Weekend in Wisconsin's Winter Wonderland

A double brat on a Sheboygan bun! What utter bliss!

Yeah, I would have had to quiz them down about what all the sundae options were at Beernsten's--what a menu!  And cherry lemonade too, yum.  Too bad about the drunks Cliff, what a bummer.  The Big Penny looks magnificent.

Sunday February 22, 2009 
 
My hotel for the night was the Sleep Inn, located at exit 120 of I-94.  The only other businesses nearby was a gas station and a restaurant called Judi's Place.   Even though this location seemed rather desolate, Judi's Place was constantly busy.  So before leaving town, I had to stop in and check it out.
 
Even early on a Sunday morning, there was a good crowd.  I went up to the register and asked me if they make their own pie.  The friendly waitress told me, "Judi makes it herself".  Well if Judi makes it, that is all I need to hear!  She walked me over to the pie case and showed me what was available, including some bizarre chocolate marshmallow thing.  The rest looked good, though.  I selected a slice each of custard

and lemon meringue.

Both were quite good, with the eggy custard getting the nod as the better of the two.
 
I asked about the big crowd the night before and she told me it was their Mardi Gras celebration.
 
Judi's Place
6727 S. Business Drive
Sheboygan, WI
920-452-5599
 
I would have enjoyed eating a regular breakfast at Judi's, but I had another breakfast spot picked out.  And that would be Riversedge Restaurant

in Saukville.  This is a classic small town restaurant, where I seemed to be the only eating who didn't know everyone else.  There is a large U-shaped counter in the middle of the single dining room,

with a sprinking of tables around it.
 
In the review, Michael Stern raves about the bacon.  The menu itself brags about serving Bernie's Bacon.

And what fantastic bacon this is!

Double thick, with full, pure piggy flavor, this is some of the best bacon I have had.  To accompany it, I tried a potato pancake.

Large, thin, with some wonderful crispy edges, I was very happy with this.  It did seem a little strange that syrup came with the potato pancake. 
 
Riversedge Restaurant
283 S. Riverside Drive
Saukville, WI
262-284-9918 
 
 http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=378&RefID=378
 
At 10:00AM, I was to meet a group of Roadfooders at Benji's in Milwaukee.  Running ahead of schedule, I needed to kill some time.  Remembering my previous visit to Bay Bakery in Whitefish Bay, this became the next destination.

There may have been an ownership change here, because it now bills itself as Regina's Bay Bakery.  This is more of an upscale bakery, with lots of fancy pastries.  Many things caught my eye, but I knew I had much more food to eat before I flew home and that I had limited space in both my stomach and suitcase.
 
For myself, I picked up a yummy looking oatmeal raisin cookie sandwich.

Since I would be seeing my Roadfood buddy ChiTownDiner in a few minutes, I bought a couple of other items to help him on his long drive back to the Windy City.  These included an amazing looking chocolate peanut butter cookie

and a few cheesecake pops.

I had never seen those before!  Unfortunately, my cookie sandwich was not very good as the cookies were too hard.  I really, really regret not keeping the chocolate peanut butter cookie for myself.  Hopefully, CTD chimes in and lets us know how they were.
 
Bay Bakery
423 E. Silver Spring Drive
Milwaukee, WI
414-332-5340
 
http://www.baybakery.com/
 
I arrived at Benji's and waited for the others.
 
More to come.....

Oh I think you made a mistake not keeping the chocolate peanut butter cookie--that looks insane.  I've heard of the cheesecake lollipops but haven't tried one. 
 
That is applesauce next to the syrup with the potato pancake, right?  Maybe enough folks asked that now they just put it there.

Most places in the area ask if you want applesauce or syrup with your potato pancakes. Me? I like butter and salt and pepper. I think it depends on what you were brought up with. As far as that other cookie, I remember the commercial,
"Hey, you got peanut butter in my chocolate"!
"No.  YOU got chocolate in my peanut butter"!
Those cheesecake pops look a bit too sweet. Were they?
Oops, Mrs. MFL reminded me that the pancake option should have included sour cream; she's right you know.

MFL-
I am definitely used to seeing sour cream and apple sauce as the two choices for potato pancakes.  When traveling together, my cousin Johnny and I often get side orders of potato pancakes, which works out well, since he is a sour cream guy and I am all about the apple sauce.  But syrup?  Just does not sound good to me.....
 
The cheesecake pops went home with CTD.  Hopefully, he will let us know how they were.

