I was watching a video of a couple of guys from the United Kingdom who heard about Michigan and lake-effect snow and they called "BS".
Then they came here in the winter and toured the state.
Then they came back in the summer.
Near the middle of the video they mentioned iconic, Michigan cuisine. One of the items they mentioned was "Olive burgers", that is, hamburgers smothered with olives and then topped with melted Swiss cheese, and they pinned that culinary treasure to Lansing, Michigan.
Granted, many of our Greek and Balkan immigrants started restaurants, especially near the auto facories.
I thought "Doesn't every place serve those?" I never saw what the fuss was about. I am more of a Club Sandwich kind of guy. If a restaurant can ruin a Club Sandwich then it is not worth eating there.
If all goes well, I will be dining with my siblings at Harry's Place on Lansing's west-side some time in the next week. I guess I will have to order an olive-burger. My sense of taste evolved over time. As a kid I found cantaloupe repulsive. Now I enjoy them.
If they cover the patty with black olives that sounds pretty good. Green olives? No, not my thing.
ReplyDeleteOlympic broil in Lansing is known for olive burgers. It literally reminds me of the old snl skit with John Belushi - “cheeseburger Pepsi.”
ReplyDeleteHarry's Place was started in 1921 by Harry Andros, a Greek immigrant. It was right across the street from the Lansing Fisher Body factory.
DeleteBack in the day, factory workers lined up three-deep in front of the bar and multiple servers were filling orders for three servings of vegan, high carb gluten-free distillate followed with a Vitamin B rich chaser.
It is still being run by family and one of Harrina's daughters fills in as a waitress.
Olive burgers, mmm... Love me some green olives. When I was living on the west coast there was a burger drive in that some Greek folks had. That was my 1st experience with a olive burger. Very good.
ReplyDeleteChicago had several restaurants serving a green olive "olive burger", the most famous being the local chain "Boston Blackie's", but also seen at Greek-owned diners (most of which were in decline with the indoor smoking ban, then died out during COVID lockdowns).
ReplyDeleteChicago residents often credit the creation of the OB to MI.
If you want to try making one, main ingredient is chopped pimento olives, held together with mayonnaise, olive brine, lemon and a bit of mustard
Never heard of it. Coming from Rochester NY, we had the garbage plate.
ReplyDelete