Fred's in Burlington, WI

We can be early arrivals as well.  X1, Q, JRP...does 11am work for you?  That's 6 of us...if we could get 2 more we could probably lock up a pair of 4-person tables or maybe even a 4 and a 6.

What was the rated capacity of the table we had last year?  We were able to fit the 6 of us around it.

Brad

Brad, we had at least seven people last year; yourself, X1, the MFLs, the Roadhouses, and my brother-in-law, plus I can't remember if either of the Chucks or anyone else made it, so there could have been more.  We'll definitely need two tables this time around.

Also, in looking back on the earlier posts in this thread, we had the same timetable last year, coming together around 1-1:30pm, and that worked out fine table-wise.  I don't know how early folks arrived last year, but I would think we could duplicate that timing on Saturday.

Buddy

I'm going to the Farmer's Market here in Waukesha with my mother in the morning, so I'll be along around about noon? Still have to map it out. :)

I think we'll be showing up after noon.  But I can't plan that far ahead.

It's actually not as far as I thought, I still would not expect me before noon. I've invited some friends, we'll see who gets there first. I'm drooooling (and stuck at work) for the mushroom burger in the pic.

Cheddar, Blue
 

Pepperjack Bacon Jalapeno
 

 Garlic, Horseradish
 

Mushroom Swiss
 

Green Beans

Wow, that is so unfair.  How am I supposed to last all the way to Saturday after seeing those pictures?

Buddy

I've booked a room at a motel in Burlington ( gotta get a good night's sleep after an exhausting day of riding trolleys at East Troy tomorrow ), so I'll have no trouble getting to Fred's by 11:30. I'm really looking forward to that burger!

Bob,

You may also want to check out Old World Wisconsin.  Not too far out of your way, and a chance to appreciate pre-trollrey WI.

jrp

Add two more to the head count for Saturday at Fred's!

After that, we're going down to Armenian Fest at St. Gregory the Illuminator.  They were featured in a story on NPR this week because they're having trouble finding young people to learn the skills of making the traditional Armenian pastries for the festival.  Not sure if you have to join the Armenian church to learn, but if not, sign me up!

Count me out for today, it's just too hot to be in a non air conditioned car for that long.

Aiiiiiiimeeeeeee,

We're still waiting for you.  Can we order yet?

jrp

p.s. You still beat Buddy. 

Great turnout today!  Let's see...

Me (2)
Abe Froeman
Mr. Maki
JRPfeff (2)
Nocarolina
ChiTownDiner (5)
X1
Quijote
Buddy Roadhouse (2)

By my count that's 16 and we basically took over the back corner at Fred's.  We were the first ones there at around 10:45 or so and the only customers in the place appeared to be friends of Fred, but after 11 more people started trickling in and as it got closer to noon the pace really picked up and before long it was packed and it was well after 1 before things started to slow down.  The Fred's staff deserves credit for managing to keep the food coming at a steady clip.

It was great to see everyone again (especially CTD); the food and the company were outstanding.  6:30pm and I'm still not hungry...

Brad

Brad,

You left too soon.  We returned from Gooseberry's Market with bacon covered donuts.

I haven't touched the burger I brought home with me.  Maybe a trip to Kopp's tonight.

jrp

Bacon-covered doughnuts?  Sounds like we left at the right time!!

We took highway 11 all the way to Janesville and passed through Elkhorn and Delavan, 2 towns with some places that look like they might have Roadfood promise.  And the biker bar east of Janesville was advertising Chicago-style dogs.

We didn't stop at any of them.

Brad

The maple-bacon doughnuts were sooooo good.  Like an all-in-one breakfast. 

X1, Quixote, Mr. Maki and I went out to The Elegant Farmer after Fred's.  Mr. Maki and I got some 4" pies (apple, cherry crisp and blueberry-peach), as well as some chocolate cheese; X1 has had it before and described it as cheese-fudge.  It's sitting next to me as I type and I can smell the chocolate.  I can't wait to eat some!

We set the Garmin to "avoid highways and meandered back to Green Bay Road and took that most of the way home.  It was a good trip!

Looking forward to next weekend's tour of Chicago's south suburbs!

Twas a fine, fine day all in all (except for all those Illinois-ing drivers clogging up the tollway-dang Flatlanders)!  We got to Fred's an hour late because of the traffic, but were happy to see everyone there, even though most of them ate before we arrived ("What?!? You cut the turkey without us???"  Sorry, that's an obscure reference for all you fans of Barry Levinson's films).

