Looking For A Burger

I came across this lovely picture of what looks like a splendid burger on Motz's website. This is the first of about eight. Check it out. This one is found at Slick's in Mangum, Oklahoma. Another stop on my middle-of-the-USA jaunt this coming spring/summer. Motz's book Hamburger America shows a lot of worthwhile places in the middle of the country. I would suggest removing the onions and the tomato and eating them separately, and maybe take out some of the lettuce, add a little more butter and there you are, unless you want some toast rather than a bun.

Hamburger America: Completely Revised and Updated: 150 Great Burger Joints

This is the 2nd edition of this very useful compendium of burger joints all over the country. George Motz has spent a fair amount of time and money researching these places. The first edition had 100 places in it, this one has 150. Only two of the original 100 have dropped out for the usual reasons. These are not the only places you can get a decent burger, just a guide to what they are and where they are, in case some future restauranteur with a nostalgic bent is wondering what did attract a diverse bunch of people back in the 40s and 50s and still does.

From the Introduction: "To make the list, the burger had to be from fresh ground beef (chuck, sirloin, rump—something good from a cow) and never frozen. In most cases age, provenance, and historical context played a factor in deciding what was most relevant for this book. . . . And naturally, the burger had to excite and satisfy this expert's taste buds." So, the listed places have usually been around for a long time, and often they are down home kind of places so much so that the wonder is they are still in business.

Not every state is represented, I saw nothing from Arizona or Wyoming, and per capita, Montana's two entries are probably right up there with the likes of California, Texas, Oklahoma, and not surprisingly, Wisconsin. He includes Matt's Place Drive-In in Butte and The Missoula Club in Missoula, pretty good places to get a decent burger. It's a little surprising that no place in Billings was listed but maybe The Burger Dive will qualify for future editions, if it stays open long enough.

I've tried some of the places in Wisconsin, Colorado, Washington, Montana, and New Mexico. The all measure up but in a sort of Pass/Fail sort of way of grading. Maybe that is the way we should grade burger places anyway. I will keep trying others and let you know what I think.

Juicy Lucy From The Burger Dive Gets High Score

I didn't see the sign above at The Burger Dive on 27th St, near the corner of 1st Ave and 27th St. This is the logo I borrowed from their presence on Facebook. What I did see is taken from near the sidewalk entrance. See below.

I surfed around on the Net and found some info on the place in Jan Falstad's column from early September of 2010. There are multiple Facebook entries and of course, UrbanSpoon has some reviews and other things.

I was reminded of some burger joints I knew from my earlier days prowling around Milwaukee and Chicago. That would be in the 40s and 50s of the last century.

 Maybe someone should nominate these folks for the 3rd edition of George Motz's Hamburger America. The second edition should be out soon, supposed to add quite a few to the 100 or so places featured in the 1st edition. I visited a few of those, one just south of Denver, another just outside Santa Fe, another in Sacramento, and two in Minneapolis featuring Juicy Lucys. They were all good though Motz seemed to emphasize small and down home sort of places, the kind that makes you wonder how anything so good can come from a place like that.

The place seemed clean and the customers and waitpeople were agreeable; the latter were very helpful. They are only open for lunch during the week, about 10:30 to 3:00 or so. No beer/wine.

The menu featured a lot of special burgers, including the above-mentioned Juicy Lucys: these are two quarter pounders with a decent-sized chunk of American cheese between them. Be careful when you first bite into it as the cheese is very hot and can squirt in an explosive way. Stick your fork or knife in it to let off the pressure. The piece of bacon is optional. The buns were pretty good too, slightly toasted on the insides.

Next time I go I will try the "Blackened Sabbath" Burger even if it alludes to some anti-Christian ideas as bleu—is that the way we spell it now?—cheese, blackened by spices, and topped with bacon are mighty alluring to me.

My picture of the menu didn't come out but it looked like there were some good shakes and malts, as well as things besides burgers, like Nathan's hot dogs. The soups change from day to day. Mine was a nice bacon and potato chowder on Monday.

This is a place worth going back too, especially if your alias is J Wellington Wimpy.

