Kopp's Frozen Custard - Milwaukee

No, don't let the title fool ya - I'm really going to talk about burgers and not frozen custard.

For the longest time, I've had a few people say to me, "You've really got to try a Kopp's cheeseburger.  They're the best!"  I'm told they're similer to the Culver's Butter Burgers, but better.  That's good because I'm not big on Culver's burgers at all.  I've driven by a Kopp's in the Milwaukee area a number of times, but never stopped in - mainly because I think Culver's butter burgers suck.  Even if they're compared to being a little better than Culver's, Kopp's burgers still have to suck - only not suck as much.  But I had to find out for myself.

Kopp's started out in 1950 selling their frozen custard in what I've been told was nothing more than a small "hole-in-the-wall" shack on West Appleton Ave. in NW Milwaukee (see map).  Elsa Kopp, a German immigrant, started the business to help out with the family income when her husband contracted Parkinson's disease.  The business began to grow steadily and by the mid-60's it was a thriving endeavor for Elsa. 

Her son, Karl, began to take over the day to day operations in the mid-60's, and Kopp's moved to a new location on West Layton Ave. in Greenfield (see map). 

In 1964, a young man by the name of Dick McGuire began to work for Kopp's.  A few years later, Elsie Kopp wanted to own her own Kopp's again.  She and Dick McGuire bought the original Kopp's location on W. Appleton and ran it together.  Elsie Kopp's health began to fail her in the late 80's and Dick McGuire took over sole ownership of the business.  He moved Kopp's out to Brookfield (see map) and continues to run the business today. 

Elsie Kopp, although addled by Alzheimer's, continued to work in the family business until 1998.  She died in 2003 at the age of 91.

Karl Kopp opened a second location in Glendale on Port Washington Road (see map).  He owns that location and the one in Greenfield.

I was in Milwaukee recently for a meeting with a prospective dealer and the meeting started before noon and lasted well through the afternoon.  I started out for home, but was looking for a place to eat along the way.  I was out in Greenfield and saw a sign for Kopp's.  Well, their burgers are supposed to be better than Culver's.  I thought now was the best time to give it a shot. 

Of course, I was in the wrong lane and had to do a U-turn to get back around to where I wanted to go, but I made it.  Well, I thought I'd made it.  I pulled into the parking lot and I looked around and didn't see what I would call a burger joint.  There was this large concrete box with some steel support beams all around it.  I noticed people walking out though an arch of battered concrete.  I thought it had to be over that way.  It was. 

I found the front door and went inside.  I found a shining stainless steel interior with a long counter and a bunch of people milling about.  It was like I had walked into a 1970's science fiction movie. 

One end of Kopp's is the frozen custard side.  The other side was the burger/sandwich side.  Even at 3:30 in the afternoon, the burger side was busy. 

Actually, what you do at Kopp's is you order your food at the counter, they give you a number and you stand and wait for the order to come up.  Everything is made to order.  There's no places to sit, just a handful of high tables that you can stand at and eat your food. 

I ordered a cheeseburger with everything.  Everything is ketchup, mustard, onions and pickle relish.  No real hamburger dill pickles I asked the girl who took my order?  "No, sir.  Just the sweet pickle relish."  I told her to hold the pickle relish.  I also ordered a Sprecher Root Beer, some of the best root beer I've ever had.  I got my number and waited like the other people who ordered before me.   

A little more about Elsie Kopp - one of the famous things about Kopp's is their "Flavor of the Day".  Legend has it that Elsie Kopp invented the phrase "Flavor of the Day."  Except the Kopp flavor's of the day are a little more interesting than the usual strawberry or lemon-lime you find at most ice cream or custard joints. 

The featured flavor that day was Pecan Toffee.  The next day was going to be Grasshopper Fudge.  Neither sounded good to me, but they also offer featured flavors such as Tiramisu, Butter Almond and Caramel Cashew.  Check out some of their "Flavor of the Day" items here.

And as I was standing around, not only was the interior of the Kopp's location rather interesting, the outside garden area was pretty neat, too.  It featured sort of a Japanese Garden theme, complete with concrete benched that had man-made large cracks down the middle of them.  It would have been a great place to eat custard on a hot summer night, but on a cool fall afternoon, there was no one out there. 

I got my cheeseburger and root beer and took it out to the car so I could get going on the road.  I soon found that I needed to be stationary in order to eat this burger. 

First of all - the real Wisconsin cheddar cheese they use on the burgers, well, it's too much cheese.  I completely lost the taste of the burger in the cheese.  I don't like that.  The cheese is supposed to be an enhancer, not a blocker.  And it was gooey.

Secondly, I asked for onions and she gave me a choice of fried onions or raw onions.  I went with the raw onions as fried onions and I don't get along too well.  Well, I got raw onions.  Rings and rings and rings of raw onions.  It was like they took a half of a medium-sized onion and chopped it into rings and threw it on my burger.  There was way too many onions on the burger. 

But an interesting thing, there was a lone dill pickle slice sitting next to the burger.  I thought that was sort of wierd.  Why don't they offer to put the pickles on the burger?    

All in all, thanks to a ton of napkins and my "smeg towel" that I carry for the potential of BIG messes in the car, I was able to get through the cheeseburger from Kopp's.  I will say that, yes, Kopp's butter burger is better - much better - than a Culver's butter burger.  There's more meat, it's thicker and tastes better (what I could taste of it through all that cheese, that is).  It's still not as good as Solly's cheeseburger. 

I'm going to try a Kopp's burger without cheese next time.  And without onions.  There was too much cheese and onions to really get an idea of how the burger tasted.

(Update - I did finally try a Kopp's burger without cheese.  You can see my entry here and learn whether or not I came away impressed with the taste of the burger.)

Comments

[Wimpy🍔]

You Kinda'Suck!!!..., Kopp's Rules🍔,Culvers 2nd., Wendys "Dave's Double" 3rd.!!!GOt It !!! GOT IT !!!