Class '67 Forum

Pleasantly surprised by the elegance of the establishment we sat at the onyx bar rather than the well appointed and huge dining room. Pinch hitting for the Grumpy Old Vet Kevin Combest was Smilin' Mike Stodieck of Lake Geneva. Smilin' Mike gave the burger a solid 8.0. At 1/2# with fries the $15 tab seemed reasonable for the post plague prices we've encountered. Where's the Beef John Duewel hung a 7.5 and was satisfied with the burger. Yours truly EHS was impressed with the spot on medium rare burger & fries and scored an 8.5! The forum is supposed to be discontinued on October 15th but the Barnstormin' ROMEOs will continue the journey and be documenting our adventures through the ShoutOuts!

Kevin Combest, John Duewel and myself have been cruising the fields of corn and soybeans for better part of the year. We haven't neglected the larger villages and cities but it seems the farther into the boonies the better the overall experience. Not necessarily the best burgers but the friendly service and instant repartee is genuine! That is this ROMEO's opinion and I'm sticking with it! This weeks stop was in Kingston, IL, Five Points Pub... Grumpy Old Vet, KC came in low at a 7.0, saying the 1/2# burger was a touch dry for him. I tended to grade a little higher at 8.0 because of the service and likability of the staff. True the burger was a touch dry but it was substantial and came with 1/2# of crinkle fries. Our chirpy bartender/server was doing double duty with flair and a friendly smile and that's worth 1/2 point to me. When the cook questioned the order for one our buddies, he came out to our table to verify it instead of sending the order taker. I thought that was exceptional until we learned he was good friends with our buddy, Pirate of Sycamore fame. Chadwick Combest rounded out the foursome and went with the smaller smashburger. Pirate added that the Five Points fish fry is tops in Dekalb County. Until next week!

PUB 72 on Rt 72 Gilberts, IL Located in the small but rapidly expanding Village of Gilberts, just west of Dundee this pub knocked the socks off 2 of the 3 Barnstormers! The fresh burger weighed in at a hefty 1/2 pound and 3/4 inch thick earning it two scores above 9 with the Grumpy Old Vet snarling a 7. Johnny Duewel of Where's the Beef fame had no problem giving this mammoth a solid 9 until the bill came...holy cow as he opened the check and exclaimed " ELEVEN dollars burger and fries"! This pushed his score to a lofty 9.2, his highest mark this summer. Grumpy Old Vet, Kevin "KC" Combest was unimpressed and his score of 7.0 might have been influenced by the unfinished french onion soup.Even his substantial order of onion rings went unfinished which might have been an indication of his lack of appetite. Yours truly, Selin was tempted to score this burger at 9.3 but had .1 deductions for dill spears instead of hamburger dills and minus .1 for the mild red onions instead of the robust spanish onion. Leaving this burger a score of 9.1 and one of my highest scores of the summer. PUB 72 has an extensive menu and the aroma of the large smokers perfumed the whole area around the PUB. We promised to return and dig into some of the other offerings. This PUB 72 is truly a gem and should not be overlooked if you are in the area!