When AJ Bombers opened 16 years ago, nobody here was putting peanut butter on a burger. At least not with any regularity. Bombers named their peanut butter (bacon and American cheese) burger The Barrie. It’s a fixture of their menu and runs as a daily special – with tots or fries and a Busch Light – for $12.
From its opening to well into the 2010s, Bombers was to Sobelman’s what Muhammad Ali was to Joe Frazier. The two restaurants parlayed that tension into local fame following their appearance on “Food Wars,” a popular Travel Channel show, in 2010. Bombers won the burger war on the show, but that didn’t put the rivalry to rest.
I feel a little conflicted about AJ Bombers closing – and that day is Nov. 20.
All this month, Bombers is celebrating its impending demise with various dine-in menu specials. Every day in October, you can order Bomber Burger Returns, with fries or tots, for $13.50. That creation is topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, Bombers sauce and a crispy Portobello mushroom stuffed with Wisconsin cheddar and Muenster cheeses.
On Thursdays, the Classic AJ Single burger is $4.95. And on Monday, Oct. 13, Bombers will celebrate its Food Wars Anniversary – Oct. 13, 2010, was the date the episode aired – with perhaps its fitting special: the Milwaukee Burger (1/4-pound beef patty with smoked bacon, Wisconsin Colby cheese, and Schlitz onions) for $7.50. Two bucks extra will get you an order of fries.
One of the restaurant’s other claims to fame was its peanut bombs – a system of chutes along the ceiling that shot peanuts from behind the bar area out to the diners’ tables. And fans ate it up.
In addition to the aforementioned specials, Bombers plans a farewell celebration on Nov. 20.