Nancy-
I had first choice of the cookies and blew it.  Can you imagine any sane person giving that chocolate peanut butter cookie away? 

No sir, I cannot.  I want to flake off the chocolate icing in my mouth right now.

Sunday February 22, 2009
 
When I walked into Benji's

around 9:45AM, I was asked if I was buffetbuster by none other than Brad Olsen.  I said yes and he introduced me to his wife Kathy.  Soon after, nocarolina, ChiTownDiner and his son James arrived.  Unfortunately, no annpeeples.  We waited a few minutes and then grabbed a table in the corner.  Benji's is a small place

and it was filling up fast.  Before we ordered, I called Ann, only to find out she was very sick and wouldn't be able to join us.  Too bad Ann, because we all brought fabulous, expensive birthday presents for you.  Since you weren't there, we were forced to return them all!  Ann, you were very much missed and I hope you had a good birthday, anyway!
 
Benji's has a large, wonderful sounding menu and this is the perfect place to eat with the king of knowing what to order, ChiTownDiner.  He, James and I were going to get lots of food and share them all.  First, the Hear O Isreal sandwich.

Oh, baby, was this thing good.  That is corned beef, pastrami, salami and pepper beef, plus swiss cheese, cole slaw and thousand island dressing.  This was a fantastic sandwich!  Next up, the Super Hoppel Poppel.

Same dish as I had at Jo's Cafe the previous morning, but the super version here also includes green pepper, onions, mushroom and a choice of cheeses and we went with Colby.  Just an amazing combination of ingredients.
 
James got the potato pancakes,
 

which were a spectacular combination of crunchy outside and creamy interior.  No apple sauce, sour cream or any other topping necessary.  Simply the best thing I ate all weekend!  Next, a plate of chopped liver.
 
I planned on trying a schmear, just because I like saying the word schmear.  But I was so distracted by everything else, I never did try it.  How was it CTD?  Coming with the chopped liver was maybe the surprise of the day, excellent creamy potato salad.

Just when you thought he couldn't possibly order anything more, CTD decided we needed to sample some of the wonderful corned beef hash.

 
I believe that Brad Olsen got the regular hoppel poppel, while his wife Kathy got the hot dog,

which was a 1/4 lb. all beef Vienna and it looked quite good.  BTW, I knew I would like Brad right away when he showed up in a college sweatshirt.  I really enjoyed my time chatting with Brad and Kathy.  Unfortunately, I can't remember what nocarolina had for breakfast.  It was all the way on the other side of the table and I didn't take a photo.  What did you have Bob?
 
Great company and great food, this was truly a memorable meal!  And I think everyone appreciated nocarolina picking up the check.
 
Benji's
4156 N. Oakland Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
414-332-7777
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=2198&RefID=2167
 
We walked out the restaurant around 11:15.  The schedule had us next meeting other Roadfooders at Kopp's at noon.  Brad and Kathy had to pick up some photos they dropped off at the store.  Always trying to squeeze an extra food stop in, I suggested a quick trip to Gilles Frozen Custard.  Everyone agreed and we were off.
 
Gilles Frozen Custard


is actually the oldest frozen custard stand in Milwaukee.
 
Besides the custard, there is also a long roster of sandwiches and other goodies available.

 
The outside may look small, but it is fairly roomy inside.

You can see nocarolina and CTD in the background.  Flavor of the day?  Oreo!

Since this was my first visit here, I am hesitant to rank it against Kopp's or Leon's.  But there is no doubt that this was good, quality custard.  The other three ordered various sundaes, but since we were running late to meet everyone at Kopp's, I didn't have time to take a photo.  CTD, would you mind posting the photo of your desserts?
 
Gilles Frozen Custard
7515 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI
414-453-4875
 
http://www.gillesfrozencustard.com/
 
We jumped in the car and hightailed it back to Kopp's.
 
More to come.....

Super hoppel poppel!  What has the world come to?  :)

Sunday February 22, 2009 cont.
 
Arriving back at Kopp's at ten after 12:00, we were surprised to not recognize anyone among the crowd.  Unfortunately, Brad Olsen received a call and had to head home.  And BuddyRoadhouse was not going to arrive until around 1:00PM.  Needing about 45 minutes to kill, we plotted how to fit in another food stop.  Luckily, just down the street is Solly's Grille.  And after a quick phone call to confirm they were open, we were on our way.
 
It has been since 2000 that I have eaten at Solly's Grille. 

