Distil

It’s not too often to be wowed by a burger.  After having more than 100 burgers to find the best in Milwaukee, many are just another burger that fails to make any kind of impression.  See that is what I am looking for, something that is above and beyond all the other burgers out there.  There has to be something that sets the burger apart from all others.  That is why I after going back to some places and reviewing places that were suggested to me by readers, I found the burger at Distil.

As part of the SURG group, Distil like their other restaurants like Carnivor, Mi-Keys, Umami Moto, Graffito, Charro and others offers more upscale (and expensive) dining in the Downtown area of Milwaukee.  Their food tends to be done at a higher level and it should come as no surprise that when they offered a burger on the menu, it would be great although I did have the burger at Mi-Keys, it was good but that’s all.  This isn’t GoodBurgersInMilwaukee.com this is BESTBurgersInMilwaukee.com.

Distil is foremost a place for cocktails that also serves a very small menu but very refined menu.  In fact, everything Distil does is focused on the more refined from the ingredients used in their food to the many liquors, wines and cheeses.  Just in whiskey they have a selection of more than 100 varieties.  They have plates of cheese or charcuterie (variety of meats) and other food offerings that go well with fine wines or upscale cocktails.  As I sat at the bar, it was fascinating watching the bartenders as they crafted each cocktail with a lot of  care and skill.  These are far from whiskey sours and brandy old fashions, they are all made from craft liquors and top ingredients  and are on the pricier side but are part of the experience of an upscale night out.

There is only one burger offered at Distil, the Hidden Creek Farm Burger named for the SURG Group’s farm in New London WI where they raise their own vegetables & cows where they get their beef for their restaurants.  The meat is actually butchered right across the street at Charro by the chef at Distil so the meat is fresh and locally sourced and lately I’m on a high grade quality meat kick as in that is what helps make a great burger.

The Hidden Creek Burger is $11 and it’s description says: “Aged cheddar, boubon onion jam and roasted garlic mayo” which is simple enough but doesn’t even hint at what you are in store for.  The first thing you notice on your first bite into the burger is the incredible amount of flavor in the onions.  Onion jam just doesn’t sound like anything you want on a burger BUT these are the best ‘grilled’ onions you will ever have.  In fact it will kind of ruin it for any other grilled onions you will ever have on a burger again.  That is because most places don’t grill their onions for four days!  In fact, I’m pretty sure no one else does.  They typically start off with 75-100 pounds of onions and slowly let them simmer in butter and Jim Beam bourbon whiskey so they become a deep dark caramelized brown  elixir that is insanely sweet and flavorful.  The roasted garlic mayo just adds to the depth of flavor and make this one of my favorite burgers in Milwaukee.  Lagniappe is still my favorite but this has to be a close second.

The fact that that the meat is so full of juice and flavor too that it becomes a little difficult to eat but will be a burger you remember 9and even fantasize about if you are on a burger quest as I have been.  As awesome as the onions are, I don’t want to short change the beef.  As I’ve said, I’m paying more attention to the beef recently and looking for those burgers that you really can taste the higher quality in the choice of beef they use.  Here the simple four elements combine for a truly outstanding burger.  If you are in Milwaukee from out of town and don’t have much time to make it to some of the suburban locations to try a burger in Milwaukee, try the Hidden  Farms burger. You won’t be disappointed .

Dr. Dawg, are you serious?

Yes I am. Dr Dawg despite the name has a seriously great burger.  Dr. Dawg is a Chicago style hot dog-Italian beef-burgers shop  like you find on just about every street in Chicago, there are very few in the Milwaukee area.  Despite the fact that it is Chicago inspired in the middle of Packerland and Cheesehead Central, the food is very good.

As a matter of fact , I used to live in Chicago when I got out of high school and despite having to get used to living on your own in a very fast paced city, I got a job at Dogs ‘R’ Us near Belmont & Broadway near where I lived and I’m very familiar with the menu that is pretty standard for these types of places.  I also learned how a REAL hot dog is supposed to taste (not an Oscar Meyer pork byproduct dog) with a Vienna frank made with beef on a steamed bun and raw onions, mustard, hot peppers, pickle spear,  celery salt, tomatoes and that special neon green relish but never ketchup. NEVER ketchup!  This was new to me since I always put ketchup and mustard on a hot dog but trust me, they are militant about not putting ketchup on a hot dog down there.  There are hot dog shops that will throw you out for asking for ketchup on your hot dog.  I’m serious.

The burgers at these places are usually good but not great by any means, just a frozen patty thrown on the grill, mashed with a spatula, slid off onto a cheap bun and had the usual fixings thrown on top and that was it.  I had to get creative in ways to try to make them for myself when I ate them every day but there was only so much you could do with thin frozen patties and cheap buns.  This however is how most of the Chicago hot dog joints treat their burgers on the menu. But not Dr. Dawg.

Dr. Dawg is owned by a transplanted couple from Chicago who know food.  Although they patterned the sore after the style in Chicago they really focused on improving the quality and taste of the food to be better than what is typical.  The burgers start out from high quality beef from Niman Ranch that is  fed from a strict vegetarian diet with raised in humane standards.  This part is so key in making a great burger.  From there, the meat is mixed in a special blend that the owner perfected based on a blend used by his mom and created by his dad who was a butcher in Chicago that supplied beef to high end restaurants.  The patties are loosely formed by hand and then seared on a griddle to lock the juices in and then char grilled. 

Note- they grill the burgers to a medium well doneness unless you ask first. They will grill it to however you like it but make sure you specify or it will more well done.

There are numerous toppings you can get but you know that when you see Nueske’s bacon as an option that it is not a typical fast food place.  The Dawg’s hot sauce and mayo makes a really good sauce by the way with great flavor and just enough heat.

Don’t pass on the fries by the way.  I have cut back on fries to the point I no longer order them or substitute something else in place of them because after having so many burgers and fries, it started taking it’s toll in added weight I gained but I didn’t pass up the free small order of fries I received during the one year anniversary of Dr. Dawg’s opening.  These reminded me of the fries at Dogs ‘R’ Us that I made myself.  They are fried to a dark brown with coarse salt on top and really full of flavor.  They have a creamy consistency on the inside of the fry and a great dark brown exterior that is far and above the typical blanched white potato French fry you see everywhere.  These are really worth trying.

Here is my burger from my second visit:

Dr. Dawg even serves beer with a surprisingly good beer list:

One thing that is great about doing this website is that everyone I talk to has an opinion about who has the best burgers in Milwaukee and for the most part of tried most of them at least the ones that are on most people’s list but every once in a while I’ll bump into someone who is a raving fan about a burger that somehow escaped my list of places to visit.  I was at a function downtown and met these guys who worked in Thiensville and swore their favorite bar had the best burgers in the area.  All right, I put them on the list although I was a little skeptical since I never saw their name on a list.  Well, I was wrong to be skeptical; Skippy’s has a fantastic burger!

Even after months and months of trying different burgers and AFTER I already tried the Skippy burger, a very good friend said “Hey, you should go to Thiensville, just behind the old fire station is a place called Skippy’s that has THE BEST burgers”. I thanked him for the late tip but I already decided to put them on the site.

Skippy’s is located across the street from the Milwaukee River and it has a small creek in the back of it.  It is a Wisconsin landmark that was built in 1853 and was originally a hotel.  Today it is just a corner bar that has great bar specials ($2.50 drinks Mon-Thurs 3-6), great food and a great burger.

The burgers (there are 11 options) but the Skippy Burger is the one that is most popular.  There isn’t even that much special in it’s appearance, it looks like a lot of others but it’s a different story when you bite into the burger.  It has so much great flavor much do to the “secret sauce” which is a little like Thousand Island but not as thick and more flavorful.

Skippy’s

113 Green Bay Rd.

Thiensville WI

262-512-1240

skippyssportspub.com

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

You’re Just Trying To Butter Me Up

If there is a hamburger institution in Milwaukee in it is Solly’s in Whitefish Bay. Located on Port Washington Road, it has been part of this town since 1936 and has a fanatical following of butter burger lovers. And when I say butter burgers I mean BUTTER burgers! These are not for the faint of heart or those on calorie restricted diets. These are the old fashioned burgers who get their flavor from custom ground sirloin (delivered daily), fried onions and butter. This is a burgerfor the purists who don’t like a big stack of extras. No fried eggs here buddy, you want eggs go to George Webb’s. We serve HAMBURGERS. No avacado, no blue cheese, no sauce, no jalapenos, or ciabatta bread. To paraphrase the Blues Brothers, “Son, we serve BOTH kinds of toppings, onions and butter”.

And whatever you do, don’t pass up the milkshake like I did the first time I went to Solly’s. When I told my brother in law I was at Solly’s he said to me “aren’t those the greatest shakes you ever had?” and was incredulous when I said I just had the burger, fries and a water. Doh!! I had to go back again and see what I was missing. It was worth the return trip just for the shake. It was thick, rich and very choclatey!

Solly’s has made it to numerous best burgers lists and wereon the front of USA Today several years ago as one of the ten best burgers in the whole country and were included in George Motz’s 2008 book Hamburger America which includes his DVD by the same name which features Glenn Fieber the owner of Solly’s and how butter bugers are made. They have been a favorite here in the Milwaukee area for over 70 years and end upon on many people’s favorites list.

The Cheesehead is a much larger burger than a butter burger and features two large patties each made by pressing two regular patties together. This gives the burger 12 ounces of meat which was a little bit too much, one large patty would do which is available on the Super Burger. The key however is the soft, chewy bakery bun that makes this my bun of choice for a burger at Solly’s. Order a burger each way, with the usual bun and also the  roll. It took me a few visits to discover this but the roll makes it better in my opinion.

These burgers are for the burger lover who loves the combination of meat, onions and butter, Solly’s does NOT skimp on the butter! You can always order them easy butter if you enjoy a good burger but are concerned about all the extra calories but most people like Solly’s because they make butter burgers the old fashioned way,with plenty of pure Wisconsin butter.

Solly’s has a very loyal following of customers who love getting their butter burger fix. Many famous famous people have eaten there over the years and some seats are marked where they sat. Last time I was there I sat in the seat Bob Uecker sat in and a Milwaukee TV anchorman sat next to me as I took some of these photos.

Reviewed By: Tom Graber

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations visits Milwaukee and Solly’s for a Midwest America edisode. Here’s a sneak peak where Tony talk’s about Solly’s Butter Burgers:

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain/Video/Wisconsins_Buttery_Burger