Road Tips

Mulgrew's - East Dubuque, IL

When I first started Road Tips over five years ago, I still hadn't figured out the concept or the format of the blog.  Most of my early entries were of unique and favorite places of mine where I hardly did any research on the place, nor was it necessarily a place that I had recently visited.  Over the past year, I did finally get a camera phone that allowed me to take pictures of places I visited rather than having a large camera to haul around.  One of the first places I wrote about was Mulgrew's in East Dubuque, IL.  I decided after a recent visit to Mulgrew's that I needed to do an entry that gave Road Tips readers a little more of an in-depth look at the place.

East Dubuque was once a hot bed of vice and sin starting back in the days of Prohibition.  Actually, until very recently, East Dubuque was notorious for the number of strip clubs and late night bars that stood up and down Sinsinawa Street - a.k.a. "Sin Street".  For years and years, bachelor parties, frat boys and thrill seekers visited the likes of Schnee's, Isabella Queen, The Cave, The Arena and The Coliseum, all of which featured girls dancing in the nude.  After the guys had their fun at the strip clubs, they'd end up the evening polishing off foot-long chili dogs at Mulgrew's right up to 5 a.m. 

A few years ago, city leaders pushed up the closing time for bars to 3:30 a.m.  Then three years ago, the city banned all adult entertainment clubs in East Dubuque and pushed up closing time at the bars to 3 a.m.  In a couple of years, bars in East Dubuque will have to close at 2 a.m. - the same time as the taverns across the river in Iowa and up the road in Wisconsin.  The early morning closing times meant booming business for the strip clubs and bars in East Dubuque.   Now that the strip clubs have been closed and the bars are beginning to close early, a number of the bar owners in East Dubuque are beginning to feel like the salad days are over. 

One of those bar owners, Dalene (Toots) Temperley is the owner of Mulgrew's Tavern and Liquor Store on Sinsinawa Street.  She is the fourth generation of the Mulgrew family to run the business which was opened as a grocery store in 1921 by her great-grandfather William "Old Bill" Mulgrew.   When Prohibition ended in 1933, "Old Bill" and his son, Bill, Jr., brought in the first legal liquor to be sold in East Dubuque.  The Mulgrew's added a bar and grill that sold packaged liquor on the north side of their grocery store soon after.

Mulgrew's Bar and Grill was sort of a fancy place for a number of years - the bartenders wore jackets, waitresses wore matching outfits.  I understand it was one of the finer places to dine in the Dubuque area for a number of years.

Bill Mulgrew, Jr. passed the bar and liquor store onto his son, Dallas, who ran it up to his death in 2004.   During that time, Mulgrew's became sort of famous for their foot-long chili dogs - a late night staple for those who had partied well into the night at one of the strip clubs in East Dubuque, or those who had come across the bridge from Dubuque when the bars in Iowa closed down.   I was told on a "good" evening, Mulgrew's would sell 250 to 300 chili dogs - most of those served after 1 a.m.

 

I was coming home from Madison and decided to stop in for a chili dog and a cold beer early one afternoon recently.  There were days when parking was tough find up and down Sinsinawa Street in front of Mulgrew's (see map), but this day there was plenty of parking along the street. 

 

Mulgrew's hasn't changed much from the first time I visited the place nearly 25 years ago when I was brought to have my first chili dog after a training meeting I had with the guys from the old Audio Room store in Dubuque.  These guys couldn't quit talking about how good these chili dogs were.  We ended up at Mulgrew's around 9:30 at night and the four of us had "snow dogs" - Mulgrew's foot-long chili dogs loaded with onions on top.  One of the guys, I'll never forget him - Jim Sullivan - had FIVE that night!  Jim was not a small guy and I was a lot smaller at that time than I am now, but I was able to do three that evening.  I about died on the spot.  But they were so good - the chili doesn't have any beans in it and it's not very spicy.  The hot dogs are steamed and placed in warm water to keep them warm until serving.  Mulgrew's also features a spicy homemade mustard that you can put on top.  But I just like a few onions (not quite as many as a "snow dog") and yellow mustard on mine. 

 

 
The menu at Mulgrew's is pretty basic compared to what they used to serve years ago.  While the chili dogs are the draw, they also feature burgers, soups, sandwiches and fried chicken.  The menu at Mulgrew's is hung on the wall by the booths opposite the bar. 

I took a seat at the bar and there was only one other guy in the place down the way from me.  Dalene Temperley was talking with the patron about how the city of East Dubuque was imposing more restrictions on business for the tavern owners.  I heard her say, "It's not the same East Dubuque that I remember." 

The bartender came down and I had a very simple order for her - a chili dog with onions and a cold Old Style.  They used to sell Old Style on tap and they'd serve it in a mug that they'd pull out of the freezer.  The frosty schooner of beer was one of the highlights of the meal.  Today, Mulgrew's just serves Old Style in bottles.  Although, I may have been able to order up a frosty mug, but I didn't ask.  It didn't matter.