Saw a Lot of Steak 'n Shakes on Road Trip Wisconsin to Florida

But we didn't stop because we were anxious to move on at the time. I have recently found out that we made a major mistake in not stopping at least for one burger. I guess the "steak" part threw me off. This information is from a superb burger website called A Hamburger Today, and so are the pictures. AHT will be recognized as an allusion to Popeye's friend, J Wellington Wimpy, whose memorable quote was "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Unfortunately, though they have over 500 locations they all seem to be on the east side of the Mississippi. Will do my best to rectify the situation the next time we go off to Florida or anywhere east of the Big River. I can even remember one of my brothers pointing out as we were heading out to a Red Lobster for dinner that Steak 'n Shake had good burgers and they put out a fairly decent breakfast as well. But I ignored him, to my later chagrin. Does that look good and plain like burgers and buns should look or what? I love that shininess on the top of the bun. Nothing beats butter.

About burgers

THE STORY OF 'HAMBURGER CHARLIE'

In 1885, 15-year-old Charles Nagreen sold meatballs at the Seymour Fair. To satisfy people who wanted to walk around and eat, he flattened the meatballs into patties, sandwiched them between two pieces of bread and called his creations "hamburgers." "Hamburger Charlie" sold burgers at the fair for 66 years. Both the Food Channel and the Travel Channel have produced programs on Burger Fest and the origin of the burger.

There is a story in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

RIP: Al Cassell

Go here for a nice eulogy of this guy and his burgers.

Now This Is A Useful Graph

I can't resist peeking at this site every morning.

A Hamburger Today

From time to time I post something about a good meal and especially a good hamburger. I thought it would be helpful to my readers to point out a website that does that sort of thing really seriously and well.

It seems to be a conglomeration of dining blogsites including Serious Eats and Adam Kuban's A Hamburger Today —that is where the picture above comes from, and Slice, which I think is a pizza website. I find the AHT site very helpful. The latest entry is an illustrated compendium of various hamburger and cheeseburger styles. Nicely done too.

I Left My Heart in Green Bay

There are many reasons to like Green Bay, not the least being the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, and a cousin by the name of Lynne Glinski. Brett? Brett who? Never heard of him. The above was taken in the 2 story clothing, souvenir and memorabilia shop at the Mecca of Wisconsin, Lambeau Field. This 1958 pick up truck was for sale but I forgot to check the price. If you have to ask you can't afford it. It is filled with plastic cheeseheads made in China.

Now I am offering a couple more reasons to love Green Bay. The first is a friend that I haven't seen for around fifty years. Dale Bartel, formerly of Hustisford and Lebanon, and now retired in Green Bay Wisconsin, claims that I helped him celebrate his 21st birthday. Maybe I did, my memory on that is not clear, but I do remember playing trombone in a high school quartet with him, and I have some evidence of that from a high school annual of the late 50s.That's me top back and Dale far right. And here we are 50 years later.

We had a great time bringing each other up to date on our lives since the last time we saw each other. We even discovered a common interest in genealogical activities centering on the area of Pomerania, on the Baltic, now divided between Germany and Poland, with the majority of it belonging to the latter as that was where some of our common ancestors came from.

And the second is a marvelous burger that I sampled at lunch at the Rite View Restaurant. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the burger but I did capture a picture of the lovely little garden just outside the entrance to this very nice restaurant. The burger is called Joe's Combo and consists of a normal beef burger pressed up close with a brat burger, together with any condiments thought necessary to practice a safe lunch.

I'm sure there are multiple other reasons to like Green Bay but this should be enough for now. More later.

Good Burgers in the Socialist Republic of Madison

This was a pretty good burger with a little cheese and a tomato. Done just right, medium, warm and pink in the middle with a decent bun around it. Find it at the Blue Moon Bar and Grille in downtown Madison WI, evidence of gustatorial entrepreneurship, even in the face of full press socialism of the city. some nice pictures on the website and a map to tell you how to get there.


By the way, sometimes it is helpful to look at one's own blogroll. I was doing that today and came across this useful entry. The next time we are in that Burger Belt we will not lack for burger places to sniff out.

Cooke City Burger

Soon after you get to the top of the world on your way to Yellowstone Park via the BearTooth Highway you can stop at the Soda Butte Lodge in Cooke City and try the marvelous burger with bleu cheese and bacon at their Prospector Restaurant. Eat it slowly with some tasty micro-brew from nearby as you acclimatize yourself to the altitude.

"I'd be glad to pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."—J. Wellington Wimpy