R.T. Weiler's: Bison, Beer, And Dog Bowls

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R.T. Weiler’s has filled the guts of hungry patrons along Main Street St. Charles for years, but in our case, we just happened to stumble into the place during a moment of vulnerability. The pop-in-law was in town recently, and during our obligatory stroll down Main Street, we found ourselves famished and our restaurant selection especially limited with our pooch in tow.  Desperate for culinary sustenance and not really wanting to resort to eating our furry friend (though I’m pretty sure the thought crossed my father-in-law’s mind…he had that “Hey why don’t we just eat your dog” look in his eyes,) we headed to R.T. Weiler’s on the advice of a few street walkers. ‘Twas a good call!

After parking ourselves in the outdoor dining area (no dogs inside…c’mon ya gotta follow health codes,) our server promptly brought out a dog bowl of ice water for Fletcher.  After downing a cold InBev Light and browsing a massive menu laden with Irish (albeit Americanized-Irish) favorites, we decided on a bison burger.  For those of you who haven’t made the switch to bison, man (or woman) up and give it a shot.  It’s incredibly similar to beef, but about 80% leaner.  Also, not only does it save your waistline, but you get more bang for your buck out of bison.  Since most menus list their burger weights precooked, beef usually shrinks significantly during cooking as the fat melts.  So a ½ pound beef patty ends up being a bite-sized snack.  Not the case with bison…it’s lean and retains size well, so this one filled the plate nicely.

Yes, they're hairy, but they're also quite tasty!

Feeling a bit frisky, we kicked in a buck to sub our fries for onion rings and, pardon the tangent, but holy Vidalias were these things massive!  I’m talking, the cook got lazy and just dropped a whole onion in the fryer massive!  A healthy (well probably unhealthy) smearing with beer batter puts these things on my list of items with which I’d like to procreate (move over Catherine Bell.)  Seriously, if it’s physically possible to have these onion rings’ babies, I will do it in a heartbeat…I have several calls into surgeons, so I’ll let you know.

These are the onion rings that God eats...I asked.

I’m trying to find something less-than-flattering to say about this place to balance out the review, but it’s tough.  The beer’s cold and cheap, the Main Street setting can’t be beat, and the food’s exceptional and fairly-priced.  Our bison burgers came topped with bleu cheese (an optional add-on) and were cooked perfectly medium.  If you’re looking for starched linens and a cigar and brandy room, this isn’t your place…though they DO have vinyl tablecloths and ashtrays available outside if you’re so inclined. No, this is more of a throw-some-darts-and-gnaw-on-a-massive-hunk-of-meat place (PETA, stay away.)  Though they had to roll me out in a wheelbarrow (for a lanky white boy, I can pack it away.) I’ll be back. Here’s their info. If you want to tag along.