Burger Quest

I hope you’ll forgive my lack of posting recently. I’ve had a lot on my mind and a lot on my plate as we get close to our cruise date. Today I got the majority of my packing done, and I feel like I’m in pretty good shape as our departure date approaches. Several odds and ends still to be done, but I feel much less harried than I did, and I found myself hankering to write a bit here.

I’ve had this entry percolating for a while, and I’ve also been gathering data. Well, not so much “gathering data” as “sampling.” I don’t recall if it arose from a Facebook conversation or if it was something that Shane and I talked about, but I’ve been on a kick of trying the burgers at various places we go to around town. I don’t always order a burger when we go out...I like club sandwiches, Reubens, that sort of thing. But I still love a good burger, and I decided to try as many as possible in the area.

I have no criteria for what kind of burgers I order other than I prefer them well done (I’m not a fan of pink burgers) and I’m a burger traditionalist: my favorite is a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato (usually no raw onion because it sometimes upsets my stomach), and I dip it in ketchup and mustard. I have been known to order and enjoy burgers with different toppings on them, like green olives or avocado or even peanut butter. All fun, and I like trying different things, but at the end of the day, I’m a purist. I don’t even order them with bacon!

It’s been a lot of fun to try this little experiment, and it is ongoing. We’re going to a basketball game Wednesday night, and I think I’m going to get a chance to try another place’s burger! Here is a summary of my results so far. Some of these places are chains and some are local, but we don’t really do fast food anymore, so you won’t see anything like that here. I consider Five Guys fast food, and although they do a pretty decent burger, I still consider it fast food and won’t include it here. Same thing for In-N-Out Burger. Heck, I still get a craving about once every five years for a McDonald’s cheeseburger! But those don’t count as bona fide burgers for my purposes here. General rule of thumb: if you sit down and a server comes to take your order, that’s the kind of place that I’m going to be looking at.

BW3 - I liked this burger enough the first time that I ordered one the next time we went. It was juicy and flavorful, and the bun held up well. However, for some reason, I didn’t enjoy the second one as much and even wondered why I liked the first one as much as I did! Was I hungrier the first time? Were my taste buds more primed for a burger? I don’t know, but it wasn’t the same. Would I order one there again? Sure. I’m not a big wing person, and I like getting their sandwiches.

Maxi’s - This is a local place, so if you want a Maxi’s burger, you’ll have to come visit us! Maxi’s is probably our favorite restaurant in town, and you can’t beat it for delicious steaks. It is also locally owned and operated, and that is a big plus in our book. We like to take out-of-town visitors here, so if you head our way, you can probably expect Maxi’s in your dining future. Maxi’s doesn’t do a traditional burger of just a meat patty. They add some spices and stuff in there, and I’m pretty sure that they add chopped onion. Not the kind of burger that I usually like, but these things are very tasty, as well as huge. I think I took half of it home for Ken’s lunch. It was a little on the pink side for me, and next time, I would probably ask that it not be pink, but overall, this was very good. A nice robust bun, because mushy buns suck.

Brothers Bar & Grill - Speaking of mushy buns, I’m lookin’ at YOU, Brothers! We love Brothers, which seems to be a chain that locates in college towns. This is our go-to place before Notre Dame hockey and basketball games. I’ve had a lot of good sandwiches there, and I love both their chili nachos and chicken nachos. I was very disappointed in their burger, though. It was a nice size for me, and I was able to eat it all, but the bun was soft and steamed, and was unable to hold up to the intense pressure of life with a burger. It squished down to almost nothing and although the flavor of the burger was good, the bun really detracted from the whole experience. Get different buns and toast 'em on the grill for a few seconds, Brothers!

TGI Friday’s - Yes, this is a nationwide chain, and we usually try to avoid those. But we had some coupons, and we were going out a lot because of Notre Dame games, so we decided to save a few bucks. I can’t complain a lot about the food there, either...nothing fancy, but it’s decent. Much to my surprise, their burger ROCKED! It had a nice charred edge to it, and I could really taste that charcoal flavor that I love. The bun was nicely toasted and provided a slight crunch. It wasn’t a massive burger, and I was able to eat it all. My only complaint was the chunks of iceberg lettuce (obviously from salad makings) that they piled on the burger. I took most of those off. Just provide a nice, green leaf of lettuce, and a fresher tomato slice (hard to do in Indiana in the winter, though, so no points off for that), and that’s a burger I would eat again.

