What others are saying about Wisconsin Burgers

So my post on Five Guys has me thinking about Wisconsin’s great burgers.  This is a topic that can be debated to no end.  What’s better, a thicker pub burger like those served at Sobleman’s, The Little Musky Bar in Arbor Vitae, Fuzzy’s in Waukesha or The Wicked Hop or the thin, butter burger patty at Solly’s, Culver’s or Weidl’s in Jefferson? What about the slightly thicker burgers served at Kopp’s, Mazo’s or the Nite Owl? 

Well, I am not going to attemt to address that now, but I did scour the internet to see what other people are writing about Wisconsin’s great burgers.  Here is what I found.

Smokin’, Chokin’, and Chowin’ with the King (an Illinois food blogger) declared the burger served at Fred’s Parkview in Burlington as the World’s best burger.  

Roadfood’s Michael Stern shows some love for Solly’s famous Butter Burger, Kopp’s Butter Burger, Kroll’s West in Green Bay, The Anchor Bar in Superior, the Nite Owl, and  Kewpee Lunch in Racine.

George Motz, author of Hamburger America and host of the TV Show of the same name, has a lot of love for Wisconsin Burgers.  He loves Solly’s (they were featured in the book and on the TV series) but also enjoys Dotty’s and The Plaza in Madison, and Wedl’s in Jefferson,  He is also researching some new places for his revised edition of Hamburger America.

While looking through Motz’s site I found a link to a Wisconsin-based burger blog called Waun-A-Burger, Then Have A Burger.  The guy knows his burgers and you’ll find reviews for many of Wisconsin’s famous, and not so famous burger joints.  He also travels around the midwest reviewing burgers.

USA Today included Solly’s in its “Places to eat a burger worthy of paradise” article published in 2004.

Playboy also shows love for Sollys in its A-List. (safe for work link to OnMilwaukee.com story about Playboy, not actual link to Playboy)

Not everyone loves Solly’s.  Alan Richman, who I seriously think is the biggest fraud of a food critic in America (see my rant against him here) deemed Solly’s the worst burger in the United States. He said “Solly, may he rest in grease, is credited with inventing the butter burger, a much loved, much praised regional specialty. I walked into Solly’s Grille near Milwaukee and asked for my burger with sauteed onion. I’m guessing, but I’d say it came with close to a half stick of butter soaked into the bun and the burger and finally pooled on the plate. It was like slurping dairy drainage. Wisconsin, the Dairy State, should be renamed the Death-by-Dairy State.”