Our second stop on October 18th, Don’s birthday, was Mario’s Place for a Mexican supper and beer. Mario’s at 2505 Oregon Street sits at the point of a triangle formed by Oregon Street and Hughes Street. The outside sign and lights are red, green and white—Mexico’s flag colors.
Mario's with its Green Mexican Touches
The six of us nearly filled the small barroom with its red leather cushion along the 20 foot bar and comfy black leather bar stools. Behind the bar at the west end was a huge projection TV, and a Leinekugel’s clock. The bar had four taps. And the barroom had lots of Halloween decorations. It was October 18th, Halloween was barely two weeks away. We met owner Cindy and her daughter Miranda.
Daughter and Mom
Cindy knew a lot of the history of this place. The business, according to her, was established in 1910. In 1926 a fire destroyed most of the building. It was quickly rebuilt and the six dark wood booths in the restaurant portion of the building are survivors of that fire.
She also said that the place was a tavern and gas station after it was rebuilt. Packers’ Pub and Robbins Supper Club also began as gas stations and tavern / store / restaurant. Marv and I think when we moved to Oshkosh in 1966 that the gas station was still part of the tavern at 2505 Oregon Street. We think the present barroom was probably the office of the gas station where one paid probably less than thirty cents a gallon for gas and got the windshield washed, the oil and tires checked for free.
We wondered also that if it had been a tavern since 1910, what was it during Prohibition? And what caused the fire? Miranda wasn’t sure; then she led us to a table for six in the restaurant portion. Here were the six booths that had survived the fire. Each was lit by an Old Style lamp feigning to be Tiffany’s. Corona beer banners hung across the ceiling here as well as in the bar. The special of the night was a whiskey BBQ burger. We ordered beers and studied the menu. We tried Dos Equis and Don did a pretty good imitation of the actor in the Dos Equis ads. “The Most Interesting Man in the World” says, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty, my friends.”
Original wood booths
Despite the tempting special, Marv, Gary, Elaine and I ordered quesadillas. Don and Judy chose the “wet burritos.” Gary repeated a story he had heard from a farmer friend about German POW’s during WWII. The farmer worked with German POWs, and told Gary and Elaine the story about Rumlow’s Tavern (Gary thinks this was a former name for Mario’s). The farmers would take the Germans by truck from the farms where they were working to their barracks south of town and stop at Rumlow’s for beer. The owner would not allow the POW’s into the tavern (we were at war with Germany) and the farmers would then order the beers and take them outside. The Germans worked in agriculture. Some of the prisoners, who were repatriated after the war, came to visit in later years, and some of them brought their families. It must have been a bittersweet trip for everyone involved when that happened. Gary added one more bit: one of the local crops was hemp. Haven’t we just heard that farmers would like to raise hemp again?
Gary’s story led to more stories about German POW’s. Marv told of German POWs in his part of Illinois who helped out at the local canning factory. He recalled hearing them singing Lili Marlene in the evenings. Now, how many of you readers of this blog can say you’ve heard Marlene Dietrich or Vera Lynn sing that song: “Underneath the lantern, by the barrack gates standing all alone, each night you see her wait….my lily of the lamplight…” It was popular with both German and allied soldiers. One of our faithful blog followers tells us that someone wrote a book about the many German POW camps in Wisconsin. I looked it up on Amazon and here it is: Stalag Wisconsin: Inside WWII Prisoner of War Camps by Betty Cowley. The book came out on January 24, 2002.
This Guy's Waited a Long Time for his Beer
As usual Marv checked the men’s room and mentioned two “works of art”: a small painting of a desert sunset painted on black velvet and a print of a “big-bosomed Hottie” (his words) with a gun entitled “Viva mi Raza.” Wonder if she has a concealed carry permit tucked in her bulging bra ?
Don Blows Out the Birthday Candle
“Would you like dessert?” Our waitress asked. The food had been plentiful and good and we knew there was a birthday dessert awaiting us at Don and Judy’s. But while we hesitated and considered dessert, she placed a “birthday dessert” in front of Don. A generous scoop of fried ice cream decorated with rosettes of whipped cream, a maraschino cherry and one tiny candle. Don puckered up and blew it out as we sang “Happy Birthday.”
We’d finished dinner and peeked into the private dining room, wandered back to the barroom to say our goodnights. On the way out the side door, we stopped at “Mario’s Challenge Hall of Fame” poster to see who held the monthly record for Taco eating at one sitting. The poster is a large calendar showing pictures and taco eating stats of past winners. Monthly winners get a free T-shirt reading “I Ate the Taco”. The current record is 24. Anyone out there think they can do better?
Wouldn't Your Name and Picture Look Good Here?
