Gastronomy612′s Weblog

Mihm’s: a Menasha, Wisconsin staple located a mere block away from my childhood home. 

As kids, my sisters and I noted not only the greasy deliciousness of a butter burger, but also the hiring requirements for its servers and cooks.  In order to work at Mihm’s in the old days, one would have to be: a) a woman, b) drastically overweight, c) be slow as molasses, and d) feature some facial hair whether it be in the form of side burns or whiskers.  Upon my recent trip home and visit to Mihm’s I noticed that the above requirements no longer hold water.

In fact, Mihm’s is now owned by a new family.  Though smoking inside the restaurant is still allowed, they cleaned things up (I think0 since I was last in there when I was in high school.  it seemed brighter, cleaner, not as smoking, despite nicotine smoke, and even had a TV suspended in the corner.  It was our first stop on my surprise trip home to see my family.  David and I grabbed a corner table and waited for my sister to arrive.

While we waited for her, I got a water and David ordered a small Pepsi.  The server’s indication of how small a small was was hugely inaccurate, but a small is more like three Dixie cups.  Who needs all that high-fructose corn syrup anyway? 

The menu remained unchanged and the most expensive item on the list is a four piece perch dinner for $10.99.  We were not there for the perch, we were there for the butter, cheese curds and shake.  And that’s exactly what we ordered: a round of cheeseburgers sans butter, cheese curds, and David and i split a strawberry shake.  

But Marina, why are you getting a butter burger with no butter you SOB?  Because friend, when you dine at Mihm’s your butter burger may contain a tablespoon or two of butter, and I seriously just can’t stomach that.  Even without the butter, you would not be dismayed, but rather, pleased.  The burger is grilled on the open pit grill inside the restaurant surrounded my a counter and counter seats, while the bun is also grilled right above it.  You get a delicious burger with a large, toasty bun without all of the cholesterol in the butter to give you an instant heart attack.

And that’s how they deliver it to you: straight from the grill, wrapped in paper.  So the paper serves not only as a wrapper, but your plate as well, the same way it’s been served for the 50 years that Mihm’s has been open – I’m sure, because why ruin a good thing?

And the cheese curds.  Oh the cheese curds.  Minnesotans find cheese curds a rare, summer novelty rather than the staple that they deserve and are in Wisconsin.  Moreover, Minnesotans often times do not differentiate, or simply don’t know, that there is a difference between cheese curds and fresh cheese curds.  They assume all cheese curds are fried.  This must come from the fact that they have never experiences a “fresh” cheese curd – the norm back home.  I digress.  What you get a Mihm’s, are fried cheese curds, and they are awesome, come in all shapes and go great with a burger, butter or not.

Everyone loves Mihm’s, and there’s nothing to not love.  Strike that, the only things not to love is the fact that they are closed on Mondays and despite it being 2008, they still do not accept credit/debit cards.  gave no fear though, a meal for three barely went above $20 and there is an ATM right next to the restaurant.  Regardless, Mihm’s is one of the best things Menasha has to offer, aside from being on a lake and having a marina, and having multiple draw bridges (though this poses a major annoyance in the summer).  Stop in, it will not disappoint.

Here’s David eating his burger.