Miller’s Bar (Dearborn, MI)

Miller’s Bar

The last in my Michigan burger series…

After Cheeburger Cheeburger, I still felt like I could do better. Luckily, from my years of living in Michigan, I still knew of one place where I could find a seriously good burger: Miller’s Bar in Dearborn.

Miller’s Bar is the sort of place you have to hear about before going there, since from the outside (below right), it doesn’t really look much different from any of the other bars on Michigan Ave. It’s your basic neighborhood bar from the 1940s, with a fairly non-descript facade. Inside, it’s more of a post-WWII 40’s time capsule, with formica, copper, and a giant dominating bar.

But that’s not the attraction. The attraction is their burgers. And they don’t have a wide selection of burgers, just “hamburgers” and “cheeseburgers” (and, rounding out the entire food menu, fries and onion rings). For that matter, the beer selection is limited as well.

But by concentrating on doing a few things well, they’ve made one of the best burgers I’ve had. Cooked on a giant grill, and served up on a sheet of waxed paper with some onions on the side, the burger is everything that a good burger should be. Thick, with a nice crispy outside, juicy interior, and plenty of beef flavor.

Pros:

1. The burgers (both plain and cheese) are top-rate.

2. I love the simple menu.

3. They also work on the honor system. You order your food, and when you are done, you tell the bartender what you ordered.

Cons:

1. The beer selection always disappoints me.

2. Being one of the metro area’s most popular burger bars, the wait can be long.

All in all, every trip of mine to Detroit tries to squeeze in a trip to Miller’s (I don’t always manage to do it, however).