Up in Green Bay earlier this year, I wanted to find some place unique for dinner. Years ago, my wife and I went to a very good Irish pub in downtown Green Bay that has since closed up. But an Irish pub sounded pretty good to me that night. I did a quick check on the internet to see if there were any Irish pubs in the area and the search immediately took me to the web site for St. Brendan's Inn & Pub. It was a combination boutique hotel and Irish pub on the Fox River not far from the hotel I was staying at in downtown Green Bay. It was a cool evening and I decided to make the short drive down the way to St. Brendan's Irish Pub to check the place out.
St. Brendan's Inn and Pub are part of group of hotels run by Harp & Eagle, Ltd. which is headed by Sheboygan native Cary James "Rip" O'Dwanny. His first hotel - County Clare Irish Inn & Pub - opened in Milwaukee in 1996. Other hotel/pub ventures popped up in Plymouth, WI and Kenosha before they bought the site of the old bus depot and public parking area in Green Bay in 2002 and built St. Brendan's Inn and Pub in 2008.
St. Brendan's Inn and Pub was located about six blocks from my hotel. As I said, it was a somewhat unseasonably cool evening (we had a lot of those in the spring and early summer of this year) and I drove the short distance to the place. (see map) I pulled into the parking lot next to the large and stately three-story building that housed the inn and pub. The entrance to the hotel takes you to a small lobby area, but the pub is off to the right side of the lobby.
To the left of the lobby was a hallway that took you out to a patio area that looked out onto the Fox River. It featured a number of metal woven tables and chairs, but it was way too cool of an evening to be sitting on the patio that night.
The pub is segmented into a dining area and the bar area with a half-wall separating the two. The dining room featured a wood ceiling with antique light fixtures hanging down. But the most impressive part of the room were the large stained-glass windows that towered along the walls opposite the bar area. It was elegant, yet somewhat homey in the dining room.
The bar area was modeled after a typical Irish public house with 15 beers on tap and a full bar featuring Scotch and Irish whiskies. It was at the bar where I decided to park myself for the evening. A couple bartenders were working behind the bar and one by the name of Luke asked me what I would like to drink. I ordered up a Smithwick's to start out. The other bartender asked me if I was going to dine with them and after answering in the affirmative, he gave me a dinner menu to look over.
The food at St. Brendan's Pub was a fine offering of Irish culinary favorites - corned beef and cabbage, Shepherd's pie, a Guinness-gravy pot roast, and an Irish stew with braised beef and root vegetables. They also had pork tenderloin medallions, as well as a lamb shank on the menu. Sandwiches included a traditional corned beef reuben, a braised pot roast sandwich, a battered cod sandwich, and a black angus beef burger. I literally had six or seven things that I was considering to have for dinner that night.
The bar had a pretty sizable lip on the edge. Just before my food was brought out, one of the bartenders set a plank down that was the same depth as the lip to allow me to bring my food closer. I thought it was sort of a nice touch considering I've eaten at bars with similar features in the past and it's sort of a hassle to lean so far over to get to your plate that your face is nearly in the food.
For dinner that night, I got the meat loaf with mashed potatoes and a vegetable combination of grilled Brussels sprouts, carrots, and zucchini. Now, I broke my own rule of ordering meat loaf when I'm in a restaurant, but the description of the blend of meat they use - veal, beef and pork - was similar to how I make my meat loaf at home. And my meat loaf is excellent. But I should have known as this meat loaf was not as good as mine.
The meat loaf was topped with a gravy sauce made with Worcestershire sauce and caramelized onions. The gravy was good, but I needed more to go along with the meal. Luke was able to bring some more out to me and it was needed. The meat loaf was dry and sort of lifeless. The mashed potatoes were rather lukewarm and sort of hard. The Brussels sprouts were very sour in taste. At least the Harp beer - which I ordered for my second beer - and the gravy kept the entire meal from spiraling out of control. I was just kicking myself for not listening to my instincts and going with one of the other Irish-style favorites they had to offer.
I know I ordered the wrong thing on my visit to St. Brendan's Inn and Pub. The meat loaf was not that good, the mashed potatoes were cool, and the grilled Brussel sprouts were very sour in taste. I'm sure that anything else I was considering - like the Shepherd's pie, the braised pot roast, or the corned beef and cabbage - would have been significantly better than the meat loaf. Well, I HOPE that those offerings would be better than the meat loaf I had. Oh, well. At least the service and the beer selection was good. And it was very difficult to beat the authentic Irish-style pub at St. Brendan's Inn. If I make it back at some point - and I hope I can - I'll try something other than the meatloaf.
During a previous trip to Green Bay some time ago, I happened to be reading in a local publication about a quirky little bar/cafe in the Broadway District of the city - White Dog Black Cat Cafe. I had put that on my list of places to go to and on a trip to Green Bay last fall before the snow began to fall, I headed over to check out what the place with a double dichotomy as a name was all about.
White Dog Black Cat's Cafe owners - Anne Fiorello and Holly Hebel - were both social workers in the area for a number of years. About 20 years ago, Holly decided that she needed a change of scenery from the rigors of social work, so she moved out to Egg Harbor in Door County to work in a restaurant with some friends of hers. It turns out that she enjoyed the restaurant work more than social work. From her friends restaurant, she moved on to the popular White Gull Inn working as a cook for about a dozen years and learning the restaurant business. (Click here to see an over 10 year old Road Tips post on the White Gull Inn.)
Around 2003, Anne Fiorello and Holly Hebel (pictured at right - photo courtesy Glidden Drive Association) decided to open their own restaurant in Green Bay. Now, this is just a guess, but I believe they may have named their restaurant after the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia which was owned by entrepreneur/author/urban activist Judy Wicks whose restaurant was one of the first in the nation to feature locally grown and sustainable foods cooking and to promote responsible business practices including offering a living wage to its employees. Wicks also ran the Black Cat gift boutique located next door to the White Dog Cafe which featured locally made goods and fair trade gift items. (Well prior to her life as a restaurant/boutique owner/author/activist, Wicks co-founded the Free People store with her then-husband Richard Hayne as part of an entrepreneurial class at the University of Pennsylvania. Hayne and Wicks divorced in 1971 and the store eventually evolved into Urban Outfitters of which Wicks has no involvement with today.)
White Dog Black Cat Cafe featured artwork from local artists and garnered a following the Green Bay community offering craft beers, good burgers and a great place to hang out. The success with their little bar/cafe in Green Bay prompted Fiorello and Hebel to buy a long time Door County establishment called The Hitching Post in 2015. The two transformed the bar and grill into The Tin Plate that somewhat mirrored the vibe and menu found at White Dog Black Cat Cafe. Unfortunately, having a second location proved to be somewhat too much for Fiorello and Hebel and they closed The Tin Plate last July. But they continue to run White Dog Black Cat Cafe today.
I found White Dog Black Cat Cafe at the corner of S. Broadway and N. Howard near the Fox River. (see map) Much of that stretch of Broadway is made up of small shops, coffee houses, and restaurants. I was able to find a parking spot on Broadway just past of Howard and walked back over to the White Dog Black Cat Cafe.
From the outside, you wouldn't think much about the place. It's a nondescript block style building with a brick facade and pastel colors on the side. But walking inside the building, it comes alive. The restaurant is segmented into two parts. The bar area along with high-top tables along the wall is to the left as you come into the restaurant. The "L"-shaped bar featured high-backed chairs with a barn board facade.
The burnt orange wall opposite the bar gave the room some vibrancy. The sound system was playing an interesting mix of artists such as 10,000 Maniacs, The Police, and Jade Bird. I immediately liked the funky vibe to the place.
Off to the right side as you come in to White Dog Black Cat Cafe was a more common style dining area. There was a certain funkiness to the space with the walls and curtains in pastel colors. As with the bar area, some interesting art work - all of which, I understand, was available for purchase - was on the wall. Chairs were mismatched, as were the lamps hanging from the ceiling. An antique stove stood at one end of the dining area, while on the opposite end there was a lime green couch under the window with an antique coffee maker on one side and a small wood burning stove on the other side.
I ended up seated at the bar and was greeted by my server/bartender James who had a soft-spoken, amiable and laid-back demeanor. He gave me a food menu to look over and I ordered up a Fantasy Victory IPA from the Karben4 Brewing Company, a small brewery from Madison, WI that I wasn't familiar with. I liked the beer immensely and had to pick up a couple six packs when I got to Madison later that evening.
