Posted by Michael Stern on March 18, 2009
You don’t have to be a Green Bay Packers supporter to enjoy Kroll’s, but it helps. When the home team plays at Lambeau Field just across the way, Kroll’s West beer garden is open from early in the morning for game-prep and celebrating. Any other day of the year, Kroll’s is a premier source of Wisconsin’s wonderful butter burger.
There are many other items on the menu, from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to broasted chicken and battered perch; but it is Kroll’s way with hamburgers (or cheeseburgers, or Big K half-pound burgers) that puts this rollicking sports bar on the Roadfood map. Lunch-counter rounds of beef are cooked through and juicy enough; the magic is mostly in the way they are dressed. As is Wisconsin custom, each hot burger is topped with a pat of butter that melts into the meat, making the beef absolutely delectable. In addition to butter, a Kroll’s burger ordered with everything includes ketchup, onions, and pickles; it is sandwiched in a crisp-crusted roll and presented wrapped in wax paper. Bacon, lettuce, and tomato are available at extra cost; and it is possible to ask the kitchen to substitute margarine for butter (but that is virtually a mortal sin here in the Dairy State).
Burgers rule, but one must not ignore Kroll's prime rib sandwich. Similarly configured, it is a pile of shaved prime rib that is like the most tender sliced roast beef you ever had, but even more tender. Inside a toasted-crisp bun, the meat's juice combines with plentiful melting butter in a slurry of luxe. Add au jus either by pouring it on or dipping the sandwich as you eat and get a side order of cheese curds. Here you face a feast of irresistible edible profligacy!
Overall: Worth a major detour
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
Cheeseburger
($4.00)
Prime Rib Sandwich
($8.00)
Bratwurst
($5.00)
"While it is way too messy to win the food Beauty Award, Kroll's burger is a joy to slurp through. Pictured is the standard quarter-pound size; and while a half-pound Big-K also is available, we prefer the balance of ingredients in the normal size. (buffetbuster photo)"
Michael Stern
"Succulent battered and Broasted lake perch served with tartar sauce, rye bread, soup and salad, and Kroll's famous burger on the side (an extra charge). (Photo by thejab.)"
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"Kroll's is a definitive sports bar, devoted to the Packers. But even if you don't care about football, it is an essential stop on America's hamburger trail."
Michael Stern
"Here is a sight you won't see on game day in Green Bay: Kroll's without throngs of people all around."
Michael Stern