CJ’s Pub - This is another local place that we’ve added to our regular rotation, often before going to shows downtown. This is absolutely one of the best burgers in town. I don’t know what kind of seasoning they put on their burgers, but the flavor is fantastic. They have numerous varieties and all kinds of ways to customize your burger. This is where I had the olives on a burger, and I liked it...but a straight-up cheeseburger is still king for me, and CJ’s does it great. I always get the Cubby burger, which is a smaller sized burger that is just right for me. My sister seems to like the Juicy Ducee, which is stuffed with American cheese, and there are all kinds of other varieties and combos you can get. It really is hard to go wrong with these burgers!

Hensell’s Oaken Bucket - I have saved the best for last. Another local place, one that sits on the St. Joseph River. When it’s nice out, it’s fun to sit on the patio and look out over the river. Like CJ’s, I don’t know what it is they do to their burgers, but these have incredible flavor. Every time we go there, I think that I should order something different, but I always end up with a burger. The Oaken Bucket is right up there with my all-time favorite burgers, the ones at Breakers in New Smyrna Beach and Port of Call and Clover Grill in New Orleans. They really are that good. It’s a very unassuming place, with wooden booths and college-town decor, but it’s been our experience that sometimes the humblest places have some incredible food. Even if the food isn’t incredible, it’s fun to patronize local places rather than chains, and step outside the cookie-cutter model of what a restaurant is “supposed” to be. I have to give the Oaken Bucket the Best Burger in Town...so far.

Upcoming contenders: O’Rourke’s Pub near Notre Dame and Pat’s Bar in LaPaz (a small town a little to the south of us). Perhaps I'll try one in San Juan, too, before we set sail...we shall see.

The Burger Quest continues.

An afternoon with Cousin Shane

I was very pleased to get an email from Shane a couple of days ago asking if I wanted to get together for lunch Wednesday or Thursday. Turns out he had the week off and was doing a “staycation,” and I was happy to say, “Yes! How about Thursday?”

So I headed out around noon and met Shane at his and Matt’s place, and after he showed me around out back to see all their new plants and stuff (looking good, guys!), we hopped in Joan Jetta and motored up to Hensell’s Oaken Bucket. I’d link to it, but they don’t have a website...they really should get one. All the cool kids have one!

The Oaken Bucket is a well-known little local place. Nothing fancy, just a pub sort of atmosphere. We’ve been there several times, and Ken and I took his Mom there a while back, but I don’t think any of us had ever had a chance to sit out on the patio. Shane and I were happy to get a chance to do that, because it was a lovely day. The Bucket sits right on the St. Joseph River, so we had a pretty view and got to see a couple of kayakers go by. We realized there is another, lower level, that is just a few feet above the river, and there’s a neat little bar down there. I’d love to sit down there one of these days.

The Oaken Bucket has a reputation of having one of the best burgers in town, and although I haven’t sampled all the burgers in town, I’d have to say the Bucket's is my favorite...so far! Even with ordering mine well done, because...you know...E coli, they’re always juicy and flavorful. A generous size, too, and I could only eat half of mine, so sent the other half home for Matt if he wants it. Shane’s post about the “best burger in town” generated a bit of a discussion, and Shane and I agree that when discussing such things, chains are automatically left out of the equation. We only bring local places to the discussion table. Five Guys and BW3 have good burgers, but they aren’t unique to our area, and that’s what we’re the most interested in. (I also happen to think the Oaken Bucket’s burgers are better.) I know most newspapers don’t make that distinction, but that’s how it is in our universe!

After a good lunch and a pleasant chat, we were off, and Shane drove me by the only Lustron house he knows about in the area. You know, I don’t recall if I posted here about the Lustron service station near us that is going to be torn down because of the new highway, but I stopped and got pictures the other day. I’ll post them all here at some point. Lustron was an interesting late-’40s phenomenon: a home built entirely of steel panels. Even the interiors were steel. The link I’ve included here is a Lustron site, and the specific page is of Indiana Lustron homes. The first one seems to be the one we saw today. (If you click on “Home” on that site, you’ll find the main page and lots of great information about Lustron. Really unusual and fascinating mid-century modern homes!)



As you can see from the photos I took compared to the ones from when the home was maintained, it has deteriorated greatly. It is for sale, but there are signs posted that it is contaminated with mold. From looking in the windows, it looks as though they modified the interior, putting up drywall, wood cabinets, and other modifications. You know, if you’d just stuck with the steel walls, previous owners, you probably wouldn’t have a mold problem! For the home to be rehabilitated, Shane and I speculated that they will have to completely gut the interior. I hope someone will see the value in this unusual home and decide to preserve it. Wouldn’t it be a great little home to furnish with MCM furniture and decor? I wish I could get a grant from somewhere to make it an art project...a living art installation of a Lustron MCM home! How cool would that be? I could rent it out for Notre Dame home football weekends, no problem. The kitschy design would be a big draw and....

