Scrumpcious Rumpus

The year has only just started and the local burger consumption promise has begun. I didn't plan it that way but, I'm not going to complain. Last Friday evening, as part of a date night, we headed to downtown Milwaukee for some local flavor. The Milwaukee Art Museum for the Impressionist Exhibit, The Rumpus Room and Comedy Cafe'. The museum, as always was excellent. We'll keep our membership for another year. The next stop was Bartalota's new restaurant in the old Egin's Pub. I reviewed their menu on-line and was totally prepared to enjoy the Rumpus Burger. It's a casual scene with a bit of fancy feeling. The menu isn't all fancy foods. Just dishes that make you feel good. Prices are relative to the downtown scene and Bartalota's. So, I'm not all shocked to pay $12 for a burger. (What a country we live in!) Again, ordered as medium-rare with cheddar cheese. The order arrived, served from behind us, we were seated at the bar because it was super busy. The bar actually worked out well. You get to watch the staff in action. There is an opening in the wall that shows through to the grill/kitchen. Back to the burger. I did the usual grab of just burger to get the real flavor without all the cheese and stuff. Yum! A little pink in some places but, where it hit the perfect mix of pink, the flavor was awesome. I had fries instead of a salad, go figure. The fries were excellent and plentiful. On this one, I will ignore the price as part of my rating. I think that you should have a burger like this no matter the price but, I was glad that it was enjoyable at the price.
The scene was cool, neat staff. Burger was tasty, fries plentiful.
4 of 5. (Maybe a bit more if it were $2 less.)

Dasburgereater

Meaty-ocre

Well, just when I thought it would be a long time between blogging about burgers I'm back on! It was a trip to Madison WI to meet up with a relative. The internet is our friend. It knows where to go for food in just about any city. Madison is no exception. Relative proximity made Morty's Blue Plate a perfect choice. Breakfast all day, dinner style setting. It's an old Texaco station converted. I think the menu had something for everyone. My choice is always pretty simple, how about a burger? It was a busy day at the diner. The wait was almost 20 minutes. Luckily, the place has quite a bit of stuff on display to look at. We watched all the activity. Just about every kind of person. Young, old, hip and square. The neighborhood was there. I can imagine what it might be like when there is a show across the street at the Barrymore. (I saw the Fall play there back in 1989) Back to the food. I took my burger with fries, medium rare. Meanwhile, the guy next to me gets his burger... yummy looking. My burger arrives. Just grab a chunk sans-bun & cheese. Pretty good. The meat looks pre-pattied and tasted a bit smoke flavored. Personally, if it's not cooked over flames, it shouldn't taste like smoke. I didn't see the grill. I should have stuck my nose in! So, what the call? Pretty good. I'm not going out of the way to get another one. I probably would order it at one of their other restaurants. The fries were seasoned and tasty.
Let's go 3.5 of 5

Dasburgereater.

Homemade Burgers!

Well, not totally homemade. I didn't grow the cows. Butcher bought ground beef and ground sirloin. Not just plain burgers, of course. We did some mushrooms, bacon and medium cheddar. The buns were toasted under the broiler. Fries and baked beans (vegetarian) were served as sides. The fire was a little hot so things got a little more cooked than I hoped for. I like a little pink in there. It's Christmas this week so, grill night is being changed to Thursday evening. Cool with me. We plan to have shrimp. Not sure if it's kabobs or the tasty bacon wrapped with chipotle sauce.

It probably won't be until next year before I blog again!

Take care,

Dasburgereater

Winter time will be for Catching Up (or Ketchup?)

I was just looking through my burger "manual". It it the beginning of my burger records. Originally, I wanted to have it hand written. Then, I thought I'd do both. Handwriting offers more of a look in to my mood that day. I've also kept receipts and taped them along side the review. I enjoy this electronic format because, more people will read and hopefully join in on the discussion. I'm definitely not the only person that rambles on about grilling, burgers etc. Be on the lookout for those back tracks of never published before entries.

It will be great to relive some of those burgers, with you.

Ketchup or Catsup?

Dasburgereater.

I'm already looking at 2012, for burger-ventures

At this time of the year, in Wisconsin, food consumption is kept indoors. The patios are closed down and in most cases, the grill is put away. You know mine will be out all winter. Matter of fact, I was cleaning out a garage space where I park my classic car and uncovered a nearly new Weber Smokey Joe grill! I asked the lady who owns the garage if it was hers (totally hoping it wasn't) She said "no" it came with the house and she had no need for it. It's mine now. The other Smokey I've been using is a "frankenstein" of three other Smokeys. They have a tendency to deteriorate.
So, here's the 2012 plan.
Scour all the Milwaukee county and the surrounding counties munching burgers. We've got some great places in the Milwaukee county area that I have never been to or visited recently. Eat and review. As soon as the nicer weather returns. I like to sit outside or at least be in t-shirt and jeans when I'm chowing a burger.
Continue checking in during the winter months. I plan to grill some tasty burgers in the snow cave!

Happy Holidays,
Dasburgereater

Swap meet/hamburgers. It doesn't get much better!

Traveling the backroads of Wisconsin is a great way to find good places to eat. You would never find such places cruising the freeway at 75 mph. It also means you wouldn't pass through the town of Jefferson. Two times a year, the town plays host to thousands of people looking for that special automotive part or nostalgic piece of Americana. It was the Fall swap meet at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds this weekend. (That means it won't be long before outdoor dining will be suspended for the season.) The event is hosted by Madison Classics, if you want to search the event.
In the town of Jefferson, WI there is a couple of places to grab a burger. I'm pretty sure I've written about Burger Corner. Great name, decent burger. This time, on a suggestion from my friend Curt, we stopped at Wedl's burger stand. The name says it all. Just a small building next to the main building (where they also have an ice cream parlor). The building is no bigger than a small tool shed. The meat is fresh ground daily and it shows in flavor. The price was just right, $1.85 for a single cheeseburger with raw onions. I snitched a couple of fries from my friend's bag of fries. They were tasty. Nothing fancy. I wish I would have had some ice cream.

Wedl's gets 3.5 of 5. A good burger at a good price. Fun to watch the grill.

Burgerman.

Five Guys. One bag.

This summer has been a busy one for burger eatin'. I finally stopped at Five Guys tonight. I've been driving past on my way to night school. People said they had good stuff. All the information on their website points to an excellent meal & deal. Very interesting.

The store is only slightly interesting, I can't see myself sitting down inside the restaurant. They have it decorated with only white and red tiles, everywhere. Maybe it has something to do with the original store. The music was quite loud. Maybe it was just the staff's doing. Three guys, one taking orders then, dropping back to work the fryer while the other two set up the burgers. I was surprised that the grill guy slapped a chunk of ground beef on to the grill top. After a couple minutes of intense heat, he flipped and squashed the beef. Finally, I could smell some stuff cooking. The ventilation system is too good. Being the cheapo I am, there was a bit of sticker shock when I found out that it would be $7.03 for a "little" hamburger and regular fries. The burger was $3.79 and for the money, darn good. The fries were interesting. Regular fries are $2.89. That's a lot of lettuce to shell out for fries, according to me. On the other side of the coin, I got a lot of fries for the money. Also, they taste fresh cut. Just a little greasy for my buds.

Over all, I'd say it was a decent experience. Would I go back? Probably. There is a lot of competition for my burger budget.

4 of 5 stars.

Later,

Burgerman