Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger?

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ScreamingChicken)

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 20:44:00 GMT

Earlier this year the West End Diner reopened so today we made our first visit.

It actually has 2 rooms, possibly a holdover from the days of the smoking and non-smoking sections. It was a 2-woman operation; 1 running the dining room and 1 in the kitchen.

I'm not 100% sure but this might've been my first burger in Edgerton since I started this thread well over a year ago. I think the Swiss cheese could've been the processed variety; personally I prefer the all-natural version but I can't complain about how nicely it was melted on the burger.

My medium-rare burger on a toasted, buttered bun. I don't think the mushrooms were in any kind of a sauce but they did taste like they'd been warmed on the grill. The burger was juicy and had good flavor even though the patty seemed to be just slightly on the thin side.

The fryer was out of order so I chose American fries instead, and it was a lucky break for me. The potatoes weren't overcooked and had a good buttery flavor with the right amount of salt; Kathy ordered hash browns and felt that they were a little too buttery, but I liked them. West End is open 5am-2pm daily so it makes sense that they know how to cook breakfast potatoes.

Kathy had a grilled chicken BLT and with a couple of sodas the bill came to $17 and change, and we were both quite full. So full, in fact, that there was no room for the freshly baked apple pie that was still warm from the oven. And now that the obligatory burger is out of the way I can make my next visit one for breakfast.

Brad

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (stricken_detective)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:01:15 GMT

Brad_Olson
Johnny's Office was the visit that had the most local "culture" (and the place where I was asked if I worked for the health department). I was clearly the outsider in a bar full of regulars and some of them had been warming their stools for awhile by the time I walked in. Conversation continued while I took out my camera but once I pointed it at the food it got quieter, and when the flash fired it got real quiet. And then the guy a couple of seats to my left said (not loudly, but loud enough for everyone to hear), "Hey...he just took a picture of his food. Is that normal?"

Brad

Yeah, the one thing I don't like about living here is the sheep mentality you can run across sometimes. Very very very insular, sheltered, etc. Please keep taking pics & thanks for the report!! :)

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (MilwFoodlovers)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:40:56 GMT

CTD,
Good to see you posting!
Can't wait until we can break bread again.
Mike

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ChiTownDiner)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:12:18 GMT

Why not hand the person in question your food check...see how fast they warm up!

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (MilwFoodlovers)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:33:06 GMT

4GB Mini USB Spy Camera Pen Pocket Video Recorder MP9-4G!!!

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (JRPfeff)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:16:38 GMT

No more embarrassing questions (about your camera anyway).

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (badbyron722)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:28:18 GMT

Sweet Jesus!

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (buffetbuster)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:07:00 GMT

I always tell people I'm just a dumb tourist.

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (JRPfeff)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:02:07 GMT

Try this line, "I'm an associate of Jane and Michael Stern and I'm preparing a feature on (fill in the blank) that may appear in the next edition of Roadfood."

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (joerogo)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:06:46 GMT

Brad_Olson , Talk about a labor of love A very unique and enjoyable photo journey.

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (carolina bob)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:03:10 GMT

Great photos, Brad. My appetite increased with each additional pic that I looked at. So far I haven't gotten any comments, smart-a** or otherwise, from people regarding my food photos, though I have gotten funny looks from a couple of servers.

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (buffetbuster)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:16:49 GMT

Brad_Olson

"Hey...he just took a picture of his food. Is that normal?"

Brad

Can't begin to tell you how many times I have been asked a similar question. And I still don't have a good answer!

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ann peeples)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:53:35 GMT

Very, very nice, Brad.Completely enjoyed the slideshow-now I need to go out and find a good burger!

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ScreamingChicken)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:25:54 GMT

Pancho, I'll leave the Madison burger report to you. Shouldn't take you more than a couple of years to get through it!

I'm not familiar with any duck specials in the area but if I had to take a guess I'd say Emigail's would be a likely suspect as the owner has put together a fairly diverse menu (he sometimes has barbecue that he smokes himself as well). Fins has some interesting items, too...guess I'll have to check around!