She made up the chili dog in front of me. The buns are always fresh, the hot dogs have a nice flavor to them and the chili is, well...   I used to joke - and guess I still do - that if I found out that urine was the secret ingredient in Mulgrew's chili, I'd still eat their chili dogs.  There's just something about the combination of the chili, hot dog, bun, onions and mustard that makes a Mulgrew's foot-long chili dog outstanding.  Just like the decor at Mulgrew's, the chili dog hasn't changed since my first one that fateful evening in 1986. 

 

I made small talk with the bartender after I finished my chili dog and I said, "So, things have changed around East Dubuque, huh?"

She said, "Yep, the city is tryin' to drive us all out of business.  They say that East Dubuque isn't family friendly enough." 

I asked if they're still busy after 1 a.m. and she said that they were, but not as much as they used to be.  Once the strip clubs closed and we had to start closin' earlier, we began to see our overall business dip.  We used to be packed for lunches.  I think we've served about a dozen people today so far."

With that a guy came in and sat near me.  He was greeted by the bartender who said, "I haven't seen you for awhile." 

He said, "I know.  It's been too long for me to go without a chili dog." 

Mulgrew's isn't fancy and, quite frankly, I've never had anything other than a chili dog during my many visits over the years.  But the chili dogs are king at Mulgrew's and other than the cold beer, there's not much more of a draw at the place.  And that doesn't make it bad, it is what it is.  I'm just hoping that Mulgrew's survives so that Dalene Temperley can pass the business on to her daughter some day.

Timmerman's Supper Club - East Dubuque, IL

Timmerman's Supper Club has been serving the Tri-State area of NE Iowa, SW Wisconsin and NW Illinois for nearly 50 years.  It had been a LONG time since I was last in the place and when Cindy and I were up in Galena for her birthday, we decided to head to Timmerman's for their famous Sunday morning brunch.  Cindy's not big on buffet brunches, but the selection is so extensive at Timmerman's brunch that we knew we couldn't go wrong. 

Bob and Helen Timmerman met in the mid-30's and married soon after.  Not long after World War II broke out, they opened a bar in Happy Corners, WI.  In 1943, they had a chance to buy the Chateau Supper Club just north of Dubuque and they moved over there.  The Chateau was a favorite place for receptions and parties and the place was known for Helen's fried chicken. 

Nearly 15 years after opening the Chateau Supper Club, they leased the Circle in East Dubuque, offering fine dining and live music.  In 1961, they built Timmerman's Supper Club in its current location, high on a bluff overlooking the meandering Mississippi River (see map).  Timmerman's opened Labor Day weekend in 1961 and featured live jazz trios playing on a regular basis. 

Timmerman's modernistic architecture style brought in customers from miles around as it was always busy.  One Saturday evening in the 1960's, Timmerman's served over 900 meals in their dining room.  It was quite the goldmine for the Timmerman family.

However, in 1970, Bob Timmerman passed away and Helen kept running the day-to-day operation.  The road up to Timmerman's opened the top of the hill for development and along with a number of commercial businesses that built new buildings on top of the hill, Helen Timmerman opened Timmerman's Motor Inn (now called Timmerman's Hotel and Resort) at the opposite end of the parking lot.  Helen Timmerman retired from the business in 1985 and passed away in 2002.  The Timmerman family sold the restaurant and the hotel and the two are now run as separate entities. 

I'd been to Timmerman's a couple times before years ago when I took two separate Dubuque-area dealers out to dinner in the 80's and 90's.  Cindy had been there before, as well, and she said it was probably back in the mid-80's for her.  Timmerman's main menu focuses on steaks, fish and seafood, pasta, chops and, of course, Helen's original recipe fried chicken.  One of their features which I've had in the past is their Pork Normandy - pork loin medallions that are covered with a wild mushroom, shallot and pea pod cream sauce.  It's damn good, I'm tellin' ya. 

Timmerman's Sunday buffet has an omelet bar, fresh sliced ham or roast beef, breakfast and lunch dishes, pastries, fruit, salads and even tacos.  It was packed around 11 a.m. when we showed up, but with Timmerman's large dining rooms (they can seat about 350 people) we were able to be seated right away, albeit at a table not next to a window with a panoramic view of the river.  Our waitress came around to take our drink orders and she invited us to go to the buffet at any time. 

While the buffet is huge, there's still a long line of people milling about the two sided buffet.  Quite honestly, I was still pretty stuffed from our dinner from the night before at Fried Green Tomatoes.  I knew that if I had enough food at Timmerman's I wouldn't eat the rest of the day (and I didn't). 

The line for the omelet bar was pretty long, about 8 or 9 people deep and the guy could only make four omelets at a time.  I opted for Timmerman's Eggs Benedict, a slice of roast beef and a slice of ham, and some of their bacon and sausage.  Cindy got a slice of roast beef, some potatoes and some scrambled eggs. 

Quite honestly, the roast beef was overcooked and dry.  The ham was good, however, and for a buffet Eggs Benedict, it wasn't bad.  We went back one more time to try some other things that were on the buffet, but I had another slab of ham to go along with some veggies off the relish tray they had.  I also had one of their cinnamon rolls which wasn't that bad. 