While I have been a creature of habit on my last few visits to Fred's, sticking with the amazing garlic burger, today I strayed into new territory with a horseradish burger.  I was not disappointed!  Cooked as always to an exquisite medium rare, the rich beefy flavor of the burger stood up to the pungent but not overpowering horseradish sauce and grilled onions that topped it.  The lightly toasted, bakery fresh bun could have been served at any fancy restaurant in town as a pre-dinner appetite whetter, and was an outstanding compliment to the burger it nestled.

Tater Teezers (kinda like Tater Tots spiked with jalapeno), fresh house made potato chips, and fried macaroni & cheese(!) were all excellent accompaniments to our burgers.  A frosty pitcher of Sprecher's root beer washed it all down.

Mr. & Mrs. JRPfeff rejoined the group just as we were finishing our meal, carrying dessert from Gooseberries Gourmet Market; a pair of maple frosted longjohns studded with crisp, salty, smoky bits of crumbled bacon!  Wow!  Jim and Bobbi, we can't thank you enough.

After lunch we all went our separate ways, Mrs. Roadhouse and I continuing up to Milwaukee for our (almost) annual visit to Irish Fest.  We saw some outstanding groups including fiddler supreme, Natalie McMaster, a Chicago band called Tantrum (made up of some former members of The Drovers), and a pair of local groups, Steel Bonnets and The Gleasons.  Unfortunately, these last two groups were scheduled to perform at the same time in two different venues on the fair grounds, so we only got to see half a show from each in order to see them both.  On a happy note, we ran into ChuckL50 while looking for a seat at the Steel Bonnets show, and spent the rest of the evening wandering together from stage to stage as we enjoyed performers from Milwaukee, Nova Scotia, and Ireland.

The ride home at 1:00am was considerably easier than the drive up at midday, and gas in Kenosha was at least $.10 a gallon cheaper than back home.  Not a bad way to wrap things up.  I'm counting the days until next year's rendezvous!

Buddy

P.S. I forgot to ask nocarolina, how did you like Fred's burger compared to Hackney's?  C'mon now, be honest.  I can take it, I'm a big boy.

B.

I bought that bacon topped donut because I thought it was stomach turning and wanted to share the experience.  I'm glad it was enjoyed by those still at Fred's anyway.

We exceeded our semi-annual recommended fried food requirement yesterday.  I think we ate every appetizer except for the fried mac & cheese (we missed that one).  The healthy fried cauliflower & green beans made up for the fried corndogs and mini-tacos.

The funnel cakes sticks with cinnamon were my favorite.

JRP, the fried mac & cheese was fantastic!  Somehow they managed to retain the rich creaminess of fresh, homemade m&c while encasing it a crisp breading and shaping it into a semi flat, sort of triangular shape.  That's right, these were macaroni and cheese chips!  And they were delicious.

Buddy

Buddy, my burger at Fred's was very good, one of the better ones that I've had in recent years. However, my #1 favorite burger is still the Country Burger served at the Country House in Clarendon Hills IL, with Hackney's famed Hackneyburger a very close second.   

Well, at least you made the effort.  I'm looking forward to trying the Country House burger next Saturday on our Chicago South Suburban Tour.  If it's that good I will be sure to be sitting down when I have my first bite as it may cause my knees to buckle.

Buddy

Hi everyone -

Haven't had a chance to post photos but wanted to say a quick thnak you to everyone for the get together...16 Roadfooder's in Burlington Wisconsin...amazing! 

Great to see all of you...looking forward to more action in the near future!

We started a Larsen's Bakery for show and Bendtsen's to go including cheery, crandberry and almond kringles.

Next up, Kewpee Lunch for singles, doubles, grilled cheese, cheese fries, shakes and root beer.  The root beer was very good, creamy, home made, free refrills, chilled glasses.  The burgers were also good especilly with the grilled onion pieces.  The fries were krinkle cut and tasted like they were cooked in McDonald's oil.  Really familar taste...let down was cheese fries have a slice of American placed on top.  Pretty weak!  The shakes were really good.  Everyone was so friendly...the camera warmed their hearts.  Rumor has it prices went up a dime to compensate for the increase in miminum wage and it's the talk of the town.

As we departed onto the "under construction" street, we saw a small temporary sign right next door for Cheesecakes by Jewels LLC.  I pulled over in the gravel and we ran inside.  They has just opened and the menu was impressive.  We opted for Baileys Irish Cream and Raspberry to go.  They were so friendly also...best of luck Jewel!

