tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post2566397987372731619..comments2024-03-26T04:26:04.911-07:00Comments on Lost City: Lost City: Wisconsin Edition: Kewpee Hamburgers RevistedBrooks of Sheffieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18297071358029060908noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-42126002279492363842011-11-01T07:22:45.327-07:002011-11-01T07:22:45.327-07:00Went to Kewpie's yesterday.
The "renov...Went to Kewpie's yesterday. <br /><br />The "renovation" was merely to remove a step at the front entrance. At noon it was packed with quite an interesting and amusing assortment of diverse individuals.<br />All is well!<br /><br />Yeah, Tortero's would make a great "who goes there".Proud NIMBYnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-50489387418089361012011-10-30T10:04:43.181-07:002011-10-30T10:04:43.181-07:00Can't believe you've been to Kewpee, NIMBY...Can't believe you've been to Kewpee, NIMBY. What are the odds? Tortero's sounds fantastic. I will go on my next trip to WI.Brooks of Sheffieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297071358029060908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-92077758425204997262011-10-29T19:48:57.170-07:002011-10-29T19:48:57.170-07:00Brooks, another one of my favorite places revealed...Brooks, another one of my favorite places revealed!<br />What gives?<br /><br />I frequently go to Kewpie's when I visit Racine, which is where I am writing this.<br />(Btw, Kewpie's was closed last week for some kind of work, but I doubt that it will essentially change the decor.) <br /><br />I think Kewpie's was empty with that Edward Hopper feel because you visited it in the afternoon.<br />At lunchtime, it is fairly crowded with office workers from nearby Johnson's Wax and Case Tractor. <br /><br />It was more crowded back in the 70s, but so many of those buildings around Monument Square are vacant now, as you allude to, which took away a lot of Kewpie's patron base.<br /><br />They are one of the few places I know anywhere that still sells malteds, as well as the more common, but blander, shakes, possibly because Horlick's Malted Milk started in Racine about 100 years ago.<br /><br />A salacious tidbit you neglected to mention about Kewpie's is that its founder had multiple marriages, and, oddly for the 1940s, his second wife insisted that the divorced first wife come along on their honeymoon. No details exist of what transpired!<br /><br />However, you did miss a gem in Racine: Tortero's, located on Meade Street on the south side, a formerly Italian neighborhood, in what is now the rough part of town. <br /><br />Tortero's has been operating as an Italian restaurant since 1939 in a wood-frame house which old man Tortero purchased when the former one-room school house formerly located there had just been closed.<br />His son and daughter run it, and the inside hasn't changed much in 70 years, except for some sports memorabilia accumulated over the decades. <br />There is an attractive old wooden bar and a beautiful Wurlitzer that doesn't work, and which the owner won't bother to repair. "It's there for show."<br /><br />What is really odd about Tortero's is that there is no waiter service, and it is only open for lunch, Tuesday through Friday, only sits about 25-30, and the family only serve one or two selections: a pasta dish (the type of pasta changes daily) with one sauce, red, or a sausage hero. <br /><br />The only sign is a small, old plastic one that just says "Tortero's", not even the word "restaurant". <br />But it is packed, with people even calling in at 9 am to reserve an order in case they run out of the day's pasta, which often happens. (not a seat reservation: an order reservation, mind you)<br /><br />Here's how it works. You walk in, grab a plate from a pile, walk to the back kitchen, request the pasta of the day, which has the same homemade red sauce every day, or the sausage hero. The ladies dish it out to you and you bring it back to the table, where the regulars at once will recognize you as a newcomer and engage in conversation. (Those Badgers sure are friendly.) <br /><br />The brother tends bar and the sister, Angie, cooks the food and dishes out the pasta, with the help of an assistant.<br />Unfortunately, they told me this week that their kids "went to college and want no part of the business".<br /><br />It should be around however for a few more years, so, if you are ever back in Racine, try to drop by. It is open for only two hours, 11:30 to 1:00.<br /><br />In case you wonder why I am in Racine, I often come here, among other reasons, to get away from the invasion of that annoying Little Wisco clique that has invaded downtown of late, who took over Fedora's and have even ventured into the San Gennaro feast, to name just a couple examples of their recent attempted hegemony in Gotham. <br /><br />Eating well is the best revenge!Proud NIMBYnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-3932861799688830752011-10-27T08:37:02.478-07:002011-10-27T08:37:02.478-07:00Never know where I'm going to turn up!Never know where I'm going to turn up!Brooks of Sheffieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297071358029060908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-60694904401027228632011-10-27T08:29:12.579-07:002011-10-27T08:29:12.579-07:00I've been reading your blog for awile now, and...I've been reading your blog for awile now, and was sure surprised to see that you came to WI! Racine no less, and the description you gave of it is dead on.nicolenoreply@blogger.com