Anchor Bar goes national at fans will

Although the Food Network already featured several restaurants it filmed in the Northland last year, some folks at the Anchor Bar and Grill in Superior on Monday night said the show saved the best for last.

In a segment of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” titled “A Little Twisted,” the Anchor was featured for their extensive menu of hamburgers at an inexpensive price. Fans of the establishment crowded in to watch, eat and drink, although some specifically stayed away, thinking the restaurant would be too crowded, co-owner Adam Anderson said.

Greg Zrust of St. Paul just happened to be at the eatery for the show’s national television premiere while on his way to northern Minnesota. He said he ate a California burger with cheese and stayed to watch the restaurant’s five minutes of fame.

“It’s a miracle,” he said of the burger’s taste. “It’s great food at a great price,” he said.

He also said he made the detour into Wisconsin for the atmosphere.

“I like that it’s so authentic and not a chain,” he said.

Those sentiments were echoed on the show as they gave props to some of the most popular burgers, including one with olives and cream cheese. Host Guy Fieri emphasized the sheer numbers of people who wrote in to convey how much they love it.

“A bunch of Triple-D fans take us to their favorite burger place, that even they call a dive,” he said with a chuckle.

While that might not sound like such a good thing to some, Anderson said his father, Tom Anderson, who bought the bar in 1977, always referred to it that way.

“He was pretty modest,” he said.

“He never thought that this was anything extraordinary,” added Adam’s wife, Jennifer Anderson.

But Peter Gilliam of Woodbury, Minn., is one of the many who feels differently.

“I must have been here 20 times,” he said. “I’m hooked.”

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