Well, that’s not going to happen. I wish I could do something like that. If I ever win the lottery and blah blah blah. Fun to think about, though!

After bidding Shane a fond auf wiedersehen, it was back to Nutwood, where I got a few more things together for our upcoming Chicago weekend (we’re heading up tomorrow). Yay, Chicago! I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting on here over the weekend, but I’ll try to squeeze in a brief update or two. Firm plans are a Cubs-Cards game on Saturday (look for us behind third base, in about the fourth row...great seats!) and a visit to the Art Institute on Sunday. Hopeful plans are dinner and great music at Buddy Guy’s Friday night (if we can get in). After the game on Saturday, it will probably just be a casual sports bar in Wrigleyville for a bite and beverages. We’re going with my sister Diana and my brother-in-law Tom, and we’re looking forward to a good time. I went up with Tom and Di and my sister Sue last year for a Cubs game, but Ken and I realized that we have never been to a Cubs game together! We have been at Wrigley Field together, for the Springsteen show, but never for a game.

Like Harry Caray used to say, nothin’ beats fun at the ol’ ballpark, and I guarantee that we’re going to have fun in the Friendly Confines!

Welcome to the Monkey House

Which is a great album by the Dandy Warhols, I must say!

Yesterday was our trip to our local zoo, the Potawatomi Zoo. We picked up Ken’s Mom and her friend Yvonne, and headed out. It was a blazing hot day, and I was very grateful for all the trees at the Zoo. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible! The Zoo has been there for many years, and I think the last time I went was when I was in grade school (or maybe junior high) and we took a field trip there. It was a pleasure to go back.

It’s a very small zoo, but it’s a pleasant part of our community, and it seems to get pretty good support. Potawatomi Park is right there by it, and I saw a lot of people picnicking and hanging out there. (By the way, the Potawatomis are the Indian tribe that was in this area; the Pokagon band of the Potawatomis are the ones who built and run Four Winds Casino nearby in Michigan.)

Since it was such a hot day, most of the animals were lounging in the shade, and not active at all. That’s probably what we should have been doing, too, but no...we were walking around the Zoo, looking at the animals lounging! I always love the big cats (it’s amazing to me to see how similar they are to domestic cats in their behavior, and vice versa), the monkeys, and the kangaroos and wallabies are super cute. But my two favorites were the red panda and the river otters.

The red panda (I didn’t take that photo above, but that’s about how our South Bend red panda looked) is really an adorable animal. He was snoozing with his mouth open, and it kind of looked like he was smiling. He has a big bushy tail that looks kind of like a raccoon tail, and just looks really cute and cuddly. Sadly, one of the pair at our Zoo died recently...I think it was the female. But I’ve read that they are getting another one from a different zoo.

The river otters are hilarious. Constantly squirming around, and the Zoo has a nice viewing area for them where you can see them swimming underwater. One was swimming and picked up a rock from the floor of the tank and was playing with it. It was so freakin’ adorable! Squeeee! Judging from the crowd in the viewing area, plenty of other people love the otters, too!

We’ll go back later this summer. My Mom wants to go, and I think she’ll enjoy it. I hope it won’t be quite as hot as it was yesterday, though. Ken’s Mom and Yvonne were troopers, but it really was awfully hot.

After the Zoo, we headed to the Oaken Bucket for a bite to eat. It had been quite a while since we’d been there, and it was great to go back! They are usually credited with having the best burger in town, and that’s what I had to have. Not a big place, and it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but mmm, the burgers are as good as I remember them! We’ll definitely be enjoying that place more often when we want to grab a bite, and Ken’s Mom liked it a lot, too. Next time, I hope it will be milder so we can sit out on the patio, which overlooks the St. Joseph River.

Tomorrow I’m having a late breakfast/early lunch with Cousin Shane at Cira’s Restaurant, a little place that’s been around for ages...but sadly, is closing soon. We’ve always said that we need to get there one of these days, and when we saw the story in the newspaper that it was closing soon, we leaped into action and arranged our date immediately! I’m so happy that it worked out that we can get there before they close, especially since we’re leaving on vacation soon.

After that, I’m going to get busy with laying out clothes for the trip. Time to get into gear!