Miller's Bar, Dearborn, MI

Miller's Bar boasts #8 on the list and Dearborn is right outside of Detroit, so not too far away. Plus when have 2 of the Top 20 in the state of MI, you gotta check it out. Miller's bar is housed in an ugly, nondescript orange-ish building with no windows. I guess bars don't always have windows, but as Alan Richman says in the article, "It appears to be a place where people vanish and don’t reappear for days. . .". Everyone inside was eating, not drinking. And eating burgers or cheeseburgers & fries. We seated ourselves at a table that had a small tray on it that held salt & pepper, ketchup & yellow mustard, a container of pickles and some cheapy napkins. Our waitress came to get our order (no menu!) and so we ordered burgers and fries.

Burgers arrived shortly thereafter and I guess I was not really surprised that there was no plate! Just a piece of wax paper and some fresh onions in a separate piece of wax paper. My first impression was the that the meat was BIG and stretched all the way to the edges of the bun, but I was doing my west-coast attitude thing of "Where are the lettuce and tomato?". So I dressed it with salt & pepper, a tiny bit of mustard and some pickles. Couldn't cut it in half because they don't give you silver/plastic-ware! I guess if anything, it was a new way to eat?! It was cooked to order, though, so no complaints there.

Verdict is. . . very disappointing. Pretty flavorless (had to add lots of salt & pepper), no smoky grilled flavor and the bun was nothing special. Fries were nice and crispy and hot - but I was scared to ask for tabasco! I can't believe this burger even made the list! In 'n Out is better. And the #9 burger is the Cheeseburger at the Le Parker Meridien, which is super yummy. I am going to try to find an email address for Alan Richman so I can complain. Oh, and the last thing - no check. You just walk to the bar and tell them what you ate and then you pay. I assume cash -only, but who knows.

2.9.08 *Update* Akemi asked to see the fries, so here's another picture. Thankfully, they came in a little dish, not in a pile on a piece of wax paper!