Entries tagged with 'Wisconsin'
Posted by Sarah Wolf, May 27, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Patty wants to take care of you.
Get psyched—tomorrow is National Hamburger Day! Of course, this is a holiday that should really be celebrated every day (just like Earth Day... well, sort of). But for those Midwesterners who want to make it a truly special occasion, Patty Burger will be offering a free single with cheese, an order of fries, and a drink in exchange for a burger from anywhere else.
As owner Gregg Majewski has proclaimed, "No one should have to celebrate this special day with a bad burger." He also added, "Give me your tired, your poor, your underweight, overcooked, neglected patties. Bring me your soggy buns, wilted lettuce, under-ripe tomatoes, and other tasteless toppings."
The offer is good from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at Patty Burger's Chicago and Milwaukee locations.
Patty Burger
72 E. Adams Street, Chicago IL 60603; 312-987-0900
1952 N. Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53202; 414-271-3800
pattyburger.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2007 at 12:05 PM
OTHER BLOGGERS, OTHER BURGERS
Texas Burger Guy visits Wallbanger's in Corpus Christi, a Fuddrucker-esque build-your-own burger joint. Gives it a 6 out of 10 overall. 4100 South Staples Street, Corpus Christi TX 78411; 361-855-8007
The Chicago Burger Project, which is gunning to try all 55 of Time Out Chicago's Top 55 burgers, visits Susie's Drive Thru. The Western Burger there is "unremarkable." 4126 West Montrose Avenue, Chicago IL 60641; 773-283-6544
Blogger Matt Bites on Chimichurri, the Dominican hamburger: "In the simplest of terms chimichurri is a Dominican hamburger. But a burger of the highest, messiest order and one that left me swooning and pining and all those other hyperbolic terms we love to use. Imagine a soft bun, a patty, grilled tomatoes and onions, cabbage (sometimes quickly pickled) and dollops of mayonnaise and ketchup. It's messy, greasy, and one of the tastiest things to pass my lips in such a long time."
Chicagoist hits up Top Notch Beefburger on the Windy City's South Side: "The burgers here, hand formed from fresh beef ground daily, take you back to a time when GIs walked the streets with pockets full of money, ready to cut themselves a slice of good time. Which makes sense, since the place dates all the way back to 1942. After sixty-five years, you'd think they could do this in their sleep." 2116 West 95th Street 60643; 773-445-7218
The lament of a disgruntled fast-food worker in Kuwait.
OPENINGS
La Jolla, California — Burger Lounge: New burger joint serves grass-fed, free-range burgers: "And then there's the special taste of grass-fed beef. My hamburger was remarkably juicy with an honest, meaty flavor. It reminded me of the skillet burgers my dad made when I was a kid." 1101 Wall Street, La Jolla CA 92037; 858-456-0196
Roanoke, Virginia — Phantastic Burger: The family opening it is named Phan. Get it? Phantastic Burger? It'll be open in the food court of Valley View Mall in September. 4802 Valley View Boulevard Northwest, Roanoke VA 24012, in the food court
MILWAUKEE LOVES SLIDERS
The Journal Sentinel checks in with a great survey of tiny hamburgers in the Milwaukee area. On the list: Firefly Urban Bar & Grill, 7754 West Harwood Avenue, Wauwatosa WI 53213; Buckley's Kiskeam Inn, 801 North Cass Street, Milwaukee WI 53202; Mikey's, 811 East Jefferson Street, Milwaukee WI 53202; Café Hollander, 2608 North Downer Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53211; Cans Bar and Canteen, 1185 East Kenilworth Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53202; Hooligan's Super Bar, 2017 East North Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53202
BRITISH MEAL
The Times of London finds "the best burger in New York" at The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien. 118 West 57th Street, New York NY 10019; 212-245-5000
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 27, 2007 at 2:15 PM
To get you amped for tomorrow's burger event at Water Taxi Beach, I thought I'd dig into the Serious Eats archives and pull the following video to the front page here for insight into what makes a proper Butter Burger, one of the three regional American burgers being served tomorrow. Enjoy!
This clip is an excerpt from burger documentary Hamburger America by filmmaker and burgermeister George Motz. The complete video is available on DVD at Mr. Motz's website, HamburgerAmerica.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 16, 2007 at 11:44 AM
Photograph from the Flickr photostream of the real janelle
Don't mess with Texas.
A state legislator there is embroiled in a burger battle with Louis' Lunch of New Haven, Connecticut, over which state can claim to be the birthplace of the hamburger.
Louis' Lunch, which opened in 1895, claims to have come up with the marvelous idea in 1900, when a hurried customer requested something he could eat on the run. Republican state representative Betty Brown, however, has proposed a resolution in the Texas legislature declaring Athens, Texas, as rightful birthing ground, noting that Fletcher Davis sold burgers from a luncheonette there in the late 1800s.