Burgers and sandwiches are the main items on the menu at White Dog Black Cat Cafe. On Fridays, they have a number of fish and seafood items that are added to the menu. And on Saturdays and Sundays, the cafe has a popular brunch menu available. Soups, salads and appetizers are also available.
In the article I read about the place previously, it talked about how good their burgers were at White Dog Black Cat. I had a burger the day before and I wasn't certain that I was going that direction two days in a row. I considered the fish tacos or the muffuletta sandwich for a moment, but the White Dog burger is what I ended up with.
The burgers at White Dog Black Cat Cafe all come with potato chips, but I asked James if I could get a cup of the chili they had listed on the menu. This was a thick chili, but not nearly-concrete thick, with beef and beans, then topped with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped onions. It had a very noticeable and forward chili powder taste. The chili was very good - a spot-hitter, if you will, considering there was a noticeable chill in the air in Green Bay that day.
The burger, itself, was very juicy and very good. Even with the load of toppings on the burger, I could still get the good grilled beef taste with every bite. The only quibble was that there was too much bun. The base was very thick and the crown - although light and spongy - was a little chewy. I pulled away much of the bun using parts of it to hold as I ate the burger and the toppings. Overall, it was a very good burger.
If you're looking for a fun, laid-back and quirky place to eat in Green Bay, I would recommend seeking out the White Dog Black Cat Cafe. I liked everything about my visit - the interesting artwork, the decor, the choice of music and I thoroughly enjoyed both the White Dog burger and the cup of chili that I had. James, the bartender/server, was a nice guy, friendly and not pushy. While there's not a lot to choose from on the menu, even if you want to go there to get a beer they have a good selection of local and regional craft brews. This is the kind of place I wish I had in my neighborhood to go hang out at.
I had a couple of meetings scheduled up in Green Bay with an existing dealer and a potential dealer and I got into town the night before the meetings. In kind of a mood where I really didn't know what I wanted, I checked on-line to see what was near the hotel I was staying at. I found a place that sort of piqued my interest, a long-time pizza place that had been in business for nearly 60 years called Sammy's Pizza.
In the years directly after World War II, the iron range mines of northern Minnesota were a first stop for G.I.'s coming back home after the war. When iron production declined in the early 50's, a number of mines were shut down and miners were laid off. One of those laid off miners was Sam Perella, who along with his wife, Louise, liked to cook. Looking at cooking as a chance to keep his family financially afloat, Sam and Louise opened a small cafe in the small mining town of Keewatin, MN in 1953.
During his times in the mines, Sam had been talking with a number of fellow miners who were Army veteran stationed in Italy during and just after World War II and they kept talking about this pizza pie that they loved to eat while they were there. Sam eventually went to Chicago for a short while to learn about pizza there. He came back with some ideas of how to do pizza, and along with his wife, they added some family recipes to the mix to give their pizza a signature style and taste. Needing a larger place for their pizza restaurant, the Perella's moved to nearby Hibbing and opened the original Sammy's Pizza in 1954.
At the same time, Louise's sister, Flora, was living with her husband, George Clemo in Iron Mountain, MI. George had once been a miner in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but settled in Iron Mountain to work at the Ford automotive plant there. Visiting the Perella's in Hibbing and seeing the success they were having with their pizza place, George Clemo decided that he needed a change in life and decided to open his own pizza place. George and Flora decided to not open in Iron Mountain, but to move down the road the larger city of Green Bay. In December of 1958, George and Flora opened their version of Sammy's Pizza in downtown Green Bay.
George and Flora ran the small shop in downtown Green Bay for 10 years before their daughter, Bernadine (Bernie), and her husband, Al Crispigna, took over Sammy's as the Clemo's retired. After 10 years in the small spot on Walnut Street in downtown Green Bay, the Crispigna's opened a second location on Oneida Ave. just south of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, the home of the Green Bay Packers. Four years later, the original Green Bay location of Sammy's Pizza was closed and torn down for a new bridge that was built on the spot.
Because the new spot for Sammy's Pizza was so large, the Crispigna's added a number of Italian dishes to the menu including pasta, sandwiches and salads. Al Crispigna passed away a number of years ago, but Bernie Crispigna, along with her children, Audrey, Paul, and Lori (and Lori's husband, Jesse) continue to run the Green Bay location of Sammy's Pizza today. (There are now 15 Sammy's Pizza locations that are affiliated with the original Sammy's in Hibbing in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, but not with the one in Green Bay.)
Sammy's Pizza in Green Bay was just about a three minute drive - if that - from the hotel I was staying at. (see map) The outside of the building had a brick facade and was rather nondescript for a restaurant. However, at the top of building was a four-foot-high band that encircled the restaurant that had the name "Sammy's" embedded in concrete.
Inside Sammy's Pizza, I found a very nice and somewhat contemporary restaurant that had only a few half-circle windows that looked out onto Onieda Ave. While the center of the dining room was well-lit, the booths along the wall were a little more dark and secluded. There was a half-wall that separated the dining area with the open kitchen area.
I took a seat in one of the booths and was greeted by Justin, who turned out to be a manager. I heard him telling someone later on that he was not a Crispigna family member, but he had worked at Sammy's Pizza for over 15 years. Justin apologized to me, saying, "Sorry that I have to wait on you tonight. I sent one of our girls home sick earlier this evening. I'd rather that you have me wait on you than someone who was sick." I thanked him for that and ordered up a Green 19 American Pale Ale that they had on tap from the Titletown Brewing Co. in Green Bay. It was fairly hoppy and somewhat earthy in its taste, but I liked it.
They have over a dozen specialty pizzas on the menu at Sammy's. But I decided to stick with my old reliable Italian sausage, pepperoni, and mushrooms. Justin asked me if I wanted fresh or canned mushrooms on the pizza. I thought it was rather odd that they gave you a choice - who wouldn't want fresh mushrooms in place of canned mushrooms on a pizza? I ordered up a 10" pizza (12", 14" and 16" sized pizzas are also available).
The pizza came out in about 15 minutes from after I ordered. It featured a thin crust with a considerable amount of toppings. The Italian sausage came in the large chunks just as I like it, and there was a good amount of the salty and somewhat spicy pepperoni slices and, of course, the fresh slices of mushrooms. The pizza was cut in party - or tavern - squares leaving the four square "honey pot" in the center. This is the best part of a party cut pizza where all the cheese, toppings and grease coagulates in the center and gives the pizza its best taste. In many cases, the crust of the pizza is soggy from the grease, but the pizza at Sammy's wasn't all that greasy. The "honey pot" squares still had a crispiness to the crust. It was a very good pizza.
I've eaten at a couple other pizza places in Green Bay over the years and I've yet to have a bad pizza in the city. I don't know who has the better pizza in town, but I can certainly agree with those who like Sammy's Pizza the most. The pizza was very good, the toppings were tasty and plentiful, and the crust stayed crispy throughout the whole pizza. It was a nice setting for a pizza place, they had a good craft beer selection, and the pizza easily passed my "does it taste good with beer?" test. Sammy's Pizza was a great find during my trip to Green Bay.
I don't quite remember how I happened to find out about Chili John's, a chili parlor that has been in business for over 100 years in the Green Bay area. I thought that if a chili place can stay in business that long, they probably had some pretty solid chili. I went into Chili John's to try a couple chili dogs on a recent visit to Green Bay.
John Isaac was a Lithuanian immigrant who ended up in Green Bay in 1879. A few years later he started to work as a cook at a bar in Green Bay and began to serve up what he called his Southwestern chili. The chili was similar to what we call Cincinnati-style chili with spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and allspice mixed in the chili along with chocolate.
The chili became very popular with the citizens of Green Bay and John Isaac was convinced to open his own place. In 1913, he found a small building next to the Main St. Bridge in downtown Green Bay and put a sign on the front of the place that simply read "Chili". People who continued to enjoy John Isaac's chili dubbed him as "Chili John" and the name stuck and eventually became the name of his little stand. Chili John's was open six days a week - they were closed on Friday's because of the Vatican's edict on "meatless Friday's" and a large number of Green Bay's residents were conservative Catholics.
As time went on, the business outgrew its space not once, not twice, but three times. Each time, John Isaac relocated his chili shop along Main Street in downtown Green Bay. The third incarnation of Chili John's featured the longest counter in town.
