World's Best Hamburger (?)

Heading East after a great Instructor School in Denver, a good days drive landed me in Bismarck, North Dakota. That's state number 49 for me, with only Alaska remaining as the last of the fabulous 50! 
Nice ride today, sailing up I-25 coming out of Denver, crossing into Wyoming, on to US 85 through South Dakota, and the beautiful Black Hills - what a tremendous drive through the National Forest - and finally into North Dakota and I-94 eastbound to head for home.
Bismarck seems like a nice enough city, not what you'd call big by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to have a pretty nice downtown area, some good recreation spaces, and lots of restaurants. 
Unfortunately, as hard as I searched, the "Raccoon National Cemetery" was nowhere to be found; sort of like the time I went to Kansas City and found that '12th street & Vine" don't intersect!
Checked into the "Kelly Inn", a nice, large, highly rated local motel, which has a restaurant and a bar on the premises. Usually a nice feature, not having to run around to eat, but tonight I was captured by a small restaurant across the street from the motel;

Not sure if you can see it, but they've got a big green and white banner that says "Home of The World's Best Hamburger". Hmmmmm. Now how could I possibly pass that up? You all would never forgive me! So, across the street, and in I went. I get the name now, as the entire interior is wood; wood paneling, wood trim, wood ceilings, wood gable roofs over the booths; wood.

"Seat yourself" the sign said, so I found a nice clean booth and sat down. Waitress brought over a glass of water, and indicated the menu posted on the wall, along with a telephone. Yeah, a telephone. Just the receiver, no dial or push buttons. Ahhhh, I get it, you pick up the phone and give your order to whomever answers; cool!

 So I peruse the thing, and decide on just a cheeseburger and fries. Pick up the receiver, I can hear a 'beeping' back in the kitchen. A young girl answers and asks what I'd like, then would I like onions and pickles on the burger. Hang up the phone and wait. Couple of minutes later, out comes my burger and fries, each on a small dessert size plate. First, the fries;

Surprise, they're fresh, not frozen! Nice and crispy on the outside, fluffy and hot on the inside. Don't think they're twice cooked, but they must fry them at a pretty high temperature, as the exterior was on the brownish side, and they were not at all soft or soggy. Just needed a little salt, and with ketchup, they were really good. Next, the burger;

First thing I notice is the bun. The bottom is positively fat, very thick; the top, also thick, and with a nice deep brown color. Along with the nice bun, a small surprise, the American cheese, besides being yellow, is real deli style cheese, not the usual slimy processed cheese food. That alone makes the burger better than average. The toppings, onion and pickles, aren't on top at all - they're on the bottom!

Generous amount of chopped white onion, and three good dill chips. And you can see the patty has been seared nicely on the griddle, which is usually a good sign. And in we go!

Unlike most places that serve these thin burgers, they didn't overcook it until it was grey and tasteless, it still had a touch of pink inside. Well cooked, nicely topped, good cheese, excellent roll - not a bad burger at all. "World's Best"? Nah, not by a long shot. But compared to many of the other burgers you find out there, one of the better ones. Oh, and while not the World's Best, they were apparently voted Best Burger in Bismarck in the local newspaper multiple times.
Back to the motel, plan my route for tomorrow, looking for a stop in Madison WI, which, if I recall from past trips through, has some pretty interesting food choices. Check back Wednesday night to see what transpires!


 






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