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During the late 1970's I had an opportunity to spend time at The Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Note I said at, not in. The reasons I was there were more weird than dance night in the strong ward. I have to say that the food in the Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane cafeteria wasn't bad. It was institutional, but not bad and some things were made on site and were very good. They baked their own bread and the smell alone was wonderful. But occasionally you need a hamburger and fries with a thick chocolate shake. When that happens there is only one place to go in Lima, Ohio and that is the Kewpee Burger. Every time I went to The Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane to visit my father I would go to the Kewpee Burger. My father was also at the hospital not in it; he ran the place. He was the head nut. First, Kewpee is an old school hamburger joint. You are not going to find any Shitake mushroom and Gouda melt on Kobe beef nonsense. You will get hamburgers, fries, thick shakes, chili, fish sandwiches, various pies and a vegetable sandwich. Kewpee Burger predates the McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s trinity by decades. Only White Castle pre-dates it by two years, having been founded in 1921. There will be more on Wendy's a bit later. Early in October of this year I had to drive through Lima on my way to a wedding. I drove past the Kewpee Burger and it brought back memories. I decided to stop there for lunch when we returned. I consciously tried to damp down nostalgic expectations and to experience it new again. It had been well over 30 years since I had been in the Kewpee Burger. Before I review the food, lets take a moment to discuss the setting. The single word, "Plastic" comes to mind. What was the color plastic you naturally ask? Well, remember those orange shag rugs that we all had in the 60's and 70’s? OK, take those rugs and melt them down and mold them into a booth and seats for the tables and you have it exactly. Now remember the white color of the Go Go boots from the same era? A la “Hullabaloo” dancers? We are going to melt them down and mold the tabletops out of that plastic. Mmmmm, love the 70's. Why don't we read the rest of the review with The Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive" playing in the background. I will finish writing to the tune. Oh yeah, "Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive. The food on the other hand is fresh, unpretentious and good. They use all local ingredients, including the beef, and they do not use frozen beef. The burgers are hand pattied and pressed, are rather irregular and squarish in shape. They smell exactly like a hamburger should from the grill to the table. They offer a single, a single cheeseburger, a double and a double cheeseburger. I had the cheeseburger, $1.75, fries and a soft drink. I had to pass on the shake; the thick, cold, hand-dipped shake served in a chilled, fluted, glass milkshake glass with condensation dripping down the side for $2.40. Age and diabetes has changed my diet. A big load of sugar was not on my approved list that day. But I saw other people get them and they looked great. A Malt is only a dime more. "Ah, ha, ha, ha" my cheeseburger was very good. The bun was fresh as was the lettuce and tomatoes on it. It of course came with a pickle on top. One of their slogans is, " Hamburger pickle on top, makes your heart go flippity-flop." Honest. Another one is, "Your grandfather ate here." Both of these slogans are on the Kewpee Burger Coffee Cup I bought as a memento. The fries were good, nicely salted, warm, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and warm all the way through as fries should be. The Pepsi was a Pepsi.
My wife got the vegetable sandwich. She reported it wasn't bad. It was white toast with mayo, lettuce, tomato a pickle (yes it was on top) and optional onions, olives, and hot peppers. She passed on the onions. It was only $1.30 and it was as vegetarian friendly as you could ask for. They offer a toasted cheese sandwich for $1.05 and a fried fish for $2.00. Let us start with the toasted cheese sandwich. Anyone that orders a toasted cheese sandwich at a restaurant is incapable of a single particle of Joie de vivre. Now I will talk about the fish sandwich. No one in their right mind would order one of those brown, square, deep fried "fish cubes" unless they had no concept of what real fish was. I will never be able to give a review on these two items. They also have pies. Not the expected glop of fruit stuff folded in industrial quality crust and deep-fried. Not at Kewpee Burger, no siree. You get a real piece of pie, pie shaped with a top and a bottom and they looked good. Again, it was not on my sugar budget for the day, but if they were anything like they were 30 years ago they would be fabulous. I liked the Kewpee Burger again. Next time you are near 111 N Elizabeth St, Lima, OH; (419) 228-1778, drop in, have a burger, a shake maybe even a piece of pie. You will not be disappointed.
The Kewpee Burger chain was named to the National Restaurant News 50: All-American Icons list in 2010. Yes, this is a chain with 5 stores; three stores are in Lima, one in Lansing, MI and one in Racine WI. There was once one in Kalamazoo, MI and that will become important in a bit. What is the deal about Kalamazoo? Let's clear that up. In the late to mid 1950's there was a Kewpee Burger in Kalamazoo Michigan. There was also a small boy of about 7 or so that loved the place and would eat there as often as possible. His house was only a few blocks away and he would hang out at the Kewpee Burger. In 1969 he opened his own burger joint named Wendy's. He must have liked something at Kewpee’s because he had fresh, never frozen beef, square burgers, thick shakes, chili and if you remember the original Wendy's, the kitschy dining area. Dave Thomas knew good when he ate it. Shortly after we pulled out I saw another place my father showed me and took me to. Mello-Creme Donuts. They are open from 5:00 a.m until they run out of product. Yum.
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