Lucky to have Leff's around

One way to celebrate an anniversary is to go out for a burger, right? Leff's Luckytown in Wauwatosa, WI has a huge following in our town. A magnet for sports fans and a cult like following. I had to find out why.

I got a plain double burger. No fancy stuff. The place was crowded. They have a great outdoor dining area. We lucked out and got a table for two along the street side. When the food came, I was please with how fresh everything was. The burger was tasty but, lacked personality. Still, very nicely prepared. Medium rare, the way I like it. The fries were delicious. Will I go back for another one, probably some day.

What makes going to Luckytown special is the crowd. Everybody is really having a good time. Most folks say that Leff's got it going on. I will have to agree.

Rated: 3.5 of 5 Stars. Only because the staff was a bit slow and the burger lacked signature seasoning.

Day time at the Nite Owl

The Nite Owl Drive-In, 830 E Layton Ave. in Milwaukee WI is one of those places on my list of gotta try burger joints. Cash only, no checks or plastic. There's a walk-up window and an restaurant where you can sit down and hang out. The restaurant doubles as a club house for the Cheaters Car Club of Milwaukee. The club hosts car show a couple of times a year in the parking lot at the Nite Owl.

Enough of the background stuff, let's talk burgers! I ordered the Jumbo Cheese Burger, onions, ketchup  & mustard. $3.90, not too pricey. Because they actually create the burger specific to your order, it takes a couple of minutes. The windows are tinted so you really can't see what's going on in the kitchen. I did notice a set of heavily tattooed forearms moving about back there. Well, the burger arrived and jumbo is a very accurate description. Obviously hand formed, it was delicious. I didn't order any Ice Cream but, judging by the quality of the burger, it's good stuff.

Vintage scene all the way, tasty and fresh cooked per order. Also, very reasonable.

As for a rating on this one... 4.5 Stars out of 5.

Ang(er)us Burger Deluxe

It was a few weeks back when I was out with some family members and they suggested McDonald's for lunch. I haven't been to McDonald's for an actual meal in some time. Sure, grab some fries or a muffin thing on the way to a swap meet but, not lunch complete. I thought this might be a great chance to try the newer Angus Burger Deluxe. I can't spend too much time talking about my experience. It wasn't much of an experience at all. It only reminded me how great a job they've done marketing their product. The deluxe means that you get a pile of stuff on the sandwich. Possibly with the hope to cover for the lack of flavor. Note to self: Don't order fancy sandwich at McDonald's.
No regrets, we had a great time together.

Dasburgereater.

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.