Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q - Best Hamburgers in the World!

Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q
Best Hamburgers in the World!
July 2004 Update: Many New Pictures


Mickey Lu's Famous Roof Sign	Front Left View of Mickey Lu's

Front Door view of Mickey Lu's	What you see coming from South 41

Owner Chuck Finnessy remembered me right away!	Owner Chuck cooking the famous burgers

Our Burgers being grilled over hot charcoal	My current record: 6 Full Sized Burgers in one sitting

My Current Record: 6 Empty Burger Wrappers!	Happy Customers busy eating

Here is what a burger looks like with the melted butter flowing out	Here is what a burger consists of
When you order your burger with "The Works", here is what you get: All sandwiches are served on warm Zemal hard rolls with your choice of catsup, onion, pickles and.....our pat of butter. Sharp mustard on request.

You can even get Old Fashioned Malts	The 1959 Jukebox at Mickey Lu's
The owner proudly pointed to their 1959 jukebox and said he hoped by the time I come back again, they would have the jukebox controllers on the counters working again. This jukebox was loaded with 45 records and the patrons played music non-stop as they ate their food.

Our Bill for all that food!
OK, here's the scoop this time. We took a trip to Minnesota to visit with some relatives in June. We could drive through Chicago and take the southern route or we could take the northern route through the northern Michigan forests and then cross the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula and travel all the way across to Marinette, Wisconsin to stay overnight...and...EAT AT MICKEY-LU'S-BBQ! The 5 mile long suspension bridge is shown below.

Once you cross the Mackinac bridge, it takes you another six hours to drive to Marinette, Wisconsin. For me, the drive is worth it once I sink my teeth into six of those burgers. Yes, I said six. These are not White Castle three bite burgers. These are full sized burgers so eating six is quite an accomplishment. You can read more below about other times I visited Mickey-Lu's.

Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q; The best hamburgers in the world! (12 Kb)

Your's Truly and Chuck Finnessy (right) - The Owner of Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q
Photo by J. Loose

How to get there once you find Marinette, Wisconsin

Map showing Wisconsin & Michigan

Hot Update! The Outhouse Classic Outhouse Races were held at the end of February 2003 and guess who went? Me!!! My partner in crime (whose name shall remain anonymous) went with me to take pictures of the race while I took video. We drove up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Escanaba on Friday night and decided to drive all the way down to Marinette, WI for burgers at Mickey-Lu's. We drove through HEAVY snow to get there but it was worth it. The cook recognized me and they took real good care of us. The prices are still very inexpensive, the malts are great and the burgers are, well, out of this world! Still!! I did not break my record of 7 burgers and 1 brat last year. I could only eat 6 burgers this year but even though the cook and waitresses kind of looked funny at me, they understood. We said our good-bye's and took off again. Just out of Marinette, we hit the heavy snow again. Just before Escanaba, the snow stopped. To read about this year's outhouse races, you'll have to check out the tour. Photo's from all the races are located on the Outhouses of America tour. The link is at the top of this page. Thanks for visiting.
Ok. Find your way to a United States of America map. Turn to the page which shows the state of Wisconsin (known for their cheese, Green Bay Packers and the brewing of beer. Look on the upper right hand side of the state and notice where Lake Michigan comes in contact with that area of Wisconsin. The city of Marinette, Wisconsin is located at the border of Michigan and is right across the way from Menominee, Michigan.

Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q
1710 Marinette Ave
Marinette, WI 54143-3709
Phone: (715)735-7721

Question: Ok, you say. What's the catch here? Why the information about this place?

Answer: They make the best hamburgers in the world here and have been for over 30 years. The prices are still the most reasonable you will find.

2004 Update on the Prices: See the picture below for the current prices. They have only gone up a bit from July 2000 and therefore, they are the best bargain in the area.

