Food: Stef & The Chef

The thing about Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger is it's so out of step with the times that it's fashionable. And we're not talking quaint. The swivel chairs are falling apart, but their odd chartreuse wrought iron invites you to sit in them. The cooks' often brusque banter with customers is a far cry from the pasted smiles of servers in most restaurants, but it makes you feel welcome. And the menu items - greasy, fried, and dominated by beef - go against everything you know about healthy eating, but what a relief.it is to break all the rules. Yet, to get hip to Blimpy's, you have to learn some new rules too. The staff claim they'll know if you're a Blimpy virgin, because you won't know what to do. So we thought we'd help out a little by giving you a few tips. (Of course, if you' ve long shown your sense of style by eating at Blimpy's, perhaps we'll simply get you drooling for a triple cheese.) The first challenge is deciding what to order, and you don't want to get in line until you do. You can't go wrong with a Blimpy burger, but that hardly narrows the field. The menu boasts more than 1 ,245,760 combinations of items. All burgers begin with fresh beef ground daily on site and never f rozen. The beef is kept about 20 percent fat (which not only makes it taste great, but prevenís it sticking to the grill) and is rolled into balls to make 10 patties per pound. You can choose a doublé, triple, quad, or even quint. Burgers are made to order while you wait in a cafeteria-style line, overlooking the grill. All kinds of extras are availableto make your burger one-of-a-kind. You could try a simple doublé with cheddar, lettuce, and tomato, but the person before you in line might order a triple with grilled salami, a fried egg, pickles, and ketchup oraquad with bleu cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and black olives on a pumpemickel roll. Whether you're wild or relatively tame, your burger will be one of the best you've ever had. The second rule is to get a tray before you come through the line. We've both been chastised for forgetting this, as a tray was thrust upon us by a busy cook. And you don't want to cramp these cooks' style. Many times when we've visited Blimpy's during non-peak hours, only one person has been working behind the counter, making our fries, grilling our sandwiches, adding the "extras," and ringing up our tab (from memory). The coordination and timing of veterans (like DaVee, Steve, Josh, or "the Pauls") make you want to do your part. When you get toward the head of the line, remember to order what you want from the fryer first, then order what you want from the grill, and don't teil the cook what condiments you want until you're asked. These rules, as Rich Magner - Blimpy's proprietor - explains, are necessary to keep the line moving so you get your food faster. The last rule is to bus your own table. "Contrary to popular belief," Rich says, "we're not trying to be rude. It helps when we have regulare in line between new customers," so the regulare can model how the process works. These regulare may be college students who discovered Blimpy's earlier in the semester, or families who've been coming for yeare. Rich can teil stories from long before he started working at Blimpy's in the late 1960s. Blimpy Burger's first incamation in the '50s was located downtown on Hurón near Main. The story of the restaurant's name began with the founder, Jim Shafer, needing some working capital. So, the legend goes, he offered a huge breakf ast at a very cheap price, and an old man in the bar next to the restaurant called Jim "crazy" to do such a thing. "Blimpy Burger" was the winner in a naming contest Jim held. Thus, Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger was bom. Blimpy's has been in it's current location at 551 South División since 1953, where, for years, Jim's dog, Hem, slept in a comer of the dining area. Until 1978, Blimpy's didn't have a menu. Those in vogue knew what was available. The hand-drawn menu that now hangs on the wall is an example of Blimpy's distinctive art work, for which Rich is responsible. He designed the first Blimpy tee-shirt in 1971. Jim had suggested a drawing of a cow, but Rich claims, "I didn't do cows, so I drew a bear." The Blimpy's bear now adoms the building's awning out front and all Blimpy's advertising. In recent years, Blimpy's has also become known for it's snow bears, another of Rich's creations which he's been doing since 1993. He shapes fresh snowfall into life-size bears who cuddle out front of the restaurant or prop a cub up to look into the window. Driving or walking by them is one of Ann Arbor's rare winter pleasures. Rich got the idea to go 3-D with Blimpy's mascot when his daughter made him a tiny salt-dough bear. Rich's original shirt design is still for sale, with one of Blimpy's head-scratching slogans: "Cheaperthan food." Says Rich, "At one time, food here was cheaper than you could buy it yourself' to make at home. Eating at Blimpy's is still an old-fashioned bargain. On one visit, we got three burgers, each with plenty of extras, a cup of chili and a cup of the soup of the day, a large order of mixed vegetables, and three of the many different brands of root beer for just under $20. The mixed vegetables, which are put in the fryer as you order them, are one of our favorite items. Zucchini, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms are bought fresh, cut and breaded on site, and neverfrozen. Blimpy's fries are also fine; the orders we received were cooked perfectly so they were crunchy on the outside and soft as mashed potatoes inside. The chili is impressive with lots of hamburger, kidney beans, and tomato and a spicy bite. Another tasty item is the grilled chicken tarragon sandwich. When we ordered it, we were told in classic Blimpy style, "The chicken'll be ready when it's ready." If vegetarían sandwiches are whatyou want, the "ultímate cheese" (fourcheeses with grilled onions and peppers and an egg) is a sloppy delight, and the veggie burger is not bad, especially when smothered with cheese and.mushrooms, but when compared with the hamburgers, we were both glad to be carnivores. One beefy blessing is the "pepper steak bullet" - a triple with provolone cheese, grilled onions and peppers, and a sauce of crumbled bacon, scallions, ranch dressing, and black pepper. It will heal you any time you're feeling too healthconscious. The food may put you among Blimpy's fifth generation of addicts, but a trip to Blimpy's is more than a meal. It's a touch of time travel mixed with a bit of the camival and a lot of your neighbortiood greasy spoon. As a regular, you'll enjoy chatting with the staff and people-watching out the front window - where you can be proud to be seen bucking restaurant trends. Stef is a freelance writer who loves to eat and drink. The Chef is a local professional chef who spends his life in restaurants of all kinds.