burgerific!. on a saturday evening my 4 dining companions and i made a visit (first time my myself) to the old fashioned at 5pm. the place was not too busy yet but a decent crowed had begun to make its way in by this time. we were seated upstairs where its a bit more quiet. i was not aware they had an upstairs until this visit. our waiter was very informative and knowledgeable of the menu items and the preparation of the foods and sauces, and the way several drinks were made and how they taste. the others in my group all got either beer or an old fashioned of their choosing, i passed on drinks to save room for what i had been reading reviews on over the past weeks on urbanspoon.com both gave the menu overwhelming positive reviews across the board so i was pretty sure i was going to have an easy time finding something both filling, tasty and affordable on this visit. lets take a quick walk through this visit so prep your senses for some teasing because that’s just what your in for!
my appetizer was the soup of the day($3). i got the bowl sized serving of spicy black bean and pork with corn. this was a beef broth based soup with a slight peppery note to it. the pork was shaved and very tasty. the black beans could have been cooked a little bit softer but a great soup none the less.
my main course was the no 30. old fashioned house burger. ($9.95) a 6 oz burger (ordered mine medium) with fried onions, hickory smoked bacon, aged cheddar, garlic sauce, a soft cooked egg and a buttered, toasted roll. i upgraded my side item to the very highly recommended (urbanspoon) beer battered cheese curds ($3 extra). the burger was absolutely phenomenal! messy but not like sloppy-joe messy, simply so much substance to the burger that it becomes hard to handle. but worth it of course! my only comment here is that my burger was cooked well done (i checked after a couple bites in) vs the medium i had asked for. outside of that, a hit for sure! the cheese curds were so good i could feel myself becoming more and more connected with all thingswisconsinon every bite i took i swear! like small peaces of golden softness that melted in your mouth. the nice part about them is that they use a very light and thin breading leaving mostly purewisconsincheese to hit your pallet! these are a must if you have not had cheese curds before or have not had them in a long time (such as my case).
if that was not enough read on…..i did go and ask to see a dessert menu (the only one in my party with room to dare ask for more). the waiter told me that the fruit crisp with vanilla spice ice cream ($4.95) was currently stawberry-rhubarb. that sold me right there! the ice cream was spiced with cinnamon and was good but not amazing. i was expecting a cold ice cream topping with a warm pie underneath and perhaps a crust at the bottom. instead the fruit portion of the pie was also cold as well. not a bad thing just not the contrast i expected. nor did i find the crusty top or bottom i would have liked either but still, a very sweet, fruity and satisfying end to a great meal indeed!
my bill which came to just under $24 was a fair price to pay for the portions, quality and service my group and i received on this visit. i will be looking to make a return to the old fashioned soon to try several of their other burger listing but also to try what looks to be (and has been reviewed as) a fantastic brunch menu which for this food blogger always gets my attention!