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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Burger love leads to Perry district

Wisconsinburger has right formula for neighborhood favorite

Wisconsinburger arrived on the local scene last fall. (File)
Dave Trimmer And Dan Coyle Correspondents

We were thoroughly enjoying our first visit to Wisconsinburger and that led to a typical Dave-and-Dan wandering conversation about what we would do if we knew when our lives would end.

And then we returned to the subject in our hands: Burgers.

The one of us born in January always requests a barbecued hamburger for a birthday meal.

The other one said, “My last meal would be a burger and fries.”

Yes, we love burgers. And now you know why we were pondering the end.

We’ve been eating with readers in mind for a couple of years now, and a hamburger story has always a been subject of discussion. Truth is, we didn’t want to admit that we love burgers, and now Wisconsinburger is trying to elbow its way to the top of the list. That’s because Spokesman-Review columnist Doug Clark came, saw and conquered, raving about these burgers and his love of all burgers and face it, who in their right mind wants to be like Clark and his self-proclaimed Body by Burgers?

Then again, even Clark couldn’t be wrong all the time, and this time he couldn’t have been more right.

Two words: Bacon jam.

Bacon doesn’t make the burger, but we’re well aware of the bacon craze, so right off the bat we’re tipping our hats to bacon jam. Besides, one of us had a burger last summer that included peanut butter and jalapenos. (That was in Indiana and it was great!)

We’re not too proud to say a Whammy at Dick’s has hit the spot. And we’ve scheduled trips to Coeur d’Alene so we can stop at Hudson’s for two. But those places have a history – are history – and the surroundings are secondary, but you can’t beat the service.

There are great burgers all over. The Pinecrest Casino in De Borgia, Montana, a great halfway stop en route to Missoula, knocked our socks off recently. Near home, we like Dave’s Bar and Grill, on the North Side we like The Swinging Doors, and way up north, one of us is partial to the Ram in Riverside.

We love the blackjack burger at the Onion, which is definitely a restaurant first, with great burgers.

You may have noticed our aversion to chains, but a guilty pleasure is Red Robin because where else can you find a cheeseburger with a fried egg or get bacon swapped for jalapeños?

There are just too many good hamburgers at too many places to write definitively about them, so we decided to center a burger story around this relatively new place that was getting a lot of attention.

We discovered a couple of online comments about Wisconsinburger that gave us pause.

First were comments calling Wisconsinburger’s fare greasy – which we are happy to debunk.

On the other end is the claim that it was voted the third best restaurant in Spokane. Yes, we liked it, but we have stuff that has been in our freezers longer than Wisconsinburger has been open. To be the best in this field, a place needs to pass the test of time.

But back to the task at hand. Wisconsinburger is great for all the right reasons, cleanliness, service and price – the latter based on a darn good burger – in a place with authentic decor and a side bar of all the condiments you could hope for.

There are plenty, but not an overwhelming number, of combinations to make your burger interesting, and there are options for those who don’t eat beef or meat. And the Grind of the Week, where chef Tim Ahern concocts interesting surprises, seems like a good enough reason to stop by on a regular basis.

There are enough beer choices to rekindle that childhood feeling of having a nickel and trying to pick out penny candy in the dime store.

The best part, though, is the location. It’s a neighborhood place, just off the Perry District, with a we-must-be-in-Wisconsin bowling theme. The help was awesome, but we kept hoping Laverne or Shirley would take our order. That, of course, took us on another long and winding conversation while we waited for our meal.

And we think the greasy comments were from someone who didn’t notice the difference between greasy and juicy.

We’re happy we decided to share our love of most things burger. Not only did we discover a place new to us, it reminded us to go back to our favorites. We had a feeling we were overdue for a run to Coeur d’Alene.

Former longtime S-R writer Dave Trimmer andformer restaurateur Dan Coyle forged a common bond over dinner and drink. They know it takes more than great food to make dining out worth the money. They share recent finds and longtime favorites in this column. Reach them at daveanddan@hotmail.com.