Next up, Leon's Custard.  We were the first customer of the day arriving right at 11:00am - opening time.  I choose the raspberry sundae, my brother had a very mediocre chili dog, and a few scoops of butter pecan and chocolate rounded things out.  In my opinion, Kopp's is far superior.  Ran into our only sourpuss employee of the seven stop day at Leon's....hate to see how she treats the next 100 folks!

Off and running to our next stop...the Elegant Farmer in - I love the name - Mukwanago Wisconson!  It was square dance weekend with the pros demonstrating the fun dance style.  Inside, I was like a kid in candy store!  My cart had cheese curds, cherry pancake batter, thick cut bacon, vidallia onion and ham spread, warm bannana, cherry loaf with whipped strawberry butter; peach and blueberry crumble pie, flavored sodas - got the Sprecher's cherry cola Mr. Mayor, cherry cider, raspberry, blackberry and bosenberry crumble pie, huge muffins and the crown jewel - a small, but full cider baked boneless ham.  What a haul!  And I got have filled ten more carts.  An interesting special was the large bison pot pies to go.  I'll be back!

We loaded up for the 25 minute drive to Fred's Parkview in downtown Burlington.  A junping place that was packed at 1:00pm on a Saturday.  The decor was pure Wisconsin and I loved it!  We got to the back and we delighted to find two tables has been saved by the early arrivers of the group.  The appetizers were really good but both my brother and I made the big mistake of not specifying the doneness of our burgers.  Hence we were given well, well done burgers...mine with cheddar and grilled onions and his with the garlic variation.  Both were hockey pucks and did not go down well.  Afer reading Buddy's med-rare request, I kneww a return trip is necessary.

The best part about Fred's - the COMPANY!  Thanks for the warm welcome!  Great to see everyone again!

Gregg, I am so sorry you caught the rare miss at Fred's.  I'm surprised they didn't ask you how you wanted those burgers cooked when you placed your order.  I'm not offering the well done-ness as an excuse necessarily, but given a choice, I wouldn't order my burger cooked any other way than medium rare any place I ordered from, including a fast food joint.  Fred's is well worth another trip, and next time remember to be specific!  I might even need to accompany you just to make sure you do things properly.

Buddy

Gregg (if that's really who you are), you were hosed.  In the 3 times I've been to Fred's, I've never specified doneness for my burger and the most cooked I've been served is a medium.  I don't know what the story was with your burgers, maybe a new cook took over.  I suspect they would have prepared you another burger if you'd pointed it out.

It was great seeing what's left of you.  I'm hoping you are up for the brat-fest.

Jim

I suppose I should add my kudos.
It was great seeing everyone, but especially Gregg. If I'd have known you had a problem with that burger, I would've taken it back for you and had it re-made. As Jim said - they would have done it for you.

I can't remember all the appetizers we ordered and shared, but what I remember is:

Fried Green Beans, Fried Crisps (fried cheddar cheese curds) Fried spicy pickles, Tater Teezers, Parmesan potato chips, Parmesan fries, fried cauliflower, mini corn dogs, mini tacos....hmm...I think I'm forgetting a couple.

I had the Cajun Cheeseburger with bacon. As usual, I remembered too late that I wanted to order Jalapeños on top, too. I ordered it med rare/rare, and it came that way - perfect. The meat was spiced and juicy, and they added a dash of Cajun spice on top of the pepperjack cheese, too. Awesome.

We commandeered two tables of 6 from 11.30 AM - 'til after 2.30 We ate in shifts...ordering "just another of this" and "Just one more of that". I believe the proper term would be "grazing".

I noticed that as the day went on my unspecified-doneness burgers seemed to get more cooked.  I started with a Cajun burger before everyone arrived and it was a nice medium-rare.  The garlic burger I had next was a little more done but still pink, and the blue cheese burger I finished with was definitely medium (but still good).  Coincidence or not, it happened in proportion to the size of the crowd and the activity in the kitchen.

Brad

How are they about kids there? I'll be coming through there on Wednesday, 8/19, between 5 and 5:30.

John

saps


How are they about kids there? I'll be coming through there on Wednesday, 8/19, between 5 and 5:30.

John

Kids are welcome and not out of place.  There were toddlers at Fred's on Saturday.

John, Fred's is a bar and does allow smoking if that's something you're concerned about.  Although we didn't notice any when we were there Saturday.

Brad

John,

You should also be aware that WI law allows parents to serve alcoholic beverages to their minor children.  But I don't think that's what you had in mind.

Jim