Pictured right - "Chili" John Issac
In the mid-40's, John Isaac's health began to fail and he passed away in 1947 just before the business was to move to a new location. His wife continued to own the business, but her daughter, Lillian, was the one who ran the place. Lillian became the sole owner of Chili John's upon her mother's death in the early 60's and the first thing she implemented was a new day off - Sunday. With the Catholic Church's loosening of the "meatless Friday" restrictions, Lillian decided to close on Sunday's to give the employees at least one day off on the weekends.
Lillian continued to run the business until she decided around 1970 that she wanted to step away from the place. She immediately asked her brother, Ernie - who had moved to California to start his own Chili John's in 1946 (the Chili John's in Burbank is still there today) - and her five sisters if anyone would like to take over the business. Her sister, Dorothy Hoehne, and her husband, Harry, ran a seasonal hamburger stand in Egg Harbor, WI called Harry's Hamburger Stand. Harry Hoehne was a school teacher at a local Catholic high school and he thought that he and his wife could take over Chili John's and not have it interfere with his teaching duties. The Hoehne's took over Chili John's in the early 70's and their son, Dan, began to work in the place soon after. Dan Hoehne is still involved as the owner of Chili John's which is now located in a small strip mall near the corners of S. Military Ave. and W. Mason St. in Green Bay. (see map)
I got into Chili John's just before the noon time rush one weekday after I had just left one of my dealers just down the road. The interior of the place looked, well, like a chili parlor. Antique-style parlor lights hung from the ceiling. Parlor chairs and tables were placed along the walls. They had a long counter on the opposite side of the dining area. The counter is where I parked myself and I was given a menu when I sat down.
The chili served at Chili John's is the exact same recipe that John Isaac came up with over 100 years ago. The recipe has been passed down through the family and possibly less than a dozen people have ever known the exact recipe. The meaty beef chili is served with or without beans, and in four levels of spiciness - mild, medium, hot, and extra hot. You can get the chili served on top of spaghetti - ala Cincinnati-style with oyster crackers - and you can get the chili topped with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapenos and/or chopped onions.
I saw on the menu that they were touting their "famous chili dog" - a 1/4" pound all-beef hot dog covered with my choice of chili, shredded cheddar and chopped onions. I ordered up one of those thinking that if I wanted another one I could order it up after finishing the first one.
A dill pickle came with the hot dog and I got the chili without beans and "medium". It had a little bit of spiciness and I'm guessing that hot would have been possibly a little too much. The chili was tasty - I like a good Cincinnati-style chili from time to time - and the chopped red onions and the cheddar cheese went well with the chili. The chili left a greasy residue on my fingers where I had to use multiple napkins while I ate it.
But the hot dog - blaaah! It was completely overcooked. The skin was hard and shriveled making it tough to bite into. The hot dog was absolutely horrible. And that's too bad because the chili was very good. Had the hot dog been cooked properly, it would have been a very good chili dog. No, I didn't get a second one.
So, the chili at Chili John's I thought was pretty good. For a Cincinnati-style chili, it rivaled some of the better places I've tried in Cincinnati over the years. But the hot dog that was part of the chili dog was absolutely overcooked, tough and horrid. I honestly can't think that they cook their hot dogs that way all the time because the taste and texture of the hot dog detracted from the wonderful taste of the chili. I may go back to Chili John's at some point to see if the first chili dog I had there was an anomaly. But I probably won't go out of my way to do so.
I've eaten at Kroll's West a three or four times on visits to Green Bay over the past 10 years or so. (Click here to see my visit to Kroll's West.) The burgers are pretty good and I've often wondered about the Kroll's East location. During a trip to Green Bay recently, I made a point to go to Kroll's East to check things out.
In the early 30's, Harry and Caroline Kroll started to serve meals at their downtown Green Bay hotel to help make ends meet during the Great Depression. The burgers that they made - a quarter-pound beef patty topped with butter, onions, pickles and copious amounts of ketchup - became so popular that they opened a small burger stand in 1936. Just before World War II, the Kroll's shut down their stand (since it was a seasonal business) and moved into the basement of the former Labor Temple Auditorium in downtown Green Bay so they could serve their burgers year round. Harry and Caroline were then joined in their business by their daughter, Pat.
When World War II came along, the Kroll's were having trouble getting good beef to make their burgers. Rationing across the nation during wartime was taking a toll on the nation's restaurants. The Kroll's were able to keep going, but decided just after the war ended to sell the business to Harry Kroll's sister, Isabel Kroll Schauer and her husband, Dick. In the meantime, Pat Kroll Van Der Perren took over the basement space for her own Kroll's restaurant.
The Schauer's moved into a building on Main Street, just south and east of the downtown area and they opened their doors in November of 1945. Isabel expanded the menu that included many of the same chili and soup recipes that are made in Kroll's East kitchen today. Everything at Kroll's East - as it was when the Schauer's opened the doors in 1945 - is made in house with their own recipes.
Behind the restaurant were a block of small cabins that people stayed in during the summer months. Just beyond the cabins were open fields. If heat was needed in the cabins, the tenants would use small kerosene heaters provided by their owner, Leonard Goeben. Kroll's was a favorite place to eat for the people staying in the cabins.
By 1969, the cabins were gone, and Dick and Isabel's son, Jim, came to work in the family business. Less than three years later in January of 1972, Dick Schauer passed away. Jim took over the day-to-day operations of Kroll's and began a remodeling project two years later that enlarged the bar area. At the time of the renovations at Schauer's Kroll's location, Jim Schauer's cousin, Pat Van Der Perran was forced to move her downtown location due to urban renewal. The Van Der Perren's moved to S. Ridge Road in the shadow of Lambeau Field to open Kroll's West.
In the 1980's, Bette Schauer joined her husband in the business. They were soon followed by their daughter, Jenny Schauer Smith, and two of their sons, Ben and Nathan. The Schauer family continues to run Kroll's East today which is located at 1658 Main St. in Green Bay. (see map)
I got into Kroll's East around 7:30 on a cool evening. The original "Lunch Time" neon sign with a clock in the middle still stands on the front of the building facing Main Street. I didn't really know the drill at Kroll's and I entered the place by the dining area by the kitchen. There's a candy-caned shaped counter in the front of the area by the kitchen. This definitely did not look like a bar area where you could belly up to and get a beer.
Off to the side was a dining area that featured booths and tables. It was a nice looking dining area - the only problem was that no one was in there.
That was the same situation with the long narrow dining room that connects the main dining area with the bar area. There were a number of small booths that looked like they belonged back in the 70's along the walls of this area at Kroll's East.
Upon closer inspection of the long dining room, I saw that each booth had their own service button that you would push to summon a server. In fact, the booths in the main dining room by the kitchen/front counter area had them, as well. I almost kind of like that - you need something, hit the buzzer. No need for a server to come around to ask you if you need something when you don't, but then when you do need something there's no one around to be found.
I made my way into the bar are at Kroll's East. It was a larger room with subdued lighting, flat screen televisions and a number of tables and booths. Now, THIS is where it was all happening for the patrons that evening. I took a seat at the bar looking at an ornate mirror with green and white tile around it. It turns out that this was the original Italian-made mirror with the original tile from the original building before the place was renovated back in the 70's. The bartender, an older gentleman who was having trouble getting around probably due to bad hips (I've had 'em), came over to greet me and to drop off a menu. I ordered a Leinenkugel that they had on tap that evening.
Of course, they're famous for their burgers at Kroll's East. They still use a Black Angus blend of beef that is never frozen - the same way they did it back in the days of Harry and Caroline Kroll's ownership of the place. The burgers are grilled over charcoal giving them a distinctive taste. In addition to burgers, Kroll's East also features sandwiches and wraps, housemade soups and salads, and chicken wings, nuggets and tenders.
I had to try the burger - this was a double cheeseburger topped with pepper jack cheese. Similar to the burger at Kroll's West it was slathered in ketchup. The cheese was also a gooey mess on top of the burger patties. And as it is the Kroll's custom - East or West - the burger was cut in half before it was served. The usual Kroll's burger comes with a toasted hard semmel (or Kaiser) bun, but you can also order it with a toasted soft bun. That's what I did on this particular visit. I also got a side of onion rings to go with the burger.
From the first bite, I thought this burger was better than the one over at Kroll's West. The ketchup wasn't as thick and slathered on like the last couple I've got at Kroll's West. I like ketchup on a burger - many people don't - but sometimes it's too much. I'd say that it was a lot of ketchup on this burger, but not overpowering in taste. The pepper jack cheese, melted butter, onions, and pickles were a great taste combination along with the softer bun that stayed together very well with all the stuff on the char-grilled burger. I usually prefer a flat-grilled burger over a char-grilled one, but this was a very good burger.