As of July 2000, a sample of the prices are as follows:
Single Hamburger $1.20
Double Hamburger $2.10
Cheeseburger $1.35
Double Cheeseburger $2.40
Single Bratwurst $1.45
Double Bratwurst $2.40
Hot Dog $1.25
Double Hot Dog $2.10
Cube Steak $1.50
Broiled Ham $1.45
Fried Egg $1.15
Grilled Cheese $1.15
8 oz. glass of Soda $ .40
12 oz. glass of Soda $ .50
12 oz. Malted Milk shake $1.75
Coffee $.75
Decaf Coffee $.75
Tea $.45
Milk $.55 and $.75
Hot Chocolate $ .55
Ice Cream Sundae $1.00 and $1.20

As of July 1998, a sample of the prices are as follows:
Single Hamburger $1.10
Double Hamburger $1.90
Cheeseburger $1.25
Double Cheeseburger $2.20
Single Bratwurst $1.35
Double Bratwurst $2.20
9 oz. glass of Soda $ .40
12 oz. glass of Soda $ .50
12 oz. Malted Milk shake $1.50

  Define "best hamburgers" will you?
  My definition of a great hamburger is one that is prepared fresh daily from fresh ingredients. But really, it's more than that. Here is how a Mickey-Lu hamburger is prepared:
  You start with hot charcoal. That's right; everything cooked here is cooked over fresh, hot charcoal. The meat is fresh and I have never found any pieces of bone or gristle which I have found at many other restaurants. Near the time the meat is completely cooked, a fresh bakery roll is cut in half and placed on the grill to warm up. The hamburger is then placed inside the bun on the grill and cooked some more. Next the hamburger is scooped up and a patty of real butter is placed on the meat along with fresh onions, pickle and anything else you want. It is then placed inside thin paper and delivered to your table by a friendly person. In my case, they delivered six (6), yes, I said 6 hamburgers to our table. They are so good, I eat them until I can't eat any more, not to mention the fact that I only get there once every few months. Well, there you have it. You must try this place out and see for yourself. You too will discover the best hamburgers in the world. Oh, yes, did I mention they also have the best Bratwurst too? They do!

  From time to time I get some pretty good comments from visitors. The following comments are visitor's memories of Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q.
  Thank you for the homage to the best burgers in the world.
  I probably would not be on this earth if not for Mickey Lu's. One day during "The War", my Grandpa was home on leave from training and met a cute waitress working at Mickey Lu's. He was bold enough to ask her out on a date and that's how my Grandparents met!
  Now that Grandpa is gone, I take the time to visit Mickey Lu's (and usually with Grandma) every time I go up to Marinette.

  How ultimately strange that Mickey-Lu would be anywhere on the web. Attached is a picture that you might find interesting. My wife and I were on a lighthouse trip (just lesiurly checking out lighthouses around our home state of Michigan) and decided to wonder down to Door County, WI, since I knew there were a few there, and we had time. Along the way into the penninsula that the county is in, we found (and days later) bought a 1953 Cadillac Fleetwood from a farmer. On the way back, we just *had* to stop at the Mickey-Lu, since it's looks and *our* Caddy were a perfect fit.
  The food at MLBBQ is indeed great. I ended up eating four hamburgers, and look forward to driving the Caddy back that way this summer.
  Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy this picture, since it ties in with your site. Feel free to use it if you like on the Mickey-Lu page. (Do not include my email address though, for spam reasons. Thanks!)

I am a former Marinette native & have often eaten at Mickey Lu's Bar B Q. I just got my computer going again & was checking out Marinette sites. Saw this one & couldn't believe it, had to check it out. As I read about it my mouth started watering & I could actually taste a hamburger! God I do miss them & you're right they are the best in the world! Send me some!!! One time in the 60's a friend & I rode our horses there & tied them in the back by the big tanks. I had a large white German Shepherd with, put her on a lead & took her in with us. We sat by the south wall, she was under the table. Since all the help was busy at the time they didn't see her come in. They never knew she was there, I am not sure if they saw her leave or not. Well what the heck, she had gotten loose at home which was several miles away, & caught up to us & we weren't going all the way back when we were headed to Mickey Lu's & once there you could bet we were going in!

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