Things have gotten heated. Says New Haven mayor John DeStefano Jr.:
"It's a well-known and established fact that New Haven is the home of the hamburger. In fact, New Haven's claim to the hamburger is even supported and documented in the Library of Congress."
In our own research (admittedly web-based), we found yet another city calling itself the home of the burger: Seymour, Wisconsin. There, in 1895, it's said that "Hamburger" Charlie Nagreen started selling the mighty meaty sandwich. (Here's AHT's History of the Hamburger post.) If it came down to it, AHT would put its money on "Hamburger Charlie," if only because Wisconsin happens to be the birthplace of this site's founder.
This is a debate that will never be resolved, we think, only because there seems to be scant hard evidence as to who and when invented the burger as we know it.
Texas lawmaker challenges burger history [Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader]
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 18, 2006 at 11:55 AM
After a brief hiatus, ladies and gentlemen, Grilled is back. This week's installment is Peter Meehan, who has discovered and relayed the news of some of New York's finest burgers in the pages of the New York Times. Because he wishes to retain his anonymity for the purposes of his reviews, we do not have a photograph—apologies to those of you who enjoy rating the relative hotness of each new Grilled subject as compared with my sister. Without further ado, let's get Grillin'! —The Mgmt.
Name: Peter Meehan
Occupation: "$25 and Under" columnist for the New York Times
Location: New York City
How often do you eat burgers?
Once or twice a week at most. Back before I was reviewing restaurants, I probably ate three or four burgers a week.
Where did you eat your most recent one?
BLT Burger. I’ve taken a short burger break after bingeing at BLT.
Cheese: American, cheddar, other?
American, I guess. Seems like the patriotic answer. But I am open to almost any melty cheese on a burger. I have more specific feelings about what cheese choices I object to: I love blue cheese and mozzarella, but I don’t think either belongs on a hamburger; and I don’t like burgers blanketed in any outré or overly pedigreed cheese.
Ketchup or mustard?
Mustard on the burger, ketchup on the side. I think a truly great burger needs no ketchup. (But I have a very strong affinity for ketchup, so there’s a good chance I’m still going to eat at least part of that truly great burger with it.)
Sesame-seed or plain?
That’s tough. Sesame-seed buns do seem like the platonic ideal of hamburger bun-ness. But there are many seedless buns on burgers I like. Seedless potato rolls are perfect for the Shake Shack burger. The choice of ciabatta for the smaller burger at DuMont burger is inspired. The English muffin as a burger bracket has always struck me as a pointless East Coast affectation, but it serves Gabrielle Hamilton’s lamburger [at Prune] well. Before eating at Royale, I would have said “absolutely no brioche” because every hamburger I’d eaten on a brioche bun up to that point was way too rich. Not theirs. Plus it had sesame seeds. So I’m waffling, but ultimately going sesame. Final answer.
Grilled, griddled, or broiled?
All of the above. Didn’t George Motz teach us that burgers can be steamed and deep-fried, too? Is there even a verb for what they do to the burgers at Louis’ Lunch in New Haven? I find grilling and broiling to be the surest approaches to properly cooked patties, but I have no allegiance to any one style.
And how would you like that done, sir?
Medium-rare. Bonus points if the thing gets a chance to rest for a few minutes before it’s served, though I can’t think of a single restaurant where that happens.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 18, 2006 at 11:40 AM
Over on A Hamburger Today parent site Serious Eats, we've got a great video of Glendale, Wisconsin's Solly's Grille from George Motz's burger biopic Hamburger America.
Solly's Grille, located incongruously next to the Milwaukee Heart Hospital, is famous for the Wisconsin regional delight known as the butter burger. A liberal dollop of Dairy State butter is applied to the burger just after patty hits bun. How much butter? Dude. It's insane.
Hamburger America: Solly's Grille [Serious Eats]
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 19, 2006 at 9:54 AM
Wisconsinites know George Webb. For the rest of you, it's a small chain of restaurants in the Dairy State renown for, among other things, its baseball prediction -- if the Brewers win 12 consecutive games, George Webb gives out free hamburgers. It's also known for its practice of hanging two clocks in each store. Today, OnMilwaukee.com answers a reader question about the quirk:
Years ago, local law prohibited business from being open 24 hours per day. George Webb (yes, there really was a George Webb), announced that his restaurants were open "23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, seven days a week and on Sundays!"
In order to avoid closing at all, the restaurants had two clocks installed with the time set one minute apart. Technically, the restaurant was closed one minute per day on one clock, but open on the other.
