Text 16993, 75 rader
Skriven 2011-10-24 14:31:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: burger interlude 90
===========================
A burger interlude. Three lunches. Despite our getting
breakfast at all the hotels, we also did lunches. This was
in general too much caloric intake, but what the hey.
Lilli loves burgers, and early on in our friendship I got
intrigued by her nationwide (now worldwide) quest for the
perfect burger. I also like burgers very much. And Wisconsin
Cheeseheads are burger-mad. A perfect storm.

All these burgers save the first are said to be better
with cheese; the first is considered dairyful enough
without. My report of course is about normal burgers.

Solly's is almost right across the street from the hotel.
It is the originator and greatest practitioner of the
Wisconsin butterburger, which is gross, sinful, and/or
delectable. Lilli seemed to find it the first, though she
appreciated the experience of it. To me, all of the above.
They take an ordinary burger well done, on a cheap squishy
bun a la In'n'Out or Five Guys, and then dump a bunch of
pale onions grilled/stewed in ample butter over, and finally
top it off with what the Internet reports say is a half
stick of butter, but which I think is about an ounce. The
butter really makes the burger, although the stench of the
stuff stays with you for a long time. I tried scrubbing it
off my face with pink restroom soap, but eventually it just
had to wear off over a day or so. Just up the road a mile,

Kopp's Frozen Custard is one of those places made famous
by the Sterns in their arbitrary way. I approached it with
due reverence but was not smitten. Piped in Biber Rosary
Sonatas and a Bach cello suite didn't make any extra points
with me and seemed merely to irritate the staff. My burger
came on a modestly buttered bun sturdier and maybe of higher
quality than Solly's; there was perhaps a whisper of butter
on/in the somewhat unjuicy patty. The onions, though, beat
the pants off Solly's - they were cooked dark, greasy,
caramelized, and delicious. Too bad there weren't enough of
them to counteract the well-doneness of the meat. Oh, the
burger was also very large, maybe 6 oz, but that becomes
very large when you do a thin patty. Kopp's has the honor
of housing the dirtiest restroom I've seen in a reputable
place - almost as one had popped a bag of urine so that it
went all over walls, toilet, and floor. Really gross.

Five Guys. I've been patronizing this chain faute de mieux
since there were only a handful of them. Mostly they are
reliably decent, nothing special. They have expanded
riotously in recent years, and the numbers 800 and 1100 pop
up periodically (there were 800 and they were planning on
300 more the last time they wrote up their publicity stuff).
At this particular faceless one I got a regular burger with
double jalapenos (five little rings, but quite hot, two on
one side of the bun, three on the other), tomato (two slices
of slightly better than supermarket superballs), and grilled
onion (decent, lots). The patties (the place gives you two
approximately 2-oz ones) were gray done as usual and would
have benefited from a few pats of butter; the next time I
"do" Five Guys I will make sure to have some in my pocket.

Four lunches. Influenced by my colleague Clean Dave's
fondness for Burger King burgers, I got me a Whopper to
compare with these other more "real" burgers. For starters:
there is a flame-broiled taste; but there's also that
vaguely fishy taste that you get from singed fat. The meat
is fairly beefy, with distinct chunks of gristle - not
unlike the Kopp's burger, truth be told. Really fresh
iceberg lettuce; fairly fresh tomatoes and onions. Pickles
okay but worth picking out and discarding. Actually on the
whole palatable. No cheese for me of course. I'd rather
have Five Guys or Solly's, but for $4.90 in the middle of
an airport in the middle of nowhere, not bad.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Since 1991 And Were Still Here! DOCSPLACE.TZO.COM (1:123/140)