Brad

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (Pancho)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:16:30 GMT

Brad_Olson

I think I might've picked up a pound or 2 along the way. Fortunately most of the burgers were eaten as meals and not in addition to...
Ray's has a good Friday night fish fry, too. Around $8-9 IIRC and it comes with plenty of food, although I don't know if it's AYCE.

Emigail's has been for sale for about 6 months so I don't know what its future is, but I hope it doesn't close down. I want to get back there and try some of the other items on the menu.

Brad

Hey Brad....great report and pics. Now I'm famished for a burger and will go have one at the Blue Moon. You should check it out. Also, are you familiar with a place in Newville or Edgerton that has duck specials on the menu periodically? Thanks.

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ScreamingChicken)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:04:52 GMT

I think I might've picked up a pound or 2 along the way. Fortunately most of the burgers were eaten as meals and not in addition to...

Ray's has a good Friday night fish fry, too. Around $8-9 IIRC and it comes with plenty of food, although I don't know if it's AYCE.

Emigail's has been for sale for about 6 months so I don't know what its future is, but I hope it doesn't close down. I want to get back there and try some of the other items on the menu.

There are a few country bars not too far outside of Edgerton but I drew the line at Newville because a lot of summer people visit there and it's right off of I-90. Otherwise I could envision an ever-expanding circle (and probably waistline as well) that wouldn't stop until it reached some of the other cities and towns in the general area...that would be a lot of burgers!

Johnny's Office was the visit that had the most local "culture" (and the place where I was asked if I worked for the health department). I was clearly the outsider in a bar full of regulars and some of them had been warming their stools for awhile by the time I walked in. Conversation continued while I took out my camera but once I pointed it at the food it got quieter, and when the flash fired it got real quiet. And then the guy a couple of seats to my left said (not loudly, but loud enough for everyone to hear), "Hey...he just took a picture of his food. Is that normal?"

Brad

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (buffetbuster)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:47:55 GMT

Brad-
Truly a noble pursuit if I've ever seen one. Bravo! Ray's and Emigail's especially looked inviting. So how much weight did you gain doing this?

Re:Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ChiTownDiner)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:16:29 GMT

Brad -

Excellent summary and reviews and the pictures came out really good! spent many summers on the Lake at Edgerton...thanks for the memories!

Gregg

Welcome to Edgerton - care for a burger? (ScreamingChicken)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:14:03 GMT

Sometimes things can get a little out of hand and this post is an example. Back in February I stopped at Anchor Inn in Newville, WI (just east of Edgerton on highway 59) for one of its "famous" burgers and I just happened to have a camera with me, so I took a photo:

Then it occurred to me that there are several places in Newville and Edgerton where I could probably get a burger (one with mushrooms, Swiss, and bacon in this case) and one of them (The Decoy) was already my preferred watering hole, even though I don't go out much:

So for some reason I decided to combine some burger research with photo practice, with the goal of trying every medium-rare bacon or bacon-mushroom cheeseburger in the area while trying different combinations of equipment to see what the results (some good, some not so good) would be. As this is Wisconsin most of the places I ate were bars, which is typical of a town like Edgerton.

This past Tuesday I finally finished and this 69-image slideshow tells the story (be warned - there's not a lot of variety):
http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/Brad_Olson/Roadfood/Edgerton%20burgers%202009/?albumview=slideshow

The population of Edgerton and Newville is probably somewhere in the 6000-7000 range and initially I thought that maybe there'd be a half-dozen or so places to try, but the final count was easily double that. It was fun to do and I did visit some unfamiliar eastablishments (and answer questions from some unfamiliar people), but I think it'll be awhile before I have another burger. There were times when I wondered why I was doing this and if maybe I should scrap the whole idea, but in the end I stuck with it and I'm glad I did.

My favorites are The Decoy (with an admitted bias) and Anchor Inn but the majority of the others also served a good cheeseburger, and there are only a couple where I'd say to either not bother or it's not worth a trip. But like any other post here these are only my opinions and should be taken with a grain of salt...or maybe a few grains and a little pepper as well, depending on which burger you're eating.

Brad