Tim Ahern is about to celebrate his 10th anniversary as head chef and culinary mastermind at Wisconsinburger. And now his restaurant has hit 10 years as purveyors of Best Burgers.
The restaurant opened in 2014, on a quiet residential street in Spokane's South Perry neighborhood. A lot has changed over the years, but Ahern says the restaurant's goal of high-quality burgers with Midwest flavor remains the same.
"We try to serve it as fresh and as delicious as possible," he says.
Wisconsinburger has 10 different burgers on its menu and a weekly special created by Ahern. The burgers come with a variety of flavor combinations featuring ingredients like jalapeños, mushrooms, bacon-jam, cheese curds and more. The menu also has several sliders and house sausages.Ahern's favorite burger is the Pulaski. It's simple: Just the patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion ring topped with ranch dressing. The chef first put the burger on the menu as a weekly special shortly after the death of celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain.
"He had said a couple times that was his favorite kind of burger," Ahern says. "That was my homage towards him."
The burger was a hit and became a regular fixture on Wisconsinburger's menu.
The coolest thing about burgers, Ahern says, is their versatility.
"It's super similar to pizza. You can pretty much throw anything on and nine times out of 10 you're going to nail it," Ahern says. "You have to match the flavor profile with beef, of course, but generally it creates a pretty wide field."The flexibility of burgers gives Ahern a lot of room for creativity. He's originally from the Southwest, and sometimes experiments with spices and other Southwestern flavors.
"That's part of what I really love about my job," he says. "I have this opportunity to experiment with a lot of different things."
Ahern will cook a burger well-done if somebody requests it, but he thinks medium rare is the ideal way to bring out the juiciness and flavor in the meat.
"When you nail it, it's like butter," he says.
Almost everything at Wisconsinburger is made in-house from scratch. Ahern uses Washington Premium Angus beef that's ground fresh on site every morning.
"It takes a lot of work to accomplish it, but I believe it shows in the finished product," he says. "What we serve on the plate is a step above what most people do just because we put that extra effort into it."
2nd PLACE: Durkin's Liquor Bar
3rd PLACE: Cascadia Public House
NORTH IDAHO'S BEST: Roger's Ice Cream & Burgers, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls
