One of my favorite places to get a reuben is The Stein Lounge in downtown Green Bay, WI (see map). The Stein is big with the locals in Green Bay and I understand it serves up some good steaks and German food, too. But I've only gone in for the reubens.
Cindy and I first went to The Stein when we took an extended weekend in Wisconsin about 11 1/2 years ago. We were in downtown Green Bay one afternoon and looking for a place to have lunch. We drove by The Stein and, of course, the sign with the beer stein caught my eye. What the hell - let's go in.
The Stein has a good sized bar up front and a couple of dining rooms in the back. (I like sitting up at the bar - a three-sided bar with the coolers and a couple TV's on the back wall.) The decor is decidedly German in flavor with a lot of dark paneling and Bavarian inspired decor.
When we first went there, we weren't certain what to have. Actually, everything on the menu looked pretty appealing. Finally, we asked our waiter, who was also the day manager, what he suggested. He said, "Do you like reubens?"
We said we did. He said, "I'll pay for your lunch if you don't think our reuben is the best you've ever had."
Once again, I thought, "What the hell?" So we went for the reuben.
The Stein's reuben starts out with their homemade black German rye bread, then piled high with their homemade sauerkraut and very tender corned beef. Add some good Wisconsin Swiss cheese and their homemade Thousand Island dressing and you've got yourself a pretty damn fine reuben.
After we finished, he came over and said, "Well?"
I said, "Honestly, I don't know if it's best I've ever had, but it's got to be damn close."
He offered to pay for our lunch and I said, "Oh, no. We'll pay because it was very good."
I've been back three or four times since to have the reuben. Each time the sandwich has been excellent. The beer at The Stein is cold, they have a good selection of both imports and domestics, and the place is cozy and comfortable.
One of these days I'll try something else on the menu, but as long as they make the reubens the way they do, it's going to be awfully hard to not order that when I go in.
(Update - Unfortunately, The Stein closed in late 2008. I had gone back a couple times before it closed and the reuben was still one of the best I've ever had. It's sad when places like this go away. The Stein was truly a wonderful place to go.)
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