This was just before they moved into the new location.  It didn't look good for a quick meal when we arrived.  Every seat was filled with at least a dozen more people waiting ahead of us.  But, we caught a break when several parties left and we were sitting down and ordering within 15 minutes.  BTW, except for a small table in the corner, all the seating here is at one of the two U-shaped counters.
 
 
Solly's is best known for their butter burgers.  These are aptly named, because these burgers are absolutely drenched in butter.


Look at all of that butter draining off the burger onto the paper plate.  These are obviously not for the faint hearted!  I know that James and nocarolina were not really fans of these, but they are some of the most flavorful burgers you can imagine.  I loved mine!
 
To drink, I went with the super strong fresh banana malt.

That is three glasses worth in the silver beaker.  ChiTownDiner raved about his Sprecher cherry soda.  The four of us also shared the crisp, not too greasy onion rings.

Our waitress did a great job of getting us in and out quickly, but we still paused to have her take this photo.
 
 
Left to right, that is myself, nocarolina, James and ChiTownDiner.
 
Solly's Grille
4629 N. Port Washington Road
Milwaukee, WI
414-332-8808
 
 http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=615&RefID=615
 
Rushing back to Kopp's, we found BuddyRoadhouse and his lovely wife Susie enjoying their meal.  This was the first time I had met Susie, but I got to know Buddy from our three meals together in Ohio last summer during his bbq sauce tour and I always look forward to spending time with him.
 
By this point, I was stuffed beyond belief, but still, I am at Kopp's and I'm not about to let to an opportunity slip away.  So, here is my two scoop mocha chip.

Shockingly, CTD still had room for another burger.  He explained to me that he wanted to try one, because it had a highly regarded local bacon, whose name escapes me.  After eating, CTD and James had to head back to Chicago and said their goodbyes.
 
One more thing about Kopp's......  I figured out how I want to die.  That would be by drowning in the sundae that goes with this spoon!

 
Our next scheduled meal was to be at Turner Hall at 4:00PM.  Needing to kill some time, Buddy & Susie went grocery shopping, while I drove nocarolina back to Benji's to get his car.  We agreed to meet back up at the wonderful art museum.
 
We were now on a tight schedule and it didn't make much sense to pay the $12.00 entrance fee to the museum for such a short amount of time.  So we just hung out and chatted.  I did snap this photo of Susie, Buddy and nocarolina in front of a Chihuly.

We all got in our seperate cars and headed for Turner Hall.  Knowing that they have German food and that is one of my very favorites, I was excited about dinner.  Unfortunately, Turner Hall sits across the street from the Bradley Center and there was an event about to start.  There were thousands walking to the arena and the parking lots that weren't already full were charging $20.00 and up.  Knowing this situation wouldn't work for a Roadfood get together, I got out of there, found a place to pull over and called Buddy.  He had already seen the situation and it was obvious we needed to find a plan B.  So, I sat tight, while Buddy made some phone calls to all the attendees.  Just a few minutes later, Buddy called me back to say the new destination was Jalapeno Loco, a Mexican restaurant.  I was especially happy to hear this would be near the airport, since that would be my destination as soon as dinner was over.  Thanks for doing such a great job getting everything lined up Buddy!
 
I was the first to arrive at Jalapeno Loco. 

Soon, I was meeting other Roadfooders, X1, stricken detective and Chuck L for the first time.  JRPfeff was not able to make it, but his wife Bobbie and son (is it Marcus?) dined with us.  I have to admit that I am a little jealous about what a great tight-knit group of Roadfooders you have in Milwaukee.  Everyone was very nice and you can tell that they really like each other.  Along with the Chicago group, you guys are very lucky.
 
I didn't take too many photos, just of my own food.  I had the chiles rellenos
 
and the surprisingly hot horchata.

Stricken detective took lots of photos which she posted in another thread.  But, I didn't want to link to it without her permission.  All of the food looked good and everyone semed happy with what they had.  Unfortunately, I had to take off for the airport and wasn't able to fully enjoy the camaraderie.
 
Thanks to everyone for reading my trip report!

Wait....I thought this was a Chihuly....



All I see there is a funky glass structure.

The bacon on that Kopp's burger that ChiTownDiner ate was from Neuske's, a highly regarded local source for top quality bacon and other cured meats.

Nice report so far.  Looking forward to the grand finale.

Buddy

TTM-
Just be happy I didn't subject everyone to a Buddy borrowed some headgear from Carmen Miranda joke!

BuddyRoadhouse

The bacon on that Kopp's burger that ChiTownDiner ate was from Neuske's,

Neuske's!!!  That was the name.  Thanks Buddy!