The onion rings, on the other hand, were just all right - nothing special. They had a nice krispy outer shell, but they were sort of bland and greasy. I don't know why I got onion rings other than the fact that they sort of sounded pretty good. If it was a housemade batter, it was pretty pedestrian. The greasiness of the onion rings didn't help the taste.
I'm sure people in Green Bay have their favorites - Kroll's East vs. Kroll's West. I seemed to like the burger at Kroll's East better than the last couple I've had at Kroll's West. Both are good burgers - some people think they're the best in the state of Wisconsin. I don't know if I'd go that far, but like anything that's a local institution, people are going to be more parochial in their choices. You gotta like Kroll's East just for the history behind the place. The burgers are a great draw, as well. The only thing I can say is try both the Kroll's locations and find out which one you like better. I don't think you can go wrong with either spot.
Up in Green Bay during an early spring day where winter was still trying to hang on, I set my sights on a place that came up on my GPS when I was pulling into town. The name - Graystone Ale House - was intriguing enough for me to give it a try.
The Graystone Ale House is part of a consortium of sports bars around the Green Bay/Appleton area owned by Jess Miller, Ryan Chernick and other partners. These places include The Bar with locations in both Green Bay and Appleton, as well as the Hagemeister Park sports bar in downtown Green Bay that is named after the first field the Green Bay Packers played on when they became a football team in the late 1910's. The modern day Hagemeister Park features a Packer motif and a large outdoor patio deck with a heated canopy. It's a popular place for Packer game days, both when the Packers play at Lambeau Field or on the road.
Graystone Ale House opened in late 2010 and is situated in a newer area of Green Bay in what is actually De Pere, WI just past the roundabout where Monroe and Dickinson Roads meet. (see map) There's ample parking beside and behind the building.
Walking into Graystone Ale House you'll find a large square bar with a larger dining area off to the right and a smaller one in the bar area. The place was very nice and very welcoming. There were dozens of flatscreen televisions scattered throughout the building. As I entered, one of the servers told me that I could sit anywhere I liked and I asked if I could just sit at the bar and get food. She said it was no problem.
My server, Jessie, came over to great me and dropped off a menu. I got a Lagunitas IPA that they had on draft from one of the about two dozen spigots behind the bar. It was served to me in a Mason jar.
The food selection on the menu was extensive but it included some upscale items in addition to the normal burgers, salads, soups and appetizers you find at similar sports bars. They had steaks and seafood on the menu including a 12 ounce New York strip steak and grilled Mahi Mahi. Graystone Ale House also featured fettuccine Alfredo and a pot roast entree, as well.
I looked over their pizza page for a moment before settling on either sandwich or a burger. About the only sandwich that remotely appealed to me that day was their Black Forest sandwich - sliced turkey and ham topped with Swiss and cheddar cheese and served on marble rye bread. I decided to concentrate on the burgers.
The fries were average, but I didn't really care about that. The big burger was filling and I didn't eat many of the fries. In fact, I don't think I had dinner that evening because I was still full from the burger I had for lunch.
Graystone Ale House - nice place, above average burger, great beer selection, tons of televisions and a good menu for a sports bar. I couldn't complain about much during my visit there. The service was good and I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. It was one of the better sports bars I've visited in the upper Midwest.
A shout out today to Carol Peterson who e-mailed me (roadtips@gmail.com) last year telling me that I needed to try a little burger joint outside of Green Bay - Joe Rouer's Bar. "It's the best burger I've ever had. It's tough to find, but it's worth it once you get there." On a recent trip to the Green Bay area, I drove the 20 miles (or so) out of town to have a burger at Joe Rouer's Bar.
Former dairy farmer Joe Rouer bought what was a combination bar and feed mill back in the early 1950's, taking possession and opening the doors on December 5, 1952. Legend has it that a teacher was visiting a nearby school and asked the school's principal where to get something to eat for lunch. The school principal suggested the bar down the road that Joe Rouer had just bought. The teacher walked in and asked about getting some food. Rouer's wife, Helen, was out running errands and Rouer, himself, had never cooked before. He turned on the electric flat top grill and cooked the teacher a burger. It would be the first of thousands and thousands of burgers Joe would grill up.
That electric flat top grill even survived a devastating fire in 1990. The 86-year-old building received extensive damage from an electrical fire and Rouer - who was just three years younger than the building - considered retiring. However, he ended up building a newer and bigger place back from the corner lot where the original Joe Rouer's stood. Joe Rouer died in 2003 at the age of 95, a year after he celebrated 50 years of being in business.
Long-time locals say that the person that kept the place going all those years before the fire was Helen Rouer. Helen was quite the character, a rambunctious lady who had a great personality and who loved her shots of Kessler whiskey. Helen died in 1985 and their grandson, Michael Bultman, stepped in to help run the day-to-day operation when Joe's health began to fail in the years after that.
I programmed my GPS for the address of Joe Rouer's Bar and it showed a Luxemburg, WI address. But as I drove toward Joe Rouer's a couple miles off of Wisconsin State Highway 57, I came up to a small unincorporated village of Duvall. At the northeast corner of the intersection was Joe Rouer's Bar. (see map)
Joe Rouer's Bar is a clean establishment, with a lot of natural light coming in from the many windows. A number of tables and chairs are placed throughout the dining room on top of a brick floor. The oblong bar is the centerpiece of the dining area. A game room with more tables is located off to the side.
I took a seat at the bar and the guy behind the bar came over to greet me. He placed a table top menu in front of me and asked me what I wanted to drink. I saw that they had Point Amber Classic on tap. It had been a while since I had a Point Amber Classic and I ordered one of those. The first sip told me why I hadn't had one in a long time - it was bitter. But subsequent gulps began to taste better.
There's not much on the menu at Joe Rouer's Bar - burgers, fish or grilled chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, fries, onion petals, soups and a handful of other appetizers. I asked the guy behind the bar how big the burgers were and he said, "Well, they're thin and flat, but big. Bigger than the bun that we put 'em on." I asked him if I should get a single or a double and he said, "Most guys get the double. It's about a half-pound." Against my better judgement, I got a double cheese burger. He asked me if I wanted fried onions or raw onions on it. I like the taste of fried onions, but my stomach doesn't like them.
The burger was presented to me on a small plate with a small bowl of dill pickles. The cheddar cheese was oozing on the top of the top patty. Mike Bultman gets his ground beef fresh each day from Marchant's in nearby Brussels, WI and hand-patties each burger before cooking.
This was a serious burger. The juice coming off the burger as it was sitting there was just amazing. A thin slice of onion stuck to the underside of the top bun. Putting some pickles, ketchup and mustard on the burger, I took my first bite of a Joe Rouer burger.
And it was... AWESOME!!! Oh, my GOD!!! It was a KILLER burger! The zest from the old flat top grill just added to the great taste of the burger. It was juicy with such a great flavor. It was one of those burgers where I was sincerely unhappy when I took the last bite.
The bill came to about $14 bucks before tip for the double cheeseburger and two beers. And they do take credit cards at Joe Rouer's. It was simply an outstanding burger at a great price.
I'm not going to do a Top Ten list of my all-time favorite burgers any longer. I'm starting to find lists on blogs are tedious, subjective and somewhat boring. But if I were to do a Top Ten list, Joe Rouer's would be firmly in the top three of burgers I've ever had. Heck, it could even be the best burger I've ever had. It was just exceptional. I will definitely be back to Joe Rouer's. Like Carol told me, it's tough to find, but worth the trip.
(Note - The address for Joe Rouer's Bar is 1098 County Road X, not County Road A as listed on Urbanspoon.)
In Green Bay one recent evening, I decided to give a place called Cranky Pat's a try for their pizza. Cranky Pat's is the former Frank and Pat's Pizza Palace in Green Bay with a long-ago connection to Frank's Pizza Palace in Appleton, WI. I liked the pizza at Frank's (click here to see my entry on Frank's Pizza Palace), so I anticipated a pizza at Cranky Pat's that was equal to the one I had at Frank's a few years ago.
The genesis of the original Frank and Pat's Pizza Palace started out with a young guy from Chicago by the name of Frank Pierri. Around 1954, Frank had come up to the Fox Valley area for a wedding of a friend and fell in love with the region. He discovered that there were no pizza places in Appleton, so he opened one there with the help of a friend from Chicago, Pat Earle. After awhile, the two got into a tiff and split up with Frank Pierri keeping the one in Appleton and Pat Earle opening a place in nearby Menasha. Pat also had places in Marinette, WI and Oshkosh, before opening a location in Green Bay.
In 1993, along with his son's Michael and David, the Earle family opened a location in Neenah, WI and named it Cranky Pat's. They've since opened a new Oshkosh pizzeria about 10 years ago and opened a second Green Bay location in 2013. Dave Earle runs the Neenah location, and his sister-in-law Mary Sue ran the Green Bay locations until she turned them over to her daughter, Sarah Veldkamp, and her husband, Paul, not long ago. Pat Earle's grandson's, Jason and Aaron Baer, run the Oshkosh location.
Green Bay is one of those cities where most of the streets run Northwest to Southeast and Northeast to Southwest. Every time I go there, I think I'm going east and I look at the compass on my dashboard and it says I'm going south. So, I wasn't overly certain how to get to Cranky Pat's from my hotel. Thankfully, my GPS took me right to Cranky Pat's at the corner of Bellevue and Cass Streets, sort of south and east of Green Bay's downtown. (see map)
I came upon Cranky Pat's, but it still had a sign on the side of the building that said "Frank and Pat's Pizza". There's a parking lot across the street and I went in to find the place about half full. The sign said to seat myself, so I found a table along the wall on the east side of the restaurant.
The dining room is spacious and well lit. They have tables large enough to seat 8 people with many 6 and 4 seaters throughout the place. It's definitely family friendly at Cranky Pat's. There were at least two birthday parties going on during the time I was in there.
The original Faulds oven from the late 50's is still churning out pizza over 50 years after it was first used. The Ferris Wheel-type revolving shelf oven has room for 24 pizzas at once. I was told that while this is the original oven, many of the parts have had to be replaced over the years. I understand that Faulds ovens are no longer made and that you have to take parts from other old Faulds ovens if something goes bad. The Faulds oven at Cranky Pat's is the same one that's used at Frank's Pizza Palace in Appleton.
The pizza prep area is right up front with patrons able to see the pizzas being made out in the open. The thin crust pizzas are rolled and hand tossed before they're put on pizza boards for transfer into the Faulds oven.
One of the female servers came over with a menu. She told me she wouldn't be my server, but wanted to know if I wanted anything to drink. I ordered up a beer and took a look through the menu.
Pizza is the main item on the menu and they're not cheap - similar to Frank's over in Appleton. A large (16") Pat's Special that features double sausage and double pepperoni along with your choice of two more toppings comes to just under $27 bucks. A small "build-your-own" with three toppings comes to just over $19 bucks. The one thing that I remember from Frank's is that they don't skimp on the toppings there. I was hoping it would be the same thing with Pat's Pizza.
In addition to the typical pizza place appetizers - garlic bread, pizza sticks, etc. - they also have a salad bar with soup at Pat's. The menu features Italian-style sandwiches, pasta - including lasagna - and baked pasta entrees.
When my server came back to take my order, I went with my usual sausage, mushroom and pepperoni. It didn't take all that long for the pizza to get out to me. It was definitely a thin-crusted and very large small pizza, but I could tell from a first glance that it was a little overcooked for my tastes. The bottom of the first piece of the party cut/tavern cut pizza was slightly burnt. I know people who like their pizza that way, but I don't like the charred taste on a pizza.
But the other thing that was tough to notice was that they certainly didn't skimp on the toppings. In fact, I may have to say that there were TOO MANY mushrooms on my pizza. I know I'm being a little critical, but nearly each piece of pizza that I had was covered in mushrooms. So much so that I couldn't make out the taste of the sausage or pepperoni very well. But the mushrooms were fresh and very flavorful.
Making my way around the perimeter of the pizza, as I got toward the center pieces I found the burnt taste was primarily on the edges. As I got into the center "honey pot" square slices, the crisp crust had yielded to a softer, more chewy crust - probably from the combination of the toppings and the tangy sweet sauce settling in. I couldn't finish the pizza in one sitting - it was a big pizza for a small (two people could have easily eaten it). I think I left about 10 or 11 square pieces, declaring that I was done when my server came to check on me. I did, however, get the extra pieces to go and I had three or four more pieces the following morning by warming them up in the microwave in my room. They warmed up very well and pizza for breakfast is always a treat.
Could I tell which was better between Frank's or Pat's? Probably not. They're both so similar that I don't think you could really tell the difference between the two. Both places use the same Fauld's pizza oven, they use an abundance of fresh toppings, and the crust is thin - just the way I like it. The bill with a couple beers and a tip for the waitress came to about $30 bucks. Not cheap for a pizza place, but they made up for it with an enormous amount of toppings on the pizza. One other thing - Pat's Pizzeria has free wi-fi, something that I appreciate when I'm scouring the web for news and updates while I'm waiting for my pizza. I love finding old pizza joints like this on the road and the pizza at Pat's was one of the better ones that I've come across in my travels.
When I first began to travel working for my present company over 11 years ago, I had been told by a friend that I needed to try Kroll's West in Green Bay for one of their burgers. When I finally got there about 8 years ago, I remember the burger was good - juicy and tasty - and I even gave them a mention in my first Best Burger List back in 2007. Since then - and dozens of burgers have blurred my memory of the one I had at Kroll's West and it dropped out of my Best Burger List long ago. On a recent trip up to Green Bay, I had a morning meeting before a drive down to Milwaukee. I decided to have some lunch before I left town and headed back over to Kroll's West for a burger.
There is a Kroll's East in Green Bay, but there is different ownership between the two. The common denominator is founder Harry Kroll and his wife, Caroline. Harry Kroll began to serve meals in a family hotel in 1931 and his food became so popular that his wife and he opened their first restaurant in downtown Green Bay in 1936. Kroll would take a grilled quarter pound burger and top it with onions, ketchup, pickles and butter. Harry and Caroline were joined by their daughter, Pat, in the business that had opened a second location the basement of the old Labor Temple Auditorium just before World War II.
The war years were tough on the Kroll's. Getting good beef for their burgers was a challenge due to rationing. But they were able to make it through the tough years and in 1945 Harry and Caroline sold the original Kroll's location to his sister, Isabel, and her husband, Dick Schauer. Pat Kroll continued to work for her parents in the other location.
In 1974, Pat Kroll - now Pat van der Perren - was forced to move the business from the downtown location to a new location in the shadow of Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The new Kroll's West was much bigger than their old location, so it was a challenge for the family to keep up. It was about that same time that Pat van der Perren's daughter, Bobbie, and her husband, Mike Weir, came in to the business. Today, the Weir's continue to run Kroll's West.
Kroll's West is located on South Ridge Road just across the street from Lambeau Field. (see map) It is a popular hangout before, during and after Green Bay Packers games. There's not much to the description of the building - it's a squat, long building with a series of smaller windows on the front. There used to be an awning that adorned the front of the building, but on this visit I noticed that the awning had been taken down and it appeared that some new lighting bases were being built in front of the restaurant.
There's a dining area and a bar area at Kroll's West. The dining area is off to the left as you walk in and it looks for like a family restaurant than a tavern. As I did on my original visit, I ended up going to the bar area - known as Kroll's Lounge - and taking a seat on one side of the long rectangular bar. You actually take a couple steps up to sit at the bar and they have upholstered chairs to sit in instead of bar stools. There are booths along the wall and tables toward the back area of the bar if you're with a group of people.
A bartender greeted me and gave me a menu. She asked if I wanted anything to drink and I noticed that they had something called Kroll's Special Ale on tap. I inquired about that and she said, "It's made by Leininkugel for us. It's sort of like Leinie Red." I thought I'd give that a try. She was right - if it wasn't Leinie Red, it was damn close.
I pretty much knew that I was going to get a burger, but Kroll's menu has a lot more to offer. In addition to appetizers, soups and salads, Kroll's has a long list of sandwiches, as well as comfort food such as a shredded hot beef dinner, broasted pork chops and a number of fish and seafood dishes including baked salmon and deep fried walleye.
All of Kroll's burgers are cooked over Kingsford charcoal. The restaurant goes through hundreds of pounds of charcoal each week. "Everything" on a Kroll's burger is the same as it was nearly 80 years ago - ketchup, raw onions, pickles and butter. When the bartender came back around, I ordered up a burger and added bacon, mushrooms and Swiss cheese to it.