Overall, I'd give Timmerman's an above average rating for their Sunday brunch buffet, mainly due to the large selection of food they have.  In fact, they may have too much food.  If they'd cut back on some items and focus on others it could be a lot better.  But I don't think that Timmerman's would do that.  

As Cindy and I were talking the night before, we're not that far away from Timmerman's and the Galena area.  It's just about an hour drive from our home to Timmerman's Supper Club and we agreed that when the weather turned nice we were going to make the trek up to East Dubuque and order a meal off the menu.  I'm hoping it's just as good as I remember from years ago.    

Van's Liquor Store - E. Dubuque, IL

There are two places that I have to stop every time I go through East Dubuque, IL.  The first place is Mulgrew's for a foot long chili dog, and the other place is Van's Liquor Store to pick up some good bargains on beer and wine. 

Van's has been around since the mid 30's, started by John Vanderah.  Vanderah's family sold the store to Ron Jansen in the late 80's.  Van's was originally on the infamous Sinsinawa St. until about 7 or 8 years ago when they moved to their present and much larger location on Highway 20 just over the Mississippi River bridge from Dubuque (see map).

(As an aside - Sinsinawa St. is known for the number of strip joints and late night bars that stay open until about 4 a.m.  Here's a picture of Sinsinawa Street looking north with Mulgrew's on the left.)

Van's has long been known as being a great place to get good wine at good prices.  I've bought a number of bottles of wine at Van's over the years, but I usually gravitate more toward their beer selection when I go in. 

Van's has a large selection of both domestic and imported beer, along with a good selection of regional and micro-brewed beer in stock.  They usually have great prices on hard to find beers from the Capital Brewery and on Special Export bottles. 

For the "do-it-yourselfer", Van's carries a large amount of home brewing essentials.  I've always wanted to brew my own beer, but it's somewhat messy, smelly and time consuming.  I'm not certain that Cindy would let me use our hot tub in the basement bathroom to brew beer in. 

Their wine selection - for an area the size of Dubuque - rivals some of the wine and liquor stores I've found in much larger cities.  Ron Jansen's son (whose first name escapes me, I want to say it's Jerry) has turned me on to some pretty good wines, including the B.R. Cohn Cabernet, the Meridian Merlot, and the Hess Select Chardonnay, which is a very good value for a crisp white wine. 

They usually have wines available at any time for tasting.  The younger Jansen is always there to help with wine selections and I thoroughly trust his judgment because he's never steered me wrong.

And their prices on wine are extremely reasonable.  They usually have some of the lowest prices on wine (outside of Sam's Wine in the Chicago area) in the Midwest.   

Van's also has a large selection of liquor including a great selection of vodka's and tequilas.  They have mixers, snacks, cheese and a number of items for the weekend boaters who come in by the droves to stock up before they hit the river. 

And Van's also stocks high priced cognacs, brandies, and liqueurs.  They had a $1000 dollar bottle of cognac on display in the case one time.  I once asked if they ever sold a bottle of that stuff and I was told that, yes, one time a guy won a ton of money on the Diamond Jo Casino boat over across the river in Dubuque and came over and bought a bottle.  I suppose if I had money to burn, I'd give it a shot, too. 

Van's is large and spacious, it's clean and well-lit.  There's a very small parking lot up front that is very had to maneuver around in if you have a larger car, but they have a larger parking lot across the street.  They have guys that will help carry out cases of beer or wine to your car.  I always flip 'em a buck or two for their help. 

Van's is great, one of the better liquor stores in the Midwest - both for selection and for price.  It's worth the stop if you ever get through the Dubuque area. 

Mulgrew's - East Dubuque, IL

Mulgrew's in East Dubuque, IL (see map)is one of those places that you have to visit at least once in your life.  Located on the infamous Sinsinawa Street in East Dubuque - infamous in that there are at least three strip bars located on the street - Mulgrew's has drawn thousands of late night visitors from both sides of the Mississippi for their chili dogs.

Mulgrew's is nothing more than a dingy bar with an attached liquor store.  They do have a sandwich menu but the top seller are their foot long chili dogs.  The hot dogs are steamed in a pot of water that, I understand, probably hasn't been changed since Christ was in high school.  If I found that they cooked 'em in urine, I'd still eat 'em. 

The chili has no beans and is understated in it's spiciness.  You can order a chili dog as a "Snow Dog" - tons of onions on top.  They also have shredded cheese they can put on top, but I think the cheese detracts from the taste.

One night, years ago, I did a sales meeting for a store up in Dubuque, then took the guys across the river to Mulgrew's for chili dogs.  One of the guys, Jim Sullivan - who was not a small guy - ate FIVE "snow dogs" that night.  I tried to keep up with him.  I had three, but without the slug of onions on top.  I thought I was going to die afterwards. 

Nearly every time I go through Dubuque, I have to stop and get a Mulgrew's chili dog and a cold Old Style to wash it down.  It's heaven on earth, buddy...