Poutine at The Bad Happy Poutine Shop

At first glance, it looks like a mound of something your 16 year-old cousin would throw together after a late-night run through a fast food drive-through lane. But poutine is revered with almost religious fervor in the Canadian province of Quebec. And while the Olympic team might not be training on it this week, you can be their fellow countrymen dig their forks into a heaping plate of poutine any chance they get. It’s essentially French fries covered in rich gravy, speckled with blobs of squishy cheese curds. I’ve seen several versions in Chicago recently, but none better than at the aptly named Bad Happy Poutine Shop on N. Orleans.