Kroll's cuts their burgers in half before they serve them to their customers. My 1/4 lb. burger patty was pretty thin - I could have had the Big K burger which is a larger version of the original Kroll's burger. The crown of the bun was hard on the outside - once again a Kroll's signature - and very chewy. In fact, it was almost too chewy.
One thing I forgot about the Kroll's burger is that when they put ketchup on the burger, they put ketchup on the burger. It was slathered in ketchup, so much so that it overpowered nearly everything else that was on the burger. I couldn't taste the mushroom that were on the burger because of the ketchup. Heck, I couldn't even tell it had been cooked over charcoal because there was so much ketchup on it. They could have considerably cut back on the ketchup and it would have helped the overall taste of the burger.
The bacon was way too chewy - I had to remove one of the pieces from my mouth because it was so tough to chew. And I decided the bun was also way too hard to chew. I'm not a fan of hard roll buns for burgers. I know some people like them - Kroll's has served their burgers on the hard buns since day one. But a good burger needs to have a good bun that stays together with each bite and is softer than the one they sell at Kroll's West.
Over time, your memory gets a little fuzzy with places you've gone to and foods you've eaten. I remember the first burger I had at Kroll's West being better than the one I had on this visit. Kroll's West is an institution with people who live in and visit Green Bay for Packers games. I don't doubt their popularity, but the burger is definitely an acquired taste. One of these days, I'm going to try Kroll's East and see if the burgers are any better - or if they're the same as the ones at Kroll's West.
Spending the evening in Green Bay recently, I wasn't certain what I wanted to have for dinner. When you're on the road as much as I am, it gets to be a grind trying to figure out what you'd like to get on a specific day. I did a quick Urbanspoon search for different cuisines in Green Bay and saw a place called the Lorelei Inn in the "German" category. Reading up on the place that has been open for 60 years, I decided that I'd give the place a try.
Tom Eschelweck founded the Lorelei Inn in 1953 offering a number of German food items from recipes he had. David Eschelweck took over the family business in the mid-70's when his parents retired. In 1983, David Eschelweck sold the business to Chicago native Leonard Hack and his wife, Marilyn. The Hack's kept many of the original recipes the Eschelweck family had used striving to keep the food as simple, yet as good as it had been. Hack's two children, Dave and Lynne helped out in the restaurant with their family before they eventually took over running the day-to-day operation from their parents. Lynne's daughter, Meagan Colombo, a Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-trained chef, heads the kitchen at the Lorelei Inn.
Right smack at the epicenter of Green Bay Packers football, you wouldn't think there would be too many fans of the hated rival Chicago Bears. However, Leonard Hack put up a Chicago Bears shrine in the dimly lit bar area of the Lorelei Inn after he took over the place and many Bears items still adorn the walls. A couple years ago, Dave Hack (who happens to share the same name of a good friend of mine) brought in a new beer dispenser system and he has a revolving seasonal menu of eclectic beers on tap in addition to every day offerings such as Guinness, Stella Artois and Bass. In addition to beers on tap, the Lorelei Inn has a number of imported and domestic beers to choose from.
The Lorelei Inn - named after the mythological river mermaids on Germany's Rhine River - is actually located in the Green Bay neighborhood/suburb of Allouez on S. Webster. (see map) There's a parking lot on the south side of the small brick building and I was able to find a spot to park there when I pulled in around 7:30 p.m. In addition to the bar area, there is a dining area off to the left of the bar area as you come in. I was greeted by a lady who asked if I wanted to take a table in the dining room, but a quick look inside showed that it was nearly full. Other than a couple three people seated at the bar, the bar area was nearly empty. I asked if I could sit in the bar and she said, "Sure! But, I just want to let you know there is no wait service for drinks if you sit in the bar area." I looked at her a little funny and she said, "You have to order your drinks at the bar." Ah ha! I understand. (Photo courtesy Green Bay Nightlife.com)
I found a table in the corner and she dropped off a dinner menu. She said, "We have a special tonight. It's called the Alpine Schnitzel which are two breaded pork tenderloins topped with a marsala wine sauce with onions and mushrooms." I almost didn't open the menu after she told me that. And she was nice enough to ask me if she could get me a drink, even though she originally told me that they didn't have wait staff service for drinks. I looked at the chalk board above the bar and ordered up a Hacker-Pschorr lager.
(Pictured right - The bar area at the Lorelei Inn.)
In addition to German specialties at the Lorelei Inn, they also feature steaks, grilled salmon, chicken and beef liver on the menu. They also have a large selections of sandwiches including reubens, burgers and something called the Sacher Sandwich - your choice of thin-sliced ham or a quarter-pound burger patty topped with sauteed bacon, mushrooms, onions and green peppers, then topped with Swiss cheese and served on a Kaiser bun.
Quite actually, they only had a couple three German foods to choose from on the menu. They had a Weinerschnitzel plate, as well as Sauerbraten. They also had a "hot meat plate" that featured a pork loin and knackwurst steamed in sauerkraut. The nightly special was sounding better and better to me, even though the Sauerbraten was calling my name.
When my server for the evening came over to take my order, I decided on the Alpine Schnitzel special. I got a choice of a couple sides and I got a potato pancake and some red cabbage. I was told that I also got a dinner salad and she rattled off some of the housemade dressings they had. When she said, "Creamy peppercorn...", I stopped her right there.
The dinner salad was piled high with fresh greens, carrot and radish slices, and a large slice of a fresh cucumber. The dressing was creamy and had a nice peppery taste to it. But the highlight of the salad was the pumpernickel dinner roll I got on the side along with a white bread dinner roll. The pumpernickel had a great and intense flavor to it. I almost asked for a couple more, but I was afraid that I'd eat too much of them and it would spoil my dinner.
My Alpine Schnitzel came out not long after I finished my salad. The breaded pork cutlets were covered with a thick marsala sauce teeming with sliced mushrooms and chopped onions. The potato pancake was thin with a deep golden color to it.
The schnitzel was a little overcooked in my book. It was a little hard and chewy, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. The marsala wine sauce was very good and very rich. It helped the overall taste of the schnitzel and made it much more palatable.
The potato pancake was crispy on the outside and had a creamy middle. Actually, it was a little drab in its taste - some sour cream would have helped it - but it was still all right.
But the sweet and sour red cabbage was outstanding. The consistency of the cabbage was excellent - it wasn't overcooked and mushy like I've had from some other places. The sweet and sour taste combination of the red cabbage was an exceptional balance. It was the first thing I finished out of the three items I had for dinner.
Finishing most of the very rich schnitzel and leaving a portion of the potato pancakes, I was stuffed at the end. While I can't call the food at the Lorelei Inn outstanding, it was good enough to quell my hankering for German food for the evening. I don't know if you can call the place a "German" restaurant because they really only have three or four German items to choose from, but it's a quaint little neighborhood place that has stood the test of time in Green Bay. I'm definitely heading back to try one of their reubens at some point. The diverse selections of beers would impress even the most demanding beer snob. It's a cool little place that has above average food and a nice following in the Green Bay area.
My former neighbor, George, is a big Green Bay Packers fan. And there's a reason - his uncle, Bob Harlan, is the former CEO/President of the Packers. Bob Harlan and George's mom are brother and sister. George didn't trumpet the fact that his uncle was the former CEO for the Packers - I don't think I knew about the connection until almost a year after he and his wife, Hanna, had moved in next door. I asked George if he ever goes up for games and he sort of said, "Yeah, every once in a while. My sisters go a lot more than I do. I'm not really that close to the Harlan family like my older sisters are."
(Correction - I got this part of the story all screwed up. It turns out that George's dad and Bob Harlan's wife, Madeline, are brother and sister. I've been telling people over the past couple of years that Bob Harlan and George's mom were brother sister. George told me after this post came out, "No, man. It's my dad and Madeline who are brother and sister, not my mom and Bob. Where did you get that?" Dunno, man...)
I said, "I've always wanted to see a game at Lambeau Field. If you ever get a chance to grab some tickets, let me know. I'd love to go up."
That chance happened earlier this fall when George's parents were visiting Bob Harlan and his wife, Madeline, at the Harlan's vacation home in Door County. Madeline told George's dad that she had 4 tickets for three upcoming games. One of the games was Dec. 5 against the San Francisco 49ers. George called me up and said that he could get those tickets. Knowing that there would be a better than even chance that it would be colder than hell in Green Bay at that time, I still said, "OK! Let's go!"
George said, "The wives will be cold, but it's more fun to see a game in Green Bay when it's cold."
