Burgers & Live Music

Waukesha has a number of choices for really great burgers. I recently added J. Lotti’s and now I’m adding Bodways.  Both are located in the Downtown area of Waukesha which is admittedly a small Downtown but one that has two, actually three great burgers.  In addition to Bodways and J. Lotti’s, Taylor’s Peoples Park has a great burger as does Fuzzy’s just east of downtown a bit.  We’ll see if People’s Park comes back on the menu after the fire destroyed their place in February of 2011.  They are rebuilding and even adding a second floor but have the slowest work crew ever.  Hardly anything changes there when I’ve gone by even months apart.

Bodways is located on the far end of Main Street and on the part of the main drag that I’ve not been too often and missed that it was there.  After being tipped off top the fact that they have the “Best Burgers They Ever Had” (at least that’s what their website says), I had to stop by and find out for myself.  Now to address one thing here and that is about the fact that the website is Best Burgers In Milwaukee so what is this with Thiensville, Waukesha, New Berlin stuff anyway?  Well, I’m looking for the best burgers in the area and I will take a little drive to check out a very good burger.  I’m not driving two hours north or west or south for that matter but I will check out a any place within a reasonable driving distance form Milwaukee and maybe not make a special trip but I will swing by when I’m in the area of a place that has been recommended.

Bodways is actually a actually a live music bar and owned by Tony Bodway who is a music fan (and a fan of great burgers I imagine) who opened a bar to showcase local bands in a small intimate setting but one that offers great food in addition.  The bar itself is in the shape of an acoustic guitar and the grill and kitchen is behind the bar so you can watch as your food is prepared.

The burgers are the Build Your Own concept and allows you to start with your choice of sandwich including Blank Angus steak filet, chicken breast, Mahi fish filet, black bean burger and of course a half pound Certified Black Angus Burger and all are in the $10 range.  You have your choice of toppings and dressings as well as some suggestions of tried and true combinations.

The toppings include: tomato, lettuce, onion, fried onions, bacon, mushrooms, jalapenos,
Pickles, relish, corn salsa, bell peppers, bruschetta, guacamole and coleslaw.

The dressings include: ketchup, mustard, brown mustard, mayo, chipotle mayo, ranch, chipotle ranch, bleu cheese, 1000 Island, tartar, balsamic vinaigrette, honey BBQ, A1, Frank’s I-Put-That-Shit-On-Everything Hot Sauce and Demon sauce.

Naturally those were their choices for every kind of sandwich and not just for burgers.

I opted for the Blackened Blues which had bleu cheese, bacon, Cajun remoulade, lettuce, tomato & onion.  Lately I’m partial to any kind of remoulade or aioli (I know it sounds fancy but it make a burger taste great, OK?) and the Cajun remoulade did not disappoint.  I even got  a side of the chipotle mayo on the side which I both dipped some of the homemade potato chips in and also spread on part of the burger.  Tough call, both were very good on a burger but that’s what is nice about sitting right in the kitchen, the cook is right there-ask him for side of something you might want to try but not on the burger to start out with.

If you’ve read any of my recent reviews that I’ve updated since last year, you will know I’m really into the meat.  No, not that way, I mean I’m really digging burgers that start off with the freshest, highest quality meat.  One thing you notice is that  it is juicy and full of beef flavor.  It also means it is not exactly a dainty burger as Tony himself says.  It tends to be a little on the messy side but when a burger is this good, who cares how messy you get while eating it?

I do like the idea of being able to hear good live music and they have a live band every Friday and I believe Saturdays in the winter but call ahead to make sure.  The music I also believe is mostly rock but will vary.

A Little Something Extra

Lagniappe might be the most difficult to pronounce name on the best burger list, but it did have one of my personal favorite burgers on the list. Lagniappe (lan-YAP) is a Cajun-French-Louisiana term for merchants in southern Louisiana who add “a little something” to your purchase as a small gift for making your purchase in their store or shop. Or restaurant in this case.

Lagniappe is very much an upscale restaurant located on the border of New Berlin and Brookfield on Greenfield Ave in the small, intimate building that used to house Steven Wade’s café. It is still an upscale restaurant that serves Continental cuisine, that being cuisine from different countries from around the world and what better item to have on your menu representing American cuisine but the American Hamburger. And Lagniappe perfects this creation in their Kobe Burger with 9 year old Cheddar cheese. If you want to experience as close to a “perfect burger” as you’ll find, this is it.

The Perfect Cheeseburger- True Foodie Porn

This is food porn at its finest. If you want a picture of a perfect cheese burger, this is it. No tower of toppings, no wilted lettuce, no special sauce, no secret ingredients or gimmicks to make this burger better. It stands on its own by the taste of the beef and cheese. Burger perfection. The Kobe patty is actually the American version of Kobe beef, Wagyu.

Kobe beef has strict guidelines to be called Kobe beef. It is from Tajima cows raised, fed and slaughtered in the Prefecture (state) of Hyogo Japan. It is fed a diet of special grain feed, a beer a day, and a rubdown with warn sake every day. I’m sure PETA would still think it is somehow cruel but it is pretty much the ultimate lifestyle in the bovine world.

Wagyu is the American version of Kobe beef since true Kobe beef is from those cows in the small region of Japan. America being one of the beef capitals of the world has our own version of Kobe known as Wagyu by breeding The Japanese Kobe cow with the American Angus for an animal that can thrive in our climate but tastes close to it’s Japanese cousin. Wagyu comes from the Japanese wa (Japanese) gyu (cow), Japanese Cow. They too are fed a special diet of alfalfa, barley, corn and wheat straw and a beer a day and then massaged with sake.

The result is fantastic tasting beef.

Since this is the simplest form of the cheeseburger at it’s purist, it needs to rely on all three of it’s simple components, the patty, cheese and bun. The bun itself is homemade and is big and sturdy enough for the job of supporting the large patty yet soft and yielding like a good bun should be. The patty itself is a perfectly formed patty that looks dry when it arrives with just the melted cheese oozing down it’s sides. When you bite into it however, there seems to be an invisible crust that kept all of the juices in because you are immediately met with juices running freely from the meat down your hands and arms and then on your plate.

Cheese Made While Clinton Was In Office

The patty has wonderful beef flavor an the meat is almost granular in its consistency and it is so moist and juicy that it needs nothing else for flavor except the cheese. In this case the cheese is 9 year old cheddar which adds a great tang you can clearly taste which adds depth to the cheese flavor that ordinary cheddar just can’t touch. Nine year old cheddar is hard to find in a dairy case much less a restaurant but here it helps make one of the best cheeseburgers in Milwaukee. The cheese on my burger was made while Bill Clinton was still in office!

Served along with the burger are home made gaufrette potato chips which is a fancy way of saying waffle cut chips. I was tryinhg to remember what they taste like and couldn’t figure it out until it hit me, Muncho’s potato chips. They taste like a fancy looking Muncho potato chip. You also have your choice of caponata salad, cole slaw or cottage cheese.

This is a small, intimate restaurant (great romantic choice for Valentine’s day or other romantic occasion) that you want to wear something appropriate for and isn’t the typical sports bar type place to go for a cheeseburger but is worth the trip and definitely the $11 price tag for this perfect cheeseburger.

I’m ready for my beer and the sake massage now.

Reviewed By: Tom Graber