Digging deeper, the site also posits an explanation from Jim Webb, George's son. Jim Webb said that the original restaurant had a wall full of clocks in the late '40s, when streetcars plied the Milwaukee streets. Customers waiting for trains were anxious about the time, so George Webb hung the gaggle of clocks for their benefit. The rumble of the streetcars supposedly rattled all but two from the wall, and George left it at that, eventually hanging two in each new restaurant as the chain expanded.
Fun stuff I didn't know. It's my ritual to visit a George Webb for a burger and chicken soup (where's the chicken?!?) soon after deplaning in Milwaukee when I travel there to visit family. There's one just across the street from General Mitchell Airport. I'll have to look for the clocks next time I go.
OnMilwaukee.com Marketplace: Ask OMC: Why are there two clocks at every George Webb's?
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 6, 2005 at 12:45 PM
So why did we post earlier today about the history of hamburgers? Because we wanted to give readers a little insight into the confusing matter before pointing out that today in Seymour, Wisconsin, BurgerFest is going on as we, uh, type.
Seymour, as you read earlier, claims to be the birthplace of the hamburger, where in 1885 "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen flattened the meatballs he was selling at the fair, stuck them between some bread, and named the resulting sandwich for the Hamburg steaks eaten by the area's German-immigrant population.
The fest includes a car show, a "bun run" for kids, the "world's largest Hamburger Parade," the unveiling of the Hamburger Charlie statue (right), a Hardee's Thickburger eating contest, and a "ketchup slide contest" (we can only imagine).
There's probably plenty of burgers to eat there, too.
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 6, 2005 at 10:24 AM
When you look into the history of hamburgers in the U.S., you'll find sources proclaiming the inventor to be (from left) Louis Lassen, "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen, or the Menches Brothers.
The history of the hamburger is truly a story that has been run through the meat grinder. Some sources say it began with the Mongols, who stashed raw beef under their saddles as they waged their campaign to conquer the known world. After time spent sandwiched between the asses of man and beast, the beef became tender enough to eat raw—certainly a boon to swift-moving riders not keen to dismount.
It is said, then, that the Mongols, under Kublai Khan later brought it to Russia, which turned it into the dish we know as steak tartare.
Several years later, as global trade picked up, seafarers brought this idea back to the port city of Hamburg, Germany, where the Deutschvolk decided to mold it into a steak shape and add heat to the equation, making something that, outside of Hamburg, was referred to as "Hamburg steak."
Of course, as it's been pointed out on the comments on this site and in John T. Edge's book Hamburgers & Fries, that's wishful thinking. As Mr. Edge writes, "The history of proletarian dishes like hamburgers is rarely explained by a linear progression of events."
But enough fishing in European and Asian waters; let's cut bait here. Somehow ground beef gets to America. Somehow it's put on a bun. But by whom? Surely the historical record becomes more clear once we cross to these shores.
It doesn't. There are currently three major claims staked on the confusing and contradictory map of American hamburger history. Each has its adherents and detractors. They are:
Louis' Lunch: This New Haven, Connecticut, burger joint claims to have invented our favorite lunchtime (and dinnertime) meal in 1900. From its website: "One day in the year 1900 a man dashed into a small New Haven luncheonette and asked for a quick meal that he could eat on the run. Louis Lassen, the establishment's owner, hurriedly sandwiched a broiled beef patty between two slices of bread and sen the customer on his way, so the story goes, with America's first hamburger."
"Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen: It's said that he started selling meatballs at the age of 15 at the summer fair in Seymour, Wisconsin. But, homeofthehamburger.org says, "Charlie was a resourceful young man with an outgoing personality. After not experiencing much success selling the meatballs, he had an idea and located some bread. He realized people could take this meal with them if he simply smashed the meat together between two pieces of bread. He called it a "hamburger" and yes, in 1885 the burger was born at the fair in Seymour, Wisconsin."
Menches Brothers: The brothers' descendents, who now operate a small chain in Ohio called, not surprisingly, Menches Bros. claim that their great-grandfather and his brother (Charles and Frank, respectively) invented the dish at an 1885 fair in Hamburg, New York. The brothers originally sold sausages but ran out and were forced to use ground beef, which at the time was considered declassé. John Menches, in a Businessweek story, says, "Faced with nothing to sell at all, they fried [the ground beef] up, but it was too bland. My grandfather decided to put coffee, brown sugar, and some other household ingredients in it and cooked up the sandwich. My great-uncle Frank served the first sandwich, a gentleman tasted it and said, 'What do you call it?' Uncle Frank didn't really know what to call it, so he looked up and saw the banner for the Hamburg fair and said, 'This is the hamburger.' "
So who invented the hamburger? Take your pick. We're too ground down at this point to choose.