I've been to Lambeau Field a number of times. I stop there nearly every time I go to see my account up in Green Bay. I like to go to the Packers Pro Shopand stop in for a beer at Curly's Pub on the upper level of the Atrium area at Lambeau Field. But I've never had the opportunity to gaze down on the storied field before.
Now, let me just say that I really don't follow one National Football League team. I'm more of a college football fan than a pro fan. A lot of times, I usually don't start paying attention to the NFL until about half-way through the season. But that's not to say that I don't follow the Midwest teams. I was a huge Vikings fan as a youth until they crushed my very soul by losing four Super Bowls in eight years. I followed the Bears for awhile and I keep up with what's happening in St. Louis as my friend, Mike Naughton, is V-P for Finance for the Rams.
But I've always known that football is a religion up in Green Bay. Even in the down years, the Packers would still sell out Lambeau Field. In fact, there is a waiting list of nearly 68,000 names for Packers season tickets. Before this season, 126 people were able to get off that waiting list and get season tickets for the Packers games. If you're number 65,737 on the list, I hope you're a very young person.
Lambeau Field was originally named City Field (actually, "New" City Field - it replaced the old city of Green Bay-owned City Field) when it opened in 1957. In 1965, it was renamed Lambeau Field after the Packers founder, Earl "Curly" Lambeau. The original capacity of City/Lambeau Field was 32,500 when it opened and by 1995 the capacity of the stadium had expanded to a titch over 60,000 (pictured right). The City of Green Bay continues to own and maintain Lambeau Field.
Bob Harlan recognized the fact that the Packers wouldn't be able to exist if they didn't do a major overhaul of Lambeau Field, adding more luxury boxes, more seats and adding fan friendly amenities. In 2000, Harlan announced an aggressive $295 million dollar renovation for Lambeau that would address the needs to help keep Green Bay competitive into the 21st Century.
George told me, "Uncle Bob went all over the state of Wisconsin talking to civic groups, town hall meetings, whoever, just to tell the people of Wisconsin that if this didn't go through, the Packers would be dead in the water trying to keep up with all the other teams in the NFL."
Of course, Harlan was able to convince the people and politicians of Wisconsin that the upgrade of Lambeau Field was a high priority and funds raised through a stock sale of the Packers, a half-cent sales tax rise in Brown County (Green Bay's county), and funding by the State of Wisconsin was approved. The citizens of Brown County had to vote on the proposed sales tax increase in 2000 and it barely passed - 53% Yes to 47% No. Renovations on Lambeau Field began in 2001.
George and I couldn't remember if the Packers had to relocate any of their games during the renovation project, but through some research I did for this entry, it turns out the Packers played all of their scheduled home games at Lambeau Field for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. When the project was completed in 2003, the seating capacity rose to the current 72,928.
Since we were getting the tickets for free from George's uncle and aunt, we decided to use free hotel points to get rooms for Saturday and Sunday nights. I used Hilton Honors points for our rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn in Appleton on Saturday night, Hanna used her Holiday Inn Priority Club points for our rooms at the Holiday Inn East in Madison on Sunday. It helped keep expenses tremendously low as it would have easily been well over $500 per couple just for the weekend trip to Green Bay had we paid out of pocket for tickets and hotel rooms.
We got into Green Bay around 9:45 the morning of the game. We came in on Lombardi Ave. and began to look for a place to park. We took a left on S. Ridge Rd. by the stadium (see map) and we saw a guy parking cars in his yard - literally in the shadow of Lambeau Field. It was $25 dollars to park, but we were right across the street from the stadium with the promise of an easy out if we wanted to leave early. We parked around the back of this house. I had to take this picture to illustrate how close we were to the stadium. George said, "Isn't it wild that an NFL stadium is located in the middle of a neighborhood? How cool would it be to live across the street from or Lambeau Field in your back yard?"
The day dawned cold and grey with a stiff wind coming off of the lake. It wasn't going to get much higher than 25 degrees and we were all bundled up. As we walked toward the stadium, I became painfully aware that the stocking cap I'd bought at Home Depot a few days before was going to be woefully unsuitable for the cold weather. I needed a new stocking cap.
We stopped off in front of the Atrium at Lambeau Field - in the Bob Harlan Plaza, no less - and Cindy got this picture of the immortal Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi. There is also a statue of Curly Lambeau on the plaza and in between the two statues is a plaque commemorating the efforts Bob Harlan accomplished during his leadership from 1989 to 2008.
We knew the Packers Pro Shop would be packed with people, so George suggested a Packers store down south and east of the stadium near Brett Favre's Steakhouse (see my entry on Favre's steakhouse here). We worked our way down to a large Packers merchandise store to look for a stocking cap for me and a hooded sweatshirt for George. While I've been very impressed with the Packers merchandise at the Packers Pro Shop, The Jersey Store had even more stuff (pictured below left). It was split into two sections - one for women's wear and one for men's gear. I found a stocking cap with the Green Bay logo on it for $10 bucks. George found a vintage Packers hooded sweatshirt for $50. We made our purchases and worked our way back toward the stadium.
George had a great idea to stop off at the Bay City Smokehouse which had an outdoor bar and beer garden set up in their parking lot. It afforded us a chance to go to the bathroom, get a couple beers and a bloody mary. Cindy was especially bundled up in her heavy winter coat and her thermal pants over a couple shirts, a pair of jeans and her Uggs boots. Cindy is the type of person who gets cold when the temperature dips below 70 degrees. I was sort of worried how she'd fare in this cold weather - I certainly wasn't enjoying it - but she was a trooper for a good portion of the day. Here she is enjoying the bloody mary I got her at Bay City Smokehouse (pictured above right).
George wanted to go find his cousin, Mike Harlan, the youngest of Bob and Madeline's boys, who usually tail-gated in the west parking lot of the stadium. George's cousin Kevin Harlan is a well-known sports broadcaster and his other cousin Bryan Harlan is a well-known sports agent in Chicago. Mike Harlan works for Badger Sports Properties in Madison and George said that he's much closer to Mike than he is the two more well-known Harlan brothers.
Now, tailgating at Green Bay - or, for that matter, at ANY Wisconsin sporting event - is just world class. One of the things I wanted to do was to walk through the legions of tail-gaters grilling, drinking and having a great time before the game. The Green Bay tail-gaters take it up a notch with their elaborate gear and spreads. Even though it was in the mid-20's with a biting wind out of the Northeast, we saw a few hearty souls dressed like it was a 50 degree day.
We walked to the west side of the stadium looking up and down the rows for George's cousin. We never did find him, so we decided to head to the Atrium to warm up and get a beer in Curly's Bar.
The Atrium at Lambeau Field is a large area that features a number of concession stands on the main floor. The Packers pre-game radio show was going on in the Atrium (you can see the guys at the podium in the lower left of the above left picture) and a few people were milling about listening to them. The Atrium is also the home of the new Packers Hall of Fame. The old Hall of Fame, of which we've visited in the past, used to be located across Onieda Street to the south and east of the stadium. I haven't been in the new Hall of Fame, but I understand that it's pretty cool.
Along a wall in the Atrium is a number of commemorative bricks that people bought to help fund the stadium project. The families on both George's dad's and mom's sides bought a number of bricks to go on the wall. Above right, here's George pointing to the brick his parents bought in the name of his family.
I was having too much excitement looking at a wall of bricks, so I mentioned to George that this was really cutting into our beer drinking time. We made our way up to the upper level of the Atrium and a cold beer at Curly's Pub. The bar/restaurant is named after Packers founder and former head coach Curly Lambeau and features over 130 televisions throughout the place. Understandably, on a cold morning before a game, it was packed. George and I got a couple of beers and hung out on the upper level of the Atrium with our wives watching people come and go.
Of course, some of the most popular items you'll see at a Green Bay Packers game are the infamous "cheesehead" hats. These hats are generally wedges of cheese made out of a polyurethane-based material. But we saw a number of variations of cheesehead hats all around the stadium. The two above - the top hat cheesehead and the crown cheesehead were just a couple of ones we encountered. We also saw a cowboy hat cheesehead, a fez cheesehead hat and a sombrero cheesehead hat during the course of the day. No, I did not buy one.
We made it to our seats just before kickoff. They weren't bad, but they weren't exactly what George expected. We were on the South 10 yard line on the West side of the stadium, up from the Packers bench. George thought we'd have better seats, but I didn't care. We were at a game in Lambeau Field!
Of course, I had to satisfy my scoreboard fetish with the first picture above left. And I was able to squeeze off the above right picture as the 49ers were getting ready to run the first play from scrimmage from the game.
