Published: Dec. 29, 2017
A review: While different, each restaurant connected
The Dec. 22 edition of the Daily News was the final
installment of the 10-week look at the 10 recommended restaurants, as voted on
by Daily News readers, in Washington County. It ended with a profile of The
Poplar Inn in West Bend.
The series started with a visit to The Norbert on Oct. 20.
Sandwiched, pardon the pun, in the middle were Bibinger’s, Riverside Brewery
and Restaurant, Sloppy Joe’s, MJ Stevens, Krimmer’s, Tochi Ramen, Nuckleheadz
and Joe Mama’s.
Each restaurant was different in plenty of ways. But they
had one thing in common.
The concept came to light after a discussion I had with West
Bend Police Chief Ken Meuler. At the time, I was already kicking around the
idea of doing something about the local restaurants and he suggested I should
do something. That discussion was in early February and it motivated me.
The other motivation behind the project was with the help of
my in-laws. They’re from Saginaw, Michigan, about two hours north of Detroit
along Interstate 75. Saginaw is a similar size to West Bend, but my inlaws,
whenever they visit my wife and I and our two boys they love going to the local
restaurants. They do because in Saginaw there aren’t a lot of local
restaurants, just lots of chain restaurants.
Those two elements put together helped me with this series.
I just needed a way to do it. Then I thought about doing a reader-based survey.
I knew I had to do it this way because if myself or our staff picked the ten we
thought were best, we’d miss ones for sure.
I had a hunch I’d get a lot of responses, but for that to
happen was a thrill. More than 1,000 responses to the online survey were
submitted. The data and everyone’s willingness to comment on their choices was
fantastic. It really brought out a lot about the restaurants and helped me get
a baseline for restaurants I wasn’t familiar with.
If you remember, there were 10 restaurants listed as a
choice and then one more selection marked “other.” I was often asked how I came
up with the 10. Well, I used the user ratings from Yelp.com, taking the top 10.
I needed a starting point and that was it.
In the more than 1,000 responses, 67 restaurants
were voted on. Out of those 67 there was one vote for Dairy
Queen and one for Taco Bell — don’t know if those were serious votes or someone
goofing off.
But think about it, that meant there were 65 locally owned
restaurants that got at least one vote. Sixty-five! Did you know there were at
least that many in Washington County? I say at least because I know there were
some that didn’t get votes.
Those that were in the Nos. 1115 slots were The Great
Outdoors Supper Club, Dublin’s, Perc Place, Coffeeville Co., and a tie between
Bilda’s Friess Lake Pub and Slinger House.
To have at least 65 locally owned restaurants in Washington
County should be something to be proud of.
We decided not to rank them because we wanted each of the 10
restaurants to be on the same level, to not make one better than the other —
all 10 were great choices. I certainly learned that after telling each of their
stories. All 10 had such neat characteristics that I could see why they were
selected.
Did you know that the chef at Bibinger’s had her first
featured dish in a restaurant when she was a teenager? Did you know Sloppy
Joe’s is a popular destination for Packers players?
Of the restaurants among the 10, the ones I had been to
previously were Bibinger’s, Riverside and MJ Stevens. I plan to visit each one
that I hadn’t gone to previously again now that I’ve learned more about them.
Each presented fascinating characteristics, such as the
memories at The Poplar Inn, a chef formerly cooking for A-list celebrities at
Krimmer’s or cooks taking simple dishes and making them extravagant — Tochi
Ramen, Joe Mama’s and Nuckleheadz.
But one thing was a common thread between all 10: fresh food.
All of them made having fresh food, nothing frozen, as their
No. 1 priority. It showed. I guess you could say, “You can’t beat freshness.”
And most of the restaurants used local vendors too, including Bibinger’s using
a farm a mile away.
There you have it. I hope you enjoyed the series
as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.
So, for the next visit from the out-of-town family, you now
have a checklist of restaurants to check out. I have got my list.
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