‘Wonderfully quirky’ hamburger stand in Jefferson opens for its 100th season, plus take a look at Jefferson county's most popular restaurants!
Along with Wedl's Hamburger stand there are several restaurants in Jefferson County to explore! Here is a list of some of the restaurants that have been reviewed.
Get out and support local businesses and try some great food! http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=restaurants&find_loc=Jefferson+County%2C+WI
Published On: Mar 20 2016 06:58:33 PM CDT Updated On: Mar 20 2016 07:04:08 PM CDT
The note came by email on a recent morning:
“They’re open!”
For some of us in southern Wisconsin, spring does not arrive with the calendar, or the first robin, or the sight of flags on local golf courses being whipped by the wind.
Among burger fanatics—like my correspondent above—spring is signaled by the opening of Wedl’s, a tiny, wonderfully quirky hamburger stand in Jefferson.
Wedl’s—the official name is Wedl’s Hamburger Stand and Ice Cream Parlor—opened for the season March 14, and all again is right in the cheeseburger cosmos.
It’s more than right. This year is the 100th anniversary of the 8-foot-by-8-foot shack now known as Wedl’s. So along with the delicious, thin, slider-style burgers that have made it famous, Wedl’s will be offering a variety of anniversary specials.
“Plus a big shindig sometime this summer,” said Robby Wedl, who operates the stand with his parents, Rick and Rosie Wedl.
The Wedls purchased the hamburger stand in 2007. That was shortly after I had first heard about it, when the stand was called Peterson’s, after the previous proprietor, Bill Peterson.
My recollection is I first heard about the Jefferson hamburger stand from, of all people, a New York City resident. Not just any Big Apple citizen, of course. If there is ever a Mount Rushmore for burger lovers, George Motz will be the first one enshrined.
Motz made the 2005 documentary film, “Hamburger America,” which led to a book of the same title, and eventually to a Travel Channel series called “Burger Land.”
George reached out to me after I had written favorably about the documentary, which profiled eight great burger joints around the country, including the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago and Solly’s Grille in Milwaukee.
A film critic had written disparagingly about Solly’s—never having actually eaten there!—saying the butter and grease involved in the preparation clearly made the burger unhealthy, if not inedible.
In my column I noted that burgers aren’t supposed to be health food. Motz appreciated what I wrote, and we became fast friends. More than that, he told me that because of the film, he was being offered a book deal, and the publisher wanted him to expand his eight burger joints in the documentary to 100 in the book.
“Can you help me,” George asked, “by recommending the best burgers in the Madison area?”
I was honored to be asked, but the surpassing importance of the question was a burden. How could I recommend a handful of burgers in a great burger city like Madison?
I took the coward’s way out and put the question to my newspaper readers. That didn’t really work, either, because I got dozens and dozens of “best burger” suggestions, and no consensus.
In the end, Motz stopped in Madison for a visit. Because I knew he valued a hamburger joint with a good back story almost as much as one with a good burger, I took him to the Plaza Tavern—famous for their secret sauce—and to Dotty’s, because owner Jeff Stanley was so entertaining. I don’t think the late Marsh Shapiro ever forgave me for not taking Motz to the Nitty Gritty.
Motz included both the Plaza and Dotty’s in his “Hamburger America” book. I think it was during his Madison visit that he asked me if I was familiar with Peterson’s, the little hamburger stand in Jefferson. I was not. George said it had been recommended by the owner of Solly’s in Milwaukee. “You gotta go out there, they are making a great little burger.”
Motz included Peterson’s in his “Hamburger America” book, although during the book’s production process the little stand was sold to the Wedls. Motz made the name change in a revised edition of the book.
I got to Wedl’s for the first time in 2010. I’d been asked to speak at the library in Lake Mills on a Saturday morning. About halfway into my speech, I began to feel lightheaded. I hadn’t had any breakfast. It was bad enough that I had to sit down.
“Are you OK?” someone asked.
“I think my doctor would tell me I need to go to Wedl’s and have a burger,” I said.
Which I did, and it was excellent.
I intend to get there in this 100th season, too. So many burgers, so little time. My friend who told me about Wedl’s recent opening closed his note by saying, “Next up: Pete’s in Prairie du Chien!”
I’ve never been Pete’s. It’s in Motz’s book, too. I’m not going to wait to faint to try it.
“They’re open!”
For some of us in southern Wisconsin, spring does not arrive with the calendar, or the first robin, or the sight of flags on local golf courses being whipped by the wind.
Among burger fanatics—like my correspondent above—spring is signaled by the opening of Wedl’s, a tiny, wonderfully quirky hamburger stand in Jefferson.
Wedl’s—the official name is Wedl’s Hamburger Stand and Ice Cream Parlor—opened for the season March 14, and all again is right in the cheeseburger cosmos.
It’s more than right. This year is the 100th anniversary of the 8-foot-by-8-foot shack now known as Wedl’s. So along with the delicious, thin, slider-style burgers that have made it famous, Wedl’s will be offering a variety of anniversary specials.
“Plus a big shindig sometime this summer,” said Robby Wedl, who operates the stand with his parents, Rick and Rosie Wedl.
The Wedls purchased the hamburger stand in 2007. That was shortly after I had first heard about it, when the stand was called Peterson’s, after the previous proprietor, Bill Peterson.
My recollection is I first heard about the Jefferson hamburger stand from, of all people, a New York City resident. Not just any Big Apple citizen, of course. If there is ever a Mount Rushmore for burger lovers, George Motz will be the first one enshrined.
Motz made the 2005 documentary film, “Hamburger America,” which led to a book of the same title, and eventually to a Travel Channel series called “Burger Land.”
George reached out to me after I had written favorably about the documentary, which profiled eight great burger joints around the country, including the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago and Solly’s Grille in Milwaukee.
A film critic had written disparagingly about Solly’s—never having actually eaten there!—saying the butter and grease involved in the preparation clearly made the burger unhealthy, if not inedible.
In my column I noted that burgers aren’t supposed to be health food. Motz appreciated what I wrote, and we became fast friends. More than that, he told me that because of the film, he was being offered a book deal, and the publisher wanted him to expand his eight burger joints in the documentary to 100 in the book.
“Can you help me,” George asked, “by recommending the best burgers in the Madison area?”
I was honored to be asked, but the surpassing importance of the question was a burden. How could I recommend a handful of burgers in a great burger city like Madison?
I took the coward’s way out and put the question to my newspaper readers. That didn’t really work, either, because I got dozens and dozens of “best burger” suggestions, and no consensus.
In the end, Motz stopped in Madison for a visit. Because I knew he valued a hamburger joint with a good back story almost as much as one with a good burger, I took him to the Plaza Tavern—famous for their secret sauce—and to Dotty’s, because owner Jeff Stanley was so entertaining. I don’t think the late Marsh Shapiro ever forgave me for not taking Motz to the Nitty Gritty.
Motz included both the Plaza and Dotty’s in his “Hamburger America” book. I think it was during his Madison visit that he asked me if I was familiar with Peterson’s, the little hamburger stand in Jefferson. I was not. George said it had been recommended by the owner of Solly’s in Milwaukee. “You gotta go out there, they are making a great little burger.”
Motz included Peterson’s in his “Hamburger America” book, although during the book’s production process the little stand was sold to the Wedls. Motz made the name change in a revised edition of the book.
I got to Wedl’s for the first time in 2010. I’d been asked to speak at the library in Lake Mills on a Saturday morning. About halfway into my speech, I began to feel lightheaded. I hadn’t had any breakfast. It was bad enough that I had to sit down.
“Are you OK?” someone asked.
“I think my doctor would tell me I need to go to Wedl’s and have a burger,” I said.
Which I did, and it was excellent.
I intend to get there in this 100th season, too. So many burgers, so little time. My friend who told me about Wedl’s recent opening closed his note by saying, “Next up: Pete’s in Prairie du Chien!”
I’ve never been Pete’s. It’s in Motz’s book, too. I’m not going to wait to faint to try it.
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