I had two regrets, however. First of all, the Packers wore "throw-back" uniforms from the 1929 season - the year the Packers won the first of their 12 National Football League titles. Nope, not the familiar green and gold uni's, they looked more like Notre Dame playing in their navy blue and gold jerseys, mustard gold pants and brown helmets. It was really disappointing to me to not see the Packers in their regular uniforms.
The second regret was going out at halftime to try to warm up and to go to the restroom. The line for the men's was about 150 deep when we got there. While George and I really didn't have to go that bad, we decided to have a Leinenkugel beer while we waited for the line to go down. Unfortunately, before that happened the game started again and we missed one of the most spectacular touchdowns in Green Bay history.
Donald Driver caught a wide-open pass from Aaron Rodgers at the San Francisco 40 yard line and was hit no less than five times before he bowled over the goal line for a 61-yard touchdown reception. Here's the replay of that spectacular play:
We heard the crowd going nuts when we were out on the concourse. George said, "Oh, man! The Packers just scored! Something big must've happened."
That night when we got into our hotel rooms in Madison, George called me up and said, "Have you seen the replay of Driver's touchdown? It was unbelievable!"
Driver's touchdown opened up what was a close game at the half. The Packers went on to score another touchdown later in the period and then added a couple 4th quarter field goals as they won going away 34-16. We decided to make our way out with a little over 3 minutes left in the game to hit the restroom and then get over to the truck to get us out of Green Bay ahead of the traffic. I took this picture just before the Packers got another field goal to give them their 34 points on the day.
I told George that if the opportunity ever arose again in the future that I'd love to come back to see a game at Lambeau Field. Maybe next time, I'd like it to be a little warmer than 25 degrees with a stiff breeze (which had turned to the west about halfway through the afternoon.) He wouldn't commit one way or another, especially with his aunt and uncle getting up in years. But even if he can't score tickets again, I wouldn't mind trying to find a couple tickets on Stub Hub just to go back to see a game at Lambeau Field at some point.
Before I left Green Bay to make my way down to Milwaukee, I stopped off and had lunch at the Titletown Brewing Company in downtown Green Bay (see map). I was hankering for a Reuben and I thought I'd give it a try.
Titletown Brewing Company is housed in the historic Chicago and Northwestern railway depot that was originally built in 1898-99. It was in use until 1971 as a passenger depot, then was eventually made into a freight depot. In 1994, the building was basically abandoned and sat idle for a couple of years.
In the summer of 1996, a group of investors bought the building and transformed it into a brewpub which opened in December of that year. Titletown Brewing Company is named after the nickname locals call Green Bay after the Packers won so many NFL championships before and during the Super Bowl years.
Titletown Brewing has a large parking lot stretching along the north side of the building. I was able to get a parking spot and a seat at the bar around 12:15 with no problem. The bartender gave me a food menu and I checked out the beer menu they had on a chalk board above the bar. Unfortunately, they didn't have descriptions of the various beers they were pouring, so I was at a loss as what to get.
I asked the bartender about the Hopasaurus Ale. She said it was their most hopped beer. I said, "Do you have a pale ale?"
She said, "Hopasaurus IS our pale ale."
Oh! OK! I'll take that, then. I felt sort of stupid.
While they did have a full menu of appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches and entrees, like I said in a post a couple weeks ago, I had been having a hankering for a good ol' Reuben lately. So that was a no-brainer. I also got an order of their french fries on the side when I ordered the sandwich.
The Hopasaurus Beer did have a good forward taste to it. Definitely more hoppy than an American Pale Ale, the bitterness in the taste didn't linger like you find with some India Pale Ales. It was very good and I wish I'd picked up a "growler" of the stuff. But, like I say, I'll be back to Green Bay sometime soon.
My sandwich came and it was lightly grilled with a lot of nice thick chunks of corned beef. (Turkey Reuben's are also available at Titletown.) It was a serious spot hitter. I don't know if it is as good as the one I've had at The Stein in downtown Green Bay, but it was damn good.
Lunch with the sandwich, beer and a tip came to about $13 bucks. Before I left, I walked around the bar and dining area of Titletown Brewing to check out some of the historic old pictures and memorabilia from when the trains ran to town.
Good beer, good food - Titletown Brewing Company is a very good brewpub. It's definitely worth another visit when I get back to Green Bay.
While in Green Bay recently, I took one of my new dealers out to dinner at Brett Favre's Steakhouse, located at 1004 Brett Favre Pass just south of Green Bay's legendary Lambeau Field (see map). I've wanted to try the place for sometime and my dealer accepted my invitation to dine there one evening.
Now, for those of you who aren't sports fans, or have been living in a Turkish prison for the last 20 years, Brett Favre is the longtime quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. He recently announced his retirement from the game after 18 seasons and three NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
The original Brett Favre Steakhouse began in 1997 in downtown Milwaukee. Farve partnered with Richard Monfort, the son of a long-time beef producer from Colorado, and owner of the big Hilltop Steakhouse in Saugus, MA. Favre's steakhouse in Milwaukee was very upscale, but it was only open for a few years before closing in 2000. The restaurant then became Joey Buona's Pizzeria and Restaurant, a somewhat upscale Italian restaurant. Farve still owns part of that restaurant.
Favre and his family, along with some other investors, opened the Brett Favre Steakhouse in Green Bay in 2003. It combines the look and feel of an old time upscale supper club with some variations of southern recipes Favre grew up with.
It was a Tuesday evening when we got into Favre's steakhouse around 7:30. There was a big gathering in one of the meeting rooms back in the bar, and a few guys were in another meeting room toward the back of the restaurant. But the dining room was about a quarter full.
We took a seat at a table where we had a huge mural of Favre looking at us the whole evening. It sort of looked out of place with the dark wood tables and chairs.
We got our menus and looked things over. I proposed getting a bottle of wine, but my dealer was on the downhill side of a bad cold and he didn't think he'd better be drinking wine with the medicine he was taking. OK, fair enough. He didn't object to me getting a couple beers during the meal, so that was good.
Steaks dominate the menu, although they did have Cajun appetizers and some entrees. I thought about a number of things - including the 12 oz. filet or the 16 oz. prime rib. I ended up starting out with Brett's Famous Chopped salad - chopped lettuce, prosciutto, olives, onions, blue cheese crumbles and other assorted veggies in a red wine vinaigrette. My dealer got the same thing.
I ended up getting the 22 oz. bone-in rib eye, medium-rare, with the garlic mashed potatoes. My dealer ordered Brett's Signature Steak - a 20 oz. top-round London Broil topped with cracked black pepper and sauteed mushrooms. That was my second pick. He said, "It's a lot of meat, but I usually take it home and have it for lunch the next day."
Our waiter was pretty good, but he was also busy with the small party going on in the small back room of the restaurant. We went about 15 minutes before getting our salads. And we weren't even half done with them when he brought the steaks out.
I've had bone-in rib eyes before and this one was, well, average, at best. It was slightly overcooked, it wasn't all that moist and juicy and there was a lot more bone on the rib eye than I've seen on others. I'm guessing the total amount of meat was about 10 to 12 oz. The garlic mashed potatoes were good, but nothing to get excited about. I make 'em much better at home.
My dealer did like his London Broil. I should have gotten that. Dammit! Oh, well. It's not like I won't be back in Green Bay at some point. I can always try that on my next visit.
Our meal with tip came to just under $90 bucks. My dealer was impressed that we went to such a nice place on my first visit. I said I'd like to try some of the other places in town on subsequent visits and he said that was very doable.
Before we left, we walked around the restaurant and bar area and looked at the loads of memorabilia on the walls and in glass enclosed cases. Being a big sports nut and a closet Green Bay Packer fan for a number of years, I was mesmerized by the large selection of items they had throughout the place. They also had a gift shop at Brett Favre's Steakhouse that I looked through, but I didn't buy anything.
Brett Favre's Steakhouse is one of the central points for tailgate parties before and after Packer games in the fall. I've talked to friends who have gone to games up in Green Bay and they've told me it gets pretty nuts around Brett Favre's Steakhouse on game day.
All in all, Brett Favre's Steakhouse was what I expected from a restaurant with a famous person's name on it. The food was good, but not outstanding. I would like to go back at some point and try the London Broil. I wasn't overly impressed with my steak, but it was OK. If you're a sports fan, it's a great place. And if you're in the Green Bay area for business, Brett Favre's Steakhouse is a nice place to take clients.
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.)