It kinda looks like Susie's thinking the same thing Cliff.

On second glance, it does look like something Carmen Miranda would wear.  I think it works on me, don't you?

Buddy

buffetbuster

ChiTownDiner raved about his Sprecher cherry soda. 

Is this their new cherry cola? Or the Ravin' Red?

Shockingly, CTD still had room for another burger.

haha, this does not shock me.

He explained to me that he wanted to try one, because it had a highly regarded local bacon, whose name escapes me.

I had one for lunch today with the Nueske's bacon, it was awesome.

One more thing about Kopp's......  I figured out how I want to die.  That would be by drowning in the sundae that goes with this spoon!

Today they had pancake & maple syrup custard. I bought a pint & I have plans to fry up some sausages, chop them up & put it over the custard in dishes. I may take pictures. This will be next week since I left it at work!!!!!

I did snap this photo of Susie, Buddy and nocarolina in front of a Chihuly.

There's a Chihuly in the lobby of the Hyatt downtown, too. Love the pic of Buddy Miranda. hahaha, awesome

Stricken detective took lots of photos which she posted in another thread.  But, I didn't want to link to it without her permission.

Oh I don't mind. I do the slideshows now instead of trying to post individual pictures, it's just easier.

It was fun breaking bread (eating chips?) with you  & your pics are great!

Tick, tock.  Tick, tock.

Buffetbuster is truly the Jack Bauer of Roadfood.

Reading his report is much like watching an episode of 24.  You know that each of the segments is possible; but there can't really be enough time to eat the meal, get from one location to the next, and then be ready to eat the next meal all within a few hour period. 

And like Bauer, every so often something that Buffetbuster does has you saying, "There is no way he could do that."

Furthering the analogy, Buddy's quick thinking and communications skills saved the group from disaster at their 4:00 meal.  I think that makes Buddy the Chloe of Roadfood.

Tick, tock.  Tick, tock.

p.s.  BB - You were right close.  My son's name is Martin.

LOLOL.  But Jack Bauer never goes to the bathroom, and Cliff made reference to that really cold one out back of the burger joint in Ohio.  Otherwise I totally agree.

 BB,you just gotta come the northwest. Tacoma has a wonderful museum of glass art with a lot of Chihulys(just don't ask me my thoughts!)as well as roadfood gems Knapp's and the Picway drive-in. Every segment of your adventures is a pleasure to read about and i would love to know what you think about some portland places.

Jack Bauer would have definitely made it to Green Bay, blizzard or no blizzard!!!


My apologies for getting Martin's name incorrect.

The Cherry Cola is Outstanding...probably our favorite  cola beverage. The Raven Red is OK but not in the same league!!  CTD, WHICH WAS IT???

/me high-fives chipsie over the Chihuly slam

Al-
I know CTD mentioned it was the same one he sampled while we were in Memphis.

BB, I haven't even gotten to the second page yet (if there's more on there), and I'd go just for the raspberry custard alone! Oh, and the fish!!! I have to show Brian the Leon's custard pictures. He loves neon like that and his dad's name was Leon! Now let me read more... 
 
Edit:This is what I get for not looking at the whole thing, really. I just saw the picture of the Chihuly! Now I've gotta go there (but NOT in the winter).
 
 
 

Just my 2 cents-hopefully CTD had the Cherry Cola from Sprecher-its made with Door County cherries which has a great semi sweet tartness to it. Ravin Red is different. I brought Al and Janet some on our mini meet, an they loved it( once they tasted it) If anyone wants some-I can ship directly from my favorite store-Karls-just down the street from me.

Buffetbuster, how could you forget that I was "bold" enough to try the regular hoppel-poppel ( with onions, no less! ) Quite tasty; I really enjoyed it.

Well that explains why I didn't photograph your breakfast nocarolina, since it was so similar to my own.  Thanks for driving up to Milwaukee for the day and I am looking forward to seeing you in Louisiana!

BuddyRoadhouse


On second glance, it does look like something Carmen Miranda would wear.  I think it works on me, don't you?

Buddy

I was going to ask if that was Buddy's hair after he saw what CTD had ordered?? 

Hello All,
I really enjoy this thread and the photos.
Most of my travels have been in the Southeast.
and a few in the Northeast, but I have a desire
to hit the Midwest, especially the Northern Midwest.
This thread has convinced me I must go there.
Thanks for stirring my dreams of a future road-trip.
Hope I can fulfill it.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle