A Burger Run

A few years back I was in the unincorporated community of Dundee, WI (north of Campbellsport on WI-67) in January and passed the seasonally closed Hamburger Haus. I made a mental note to check it out someday, and remembered it when I was thinking about going somewhere for lunch on a Saturday this past August. It would be a 100-mile trip each way but I had the time and it was a nice day, so I planned to be there when it opened at 11.

It didn't take long for my burger to be ready and I grabbed a spot at one of the picnic tables. The first thing I noticed was that the bun was sturdy and lightly dusted, a vast improvement over an ordinary, white-bread bun. And the burger itself had excellent, beefy flavor with some light char from the flattop - a definite winner, and worth the trip!

When I was mapping my drive to Hamburger Haus I figured that if I was going to go that far from home I might as well see what else I could find. So from there it was back onto 67 for a few miles north to Plymouth, and Chester's Drive-In (unfortunately Chester's Facebook page requires logging in).

There were plenty of choices but I was committed to another burger. I'm glad I grabbed some extra cash before I left the house! Note the references to "Teen Burger" and "Papa Burger"...I wonder if Chester's had at one time been an A&W.

Chester's burger patty was just as good as the one I'd had at Hamburger Haus, but the bun was a touch more ordinary; still good but lacking the dust and slightly softer. I noticed the grill marks but didn't ask, so I can only speculate that it was cooked on a grate of some kind.

An orange tray mat and a mug of root beer...another A&W connection?

It was now a little after noon and after having only 2 smaller burgers I was still hungry, but I was prepared. I sashayed out of Plymouth on WI-23 and went east to I-43, which led me to WI-42 and the scenic drive up into Manitowoc (or "Manty", as it's often colloquially known): the home of Bud Willman's. Bud's was originally located at 18th & Washington and dates back to at least the 1950s(?), and now sits 1 block west at 19th St.

My 2 previous burgers had been plain but at Bud's they come standard with brown mustard, ketchup, pickles and fried onions, so while I'd never deliberately order a burger that way I decided to go the authenticity route. It was a good burger and I did nibble at the edges, but in hindsight I wish I'd gotten it plain to get a better feel for it. And while the bun was pretty soft it went well with the toppings.

So by this time I'm 150 miles from home but it's still relatively early in the afternoon, and as the old saying goes, "in for a penny, in for a pound". I headed north on I-43 to Green Bay and US-41, and then 41 all the way to Marinette, home of Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q. Dating back to 1941/42, it was easily the oldest restaurant of the trip.

Want a malt or a shake? No problem! Even though I wasn't there very long the mixers were put to work several times. The restaurant was packed but I was fortunate enough to grab a seat at this end of the counter.

The menu board features current pricing as well as a vintage 1955 bill of fare. Check out the old-style Coke cup dispenser.

Mickey-Lu's burgers are grilled over charcoal, really tasty and matched with some great hard rolls; not that I'm any sort of proponent of bad manners, but this is one case where using licked fingers to pick up bits of flaked-off crust is perfectly acceptable. I thought about getting a second burger but by this time I was actually starting to feel full so I called it a day.

As I was heading south on 41 I spotted a historical site and pulled over to check it out. Made it, Ma! Halfway to the top of the world! Unfortunately I didn't have a Dremel, polish and lacquer with me in order to clean up the plaque.

At this point I started thinking about how much of a drive I had left and decided to spend the night in Appleton, so I found myself a hotel and got settled. But after awhile I began to think that maybe I could handle 1 more burger, and Charlie's Drive-In in Hortonville wasn't all that far away...

Decisions, decisions!

At my 4 previous stops my order had always been the same: 1 hamburger with default toppings and a caffeine-free drink. But this was definitely going to be my last stop of the day so I threw caution to the wind and added an order of fried mushrooms and upgraded to a chocolate malt.

The atmosphere was great (check out the vintage salt shaker) and the malt was decent, but while there was nothing wrong with the burger it faced some stiff competition. And it didn't help that it was also the last one of the day, so it was the least really good - relatively speaking - of the 5 burgers I ate. I almost feel obligated to give Charlie's another try next year, and make it the first stop of the day.

After Charlie's I was done. Cashed in. Checked out. I went back to my hotel room and turned out the lights, and headed south early the next morning. I briefly entertained the idea of trying to add 1 or 2 more stops, but with pretty much nobody opening before 11am I decided that would be just too much time to kill.

So there you have it. 1 day, 5 burgers, and close to 400 miles on the clock by the time I got back home. I'd definitely eat at any of the 5 establishments again, and would go so far as to consider Bud Willman's and Mickey-Lu for destination status.

One final note. As I was getting close to Appleton I decided to detour west to Seymour and take a photo of the statue of Charlie Nagreen, as it would've fit in well here. As I came into town I was greeted with crowds of people and car-lined streets with no close parking to be found...it was Burger Fest 2023! How fitting that a festival of which I had no knowledge just happened to be occurring the very same day I was out celebrating its reason for existence! But now that I'm aware of it I just might have to pencil it in for next August...