Wonder Bar - Casper, WY

Wonder Bar in Casper, Wyoming is way more than a burger place. My friend Teresa took me there to get a burger on a Wednesday night and the place was hoppin’. (For those of you not from the Midwest, hoppin’ means there were a lot of people there having a good time.) We went through the lively bar with its live music and sat in the restaurant. Our very attentive server took our orders.

I had the Roadhouse Burger ($8.99). A half-pound Weinrich Meat fresh ground patty topped with a fresh jumbo fried egg, bacon, Swiss cheese and served with Miracle Whip; not just mayonnaise. The bun was a Kaiser type bun, soft and nicely toasted. The beef was tasty, if slightly over cooked. It also included fresh onion, tomato and lettuce. The egg was fried hard. I would have preferred it slightly runny. The bacon was crisp and tasty. Overall it was a nice tasting burger, but I would tweak it by having it cooked a little less and having the aforementioned egg, runny.

Teresa had a Patty Melt Burger $7.99 and was quite pleased. One nice twist is that they include house made, freshly seasoned potato chips with the burgers instead of fries. We found these quite addictive, salty and crisp.

We also ordered onion rings ($6.49). These beer-nattered beauties were very tasty, crunchy and hot. Yum.

Reading up on the Wonder Bar, they have a nice history in Wyoming. Founded in 1942, a cowboy could ride his horse right up to the bar and get a beer for both he and his horse. They had actual pictures to prove it. You gotta like that.

Burger 3.5 spatulas out of 5
Onion Rings 4.5 spatulas
Potato Chips 4 spatulas

Wonder Bar
256 South Center Street
Casper, WY 82601
307-234-4110
www.thewonderbar.net

Billy's Giant Hamburger - Jackson Hole, WY

Billy’s Giant Hamburgers in Jackson, Wyoming really does have giant burgers. We were in Jackson Hole for a few days to celebrate my friend Bill’s 50th birthday. After a morning of mountain biking through the Tetons we slipped into Jackson for some refueling.

Billy’s is a small place. The grill is surrounded by a counter that seats about 20. Billy’s is located right across the street from the main square in Jackson. Just look for the giant arches made of elk antlers, then head to the west side of the square. It shares a space with the Cadillac Grille, but eat in Billy’s at the counter.

They were a little backed up. The grill was loaded with huge patties of fresh meat and our server said we would have to wait about 20 minutes. Billy’s supplies burgers to the Cadillac Grille too. I ordered the Cheeseburger and fries ($6.70) with grilled onions (50 cents). Bill had a cheeseburger.

The guys behind the counter efficiently got caught up and before too long we had our burgers. They sat upon a nicely grilled sesame bun amongst a pile of criss-cut fries. Each burger has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. The meat was nicely seasoned with pepper and salt and cooked nicely medium, although Bill’s was closer to medium rare.

It had been a good six weeks since I had my last burger. It was heavenly and I downed it in minutes. In my beef deprived state I might have gotten a little carried away, but I thought it was superb. The meat and the vegetables were well-balanced with the burger coming out prominently in the mix.

We headed off for the afternoon for some beautiful hiking in the Tetons – well fueled and satisfied. They like their elk meat and trout here, but nothing beats a good slab of ground chuck, well-prepared like they do at Billy’s.

Burger 4.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 3.5 spatulas

Billy’s Giant Hamburgers
55 N. Cashe St.
Jackson, WY 83001
307-733-3279
www.cadillac-grille.com/Billys.html