Getting to Blue Moon was interesting enough. For our lunch burger today, we meant to go to Brasserie V, which we found does not open until 4p. When we got to Blue Moon, it was sparsly populated with folks from the neighborhood. I'm betting this is in part due to the music played; we got a nice sampling of John Mayer, Nickleback and Owl City. Nice mix, Blue Moon, well done.
Overall impression of the Best Burger in Town:
- Definitely not the best burger in town.
- Very large burger, tastes just like homemade, seems to be hand packed.
- If you get the Best Burger (they also have a Best Cheeseburger and a Bacon Cheeseburger), it only has lettuce, tomato and grilled or raw onions. Get the onions grilled, they at least add some flavor.
- Needed to add some dressings as I wanted to taste something even if it was ketchup and mustard (bonus points for spicy brown mustard on the tables to Trina's lament).
- The bun was very fresh, but I don't eat a burger for the bread.
We also got cheese curds and crinkle-cut fries - both of which were as good (or bad) as the burger. We split a pitcher of Huck Finn-ish beer that is locally brewed from Sierra Nevada ingredients. Easily the best part of this meal aside from the company.
Burger two weight: 170.8 (lost .4 lbs in the off week!)
Notable observation - Trina struggles to eat without getting condiments on her hoodie. Luckily it is a bight enough color that mustard and ketchup barely show. Merwin struggles to eat a burger with the toppings intact - even when the toppings are as sparse as the Best Burger.
Ned -
Blue Moon Bar - "The Best Burger in Town"
With Trina missing last weekend and myself gone until today of this weekend, the Amigos were challenged to complete two burgers within one day. A day that for sure will go down in IN-famy.
The Blue Moon Bar was not our first option of the day (and most likely never will be after this meal). The original plan was to hit up Brasserie V for lunch and then Blue Moon for dinner. However, because one particular person (who will remain nameless) forgot to check Brasserie's hours of operation, the Amigos were forced to reconvene on Monroe St. and change plans. So... with a simple "switch-a-roo", it was off to Blue Moon.
- Decor - It's a dive bar. Not much for decor other than liquor on the wall and a couple big screen TVs. Expected...
- Service - The waitress was super friendly but less than helpful. How do you let people order hamburgers without telling them that adding cheese is an option? We're in WISCONSIN after all. (Read on for more about this)
- Food (the important stuff)
- Beer - once the waitress was done going over Blue Moon's less than impressive beer selection, all three Amigos decided to go with the special Sierra Nevada Huck Finn. And in true dive bar fashion, we shared a pitcher. Smooth dark beer with a very sweet aftertaste. I would definitely recommend.
- Burger - After some beer it was time for our food to arrive. However, as the waitress was on her way to our table, the jukebox used the only power it had to warn us of the impending disaster of a meal. With Nickelback now playing throughout the bar as our food was placed in front of us, it was obvious how the next few minutes would go down... The burger was bland, dry, boring, and messy. Not good messy, but horribly constructed pile of meat on a bun messy. Even the table Cholula couldn't save this travesty of a burger. Best in Town? We'll be the judge of that...
- Sides - The cheese curds were average at best. The crinkle cut fries were crispy and the highlight of the meal. I'll chop that up to the fact that the rest of the meal was a disaster.
If this is the "best burger in town", then I'm cancelling my apartment lease and hopping on the first plane out of Madison.
So, we’ve gotten a little behind and had to play catch up and hit up two restaurants today. After throwing around a few suggestions, we finally settled on Brasserie V for lunch and Blue Moon for dinner. And then we had a heated debate outside of Brasserie V at 12:30 about who failed to check the hours and see that they don’t open till 4 (the correct answer would be that none of us looked up the hours). So off to Blue Moon we went for lunch.
After each selecting the Sierra Nevada Seasonal – Huck Finn, the waitress suggested we just get a pitcher. Excellent recommendation.
Then we ordered fries and cheese curds to split and a trio of “The Best Burger in Town.” She asked if we wanted anything on it. We said “well what do you recommend?” She suggested things like tomatoes, lettuce, onions. So we went with the works. Never noticing she didn’t mention cheese. That would have been an excellent recommendation as well. But she didn’t, so she went 1 for 2 on the recommendations and quite frankly, the cheese wouldn’t have saved the burger anyway.
Overall –
· Messiest burger in town: The thing was huge and slid all over. I cut it in half (my attempt at portion control) and it looked like the world fell apart in my burger basket.
· Buns: I really like the bun. It was soft on the outside, it was grilled, and heck they had bags of them on the bar. So I’m confident I should be able to wander down to Metcalfe’s and pick some up for myself.
· Meat: the patty was huge. I’m glad it didn’t say the ounces on the menu because I honestly don’t really want to know. But in general, there wasn’t anything special about it. Kind of felt like something Mom would fry up back home when it was too cold out to get the charcoal grill going. When I was little, I never finished my plate when that was what we were having for dinner, and I didn’t finish my plate today either. (but I suppose we have to factor in that I have to eat another burger tonight).
· Condiments: Bless the restaurants like Blue Moon who actually put the ketchup and mustard squirt bottles on the table. Surprisingly, the bright yellow bottle had spicy mustard in it. A little bit of deception there if you ask me (found out after I squirted a heap on my burger). Also, every table had Cholula Hot Sauce on it. When I announced this to Mike and Jason, they both got more excited than I had seen them all meal.
· Sides: the fries came out just as I would expect bar fries – crinkly and crispy and I love that. Mike and Jason were kind of hating on the cheese curds but I’m starting to think I don’t really have an all-around good palette for cheese curds. They tasted just fine to me.
· Beer: Sierra Nevada Huck Finn-ish (had to look that up online for the official name); nice and dark like a Guinness. Went down pretty good for 12:30 on a Sunday. Online it claims it’s brewed with Huckleberries. Sounds like Schnozberries to me. Don’t question, just drink.
Bottom line - If something is self-proclaimed “best in town” or best of anything, you should proceed with caution. You’re likely to be disappointed.
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