseball diamond, just two weeks into the MLB season. But now he’s making a mark on Chicago’s food scene. The folks at Freddie’s on 31st, a restaurant located just a few blocks away from Guaranteed Rate Field, have taken notice of Mercedes' hot start, so they created a “Yermínator” burger featuring Dominican flavors in his honor.

“We knew that he was a newer player and we really wanted to highlight him, because we think he’s going to do really great things with the Sox,” said Brittany Bertucci, one of the owners at Freddie’s. “I think other White Sox fans feel the same way, because we’ve gotten a lot of traction for it. They’ve been ordering it. We always sell a ton of burgers, but I think this one’s just a little special and a little more flavorful than what we usually offer.”

Freddie’s wanted to create a burger that truly represented Mercedes, so they did some research into classic Dominican flavors and found the country’s famous chimichurri burger, colloquially known as a “chimi.” Since Freddie’s is an Italian joint, making up a chimi burger broadens their horizons a bit.

“We grill everything (to make the burger), which we typically don’t do,” Bertucci said. “So we put grilled onions, grilled tomato, grilled peppers on there, toast the bun, grill it, and we even made a special sauce to try and imitate what you would taste if you went over there.”

If you want to visit Freddie’s and order up a Yermínator it’ll run you $4.85, a nod to Mercedes’ 485-foot homer he hit on the White Sox home opener.

Bertucci said this is the first player-inspired food item they’ve put on their menu. But if the Sox keep hitting— and Yermínators keep selling— maybe they’d consider other fun options? Since Freddie’s is an Italian restaurant, “Tim Anderson’s Spaghetti Dinner” seems like a slam dunk. An “MVPito” Cuban sandwich could be fun too. Or maybe Vegemite could be available upon request for all the Australian Liam Hendricks fans?

Ok, that last one is a stretch, so maybe I should just leave the menu curation to the pros. But regardless of whether Freddie’s expands beyond the “Yermínator,” they want the team to succeed.

“We’re hoping the Sox have a great year this year,” Bertucci said. “We all deserve it after the past year we’ve all been through, so we’re hoping for great things.”

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