Earlier this year, I was up in Minneapolis and had lunch at the Convention Grill. (Click here to see my entry on the Convention Grill.) On their menu, the Convention Grill had a burger called the Plazaburger that pays homage to the original Plazaburger at the Plaza Tavern in Madison, WI. After a morning meeting with a dealer in Madison, I ventured to the downtown area near the University of Wisconsin campus to hit the Plaza Tavern for the original Plazaburger.

What makes a Plazaburger unique is the housemade sauce that they put on the burger. It's something that the wife of former owner Harold Huss came up after they bought the Plaza Tavern in the early 60's. Actually, the Plaza Tavern dates back to the days of Prohibition when it was a speakeasy run by a former University of Wisconsin football player by the name of "Moon" Molinaro. In the late 20's, Al Grebe bought the place and put in a bowling alley. It was at the Plaza bowling alley that a lady by the name of Jennie Hoverson Kelleher bowled the first ever 300 game by a woman in a sanctioned tournament on Feb. 12, 1930.

Harold Huss came to work for Al Grebe in 1945 and worked there for 18 years before he eventually bought the business in 1963. Huss' wife, Mary, came up with the sour cream and mayonnaise-based sauce that is a deep secret recipe (and one that has been dissected for years by patrons) for the Plazaburger. It's said that there have been over 2 million Plazaburgers sold over the past 50 years.

Harold Huss passed away in 1983 and Mary a year later. Their children took over ownership the Plaza Tavern and installed bar employee Dean Hetue as the manager. In 2003, Hetue ended up buying the Plaza Tavern and the secret sauce recipe from the Huss family.

The Plaza Tavern is on N. Henry Street, off of State Street and between Johnson and Gorham streets, west of the Wisconsin State Capitol. (see map) Henry is a one way street and I was able to find a parking spot just down the street.



It was early, before noon, when I walked into the place. I suddenly remembered that I had been in the place before. We had gone up for an Iowa/Wisconsin football game a number of years ago and bar-hopped after the game. With all the arcade-style video games in the place, I remembered that we'd had a couple beers there, but no burgers.

I took a seat at the bar and a lady came over to greet me. She asked me if I wanted anything to drink and I asked if she had an Capital Brewery products. She named four different varieties including the Wisconsin Amber. I took one of those. "They're in bottles," she said. "Is that all right?" Sure!

She asked if I needed a menu and I took one from her. I pretty much knew that I was going to get a Plazaburger, but I wondered what else they had to offer at the Plaza Tavern. And there's not much - it's a pretty short menu with burgers, grilled ham, tuna or turkey and cheese sandwiches, fried or grilled chicken sandwiches and a reuben. When she brought me my beer, I ordered the Plazaburger. I asked her if I should get it with cheese. "If you want cheese on your Plazaburger, you should get cheese," she said playfully. All right - cheese on the Plazaburger, then! She asked if I wanted a side - fries, onion rings, cole slaw, potato salad, etc. - and I said that the Plazaburger should be enough for me.

The Plazaburger was cooked on a flat grill that undoubtedly has years of seasoning burned into it. It was served to me on a small plate with a side of pickles. It came on a whole wheat bun - something I can't say that I've ever had with a burger. And they cut the burger in half before serving it. I had pretty much finished my first bottle of Capital Wisconsin Amber and she asked if I wanted another one. Sure!



The Plazaburger patty wasn't very thick. They say they're 1/4 pound burger patties, but it didn't look much larger than a basic McDonald's burger. The sauce was slathered - Wait! I'm starting to hate that term - the sauce was thickly smeared (better?) on the bottom of the bun with the cheese-topped burger resting on the sauce. I wasn't certain what to do with the pickles, so I just kept them on the side.

Now, I'm a condiment kind of guy with my burgers. Ketchup and mustard is usually what I put on a burger along with sliced onions and dill pickles. I'm not much of sauce guy on my burgers. But with the Plazaburger, I thought I'd give it a legitimate shot. I did squirt some ketchup on the plate just in case.

From the first bite of the Plazaburger, well, I couldn't really tell you much about the burger because the sauce was about all I could taste. But the sauce was well, good. Actually, pretty damn good. I was pleasantly surprised with the taste of the sauce on the Plazaburger. I could get hints of dill, possibly some chives, as well. I dipped a bit of the burger in the ketchup, but decided that it didn't go well with the sauce. The Plazaburger was excellent with the sauce. Without the sauce, I'm not certain it would be all that great. The bun was a bit dried out, but you're gonna get that with a whole wheat bun.

When I was presented with the bill, I got a bad taste in my mouth. The Plazaburger with cheese was $5.25 - not a bad price. But the price of one bottle of the Capital Wisconsin Amber was $5.00. And I got TWO! A six-pack of Wisconsin Amber in any liquor store in Madison isn't much more than $6 or $7 bucks. It was $10 bucks for two beers - I wanted two beers, not a 12-pack! The bill came to $15.25 - no tax included. I just couldn't believe that they'd charge that much for a beer that was brewed less than 10 miles away. I figured they must deliver the Capital beers to the Plaza Tavern in a stretch limousine.

And, guess what? They don't take credit cards at the Plaza Tavern. I laid down a $20, got change, and left a two buck tip. Ouch.

So, other than the high price of the bottled Capital beer, the Plazaburger was worth the stop. For not being big on burgers with sauces on them, I'll have to give my wholehearted approval for the Plazaburger. I was a little disappointed in the overall cost of the meal, but I worked through it. For 50 years, people have been enjoying the Plazaburger at The Plaza Tavern. They have another convert. Just don't do it with ketchup.