By Patricia Summerfield
September 8, 2009
Since the Packer football season is officially in progress it put me in the mood to dine at Curly's Pub in the Packer's own Lambeau Field which is located in Ashwaubenon on the Western border of Green Bay. Curly's is named in honor of Pro Football Hall of famer, Earl "Curly" Lambeau who co-founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919 and spent the next 30 years of his life as a Green Bay Packer player and coach. People from all over the country come to tour Lambeau Field and to dine at Curly's. There is a pub / dining side and just a dining side to the restaurant; I decided to eat in the pub/dining side. Curly's interior contains a huge bar, a wall of massive picture windows overlooking the Packer's parking lot, 36 flat screen TVs and 8 out in front of the hallway – just the ones I counted in the bar / dining area. The restaurant has a lot of detail with wood and ceramic tile flooring, black iron arches, many wonderful restored era pictures of the Packers from their beginnings, pool tables with a large letter G on top, and adjacent is an enclosed large game room with some unique games for adults and children. The young children looked like they were having a blast.
The booths were large and comfortable and available on all the tables were a variety of condiments. My server was very friendly and knowledgeable and checked back frequently. I ordered a tap beer and it was served to me in a nice large frosted glass, beer tastes so much better when it is icy cold. They also offer a unique and separate menu which features daily what the Packer players ate that day and the nutritious value for them. I also noticed that on the main menu they offer nice alternative choices such as healthy salads, a couple of vegetarian items, grilled chicken breast substitutions for any of the burgers, and the Vegetarian Burger is served with carrot and celery sticks in place of French fries. I was in the mood for some comfort food so I ordered a starter of the Hall of Fame Cheese Curds, a Curly signature item for $8.00, and the Post Season Patty Melt for $9.00 with your choice of French fries or coleslaw, I chose the coleslaw. For dessert I ordered the Bavarian apple Pie for $7.00 ala mode for $l.00 extra. 
The cheese curds were brought out in a cute silver metal bucket lined with paper. They were fresh, hand-breaded, cooked so the outsides were lightly browned; they tasted scrumptious especially with the marina sauce served on the side, a great combination. The food runner brought out my order. My patty melt was a half-pound burger with grilled onions, Swiss cheese on grilled Texas toast with the coleslaw and a pickle spear on the side. The quality of the beef was delicious, full of flavor, and done just right, the fried onions were a little on the skimpy side and the sandwich tasted toasted and not grilled. My coleslaw sauce had a nice fresh flavor but the texture of the cabbage was chewy; it was also warm and my plate was hot to touch, it must have been sitting under the heat lamps for a while. There was not much presentation on the plate, not even a piece of parsley to jazz it up.
My server automatically brought me extra napkins and asked if I needed anything else at the time. Next came my dessert, the Bavarian Apple Pie had caramelized apple slices with a rich layer of Bavarian custard in a graham cracker crust. The pie portion was modest and the apples tasted pre-packaged, a little rubbery. It was heavy on the caramel sauce and was extremely sweet and sugary, I could barely taste the custard. When you dine at Curly's in Green Bay's Lambeau Field you will get a great sense of Packer history and pride with a fun atmosphere.
