Van's Bar & Grill
253 N. 3^rd Ave.
Sturgeon Bay
920-743-9339

OK, here we are in another bar, but testing out the cuisine for lunch! Really -we are, and we liked what we found. Step in, sit at the bar, and chat and eat.

Van's, owned by John and Steve Van Dreese, is a bar in downtown Sturgeon Bay, right next to the old Donna movie theater which now houses Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP). This bar is a wild place to be on the weekends, as we understand it. Very crowded, as we understand it: music, young folks and fun. There's a bar (of bourse), a dance floor in a back room, and a DJ booth -a happening place on the weekends. If you're into that, then check it out.

We were just here for a midweek lunch in mid-afternoon. The menu included burgers, (every way imaginable), a rib eye melt (interesting), a chicken Philly (that's a switch), a Swiss patty melt, grilled chicken breast, pork chop sandwich and more. You can also get homemade soups, choose from a variety of salads, and a whole bunch of other sides.

Sandy, the bartender there on Thursdays, took care of us. Our two reviewers ordered up a stuffed green pepper soup for one, and a cheddar baked potato soup for the other -just for starters. Very impressive! Think there's a stuffed green pepper in the stuffed green pepper soup? No - now way! It has everything in it that a stuffed green pepper would have and tastes exactly like it: meat, peppers, and veggies - the works. It was delicious - we were impressed. And the cheddar baked potato soup? Our reviewer rated it an 11 on a scale of 1 - 10. Great consistency, real bacon, great cheese. So far so good!

So we took another appetizer or side dish: sour cream and onion fries! Wow - who ever wants to eat another plain old French fry? Even have sour cream and onion potato chips? This duplicated the taste (but is even better) all on a French fry. Wow - very nice, and our side dish of fries was big enough to feed a small ship crew who might be pulling into the Sturgeon Bay canal. We literally ate a lot of them, and took two big Styrofoam containers with us when we left (well, the other reviewer took them - I lost out!).

As if this wasn't enough so far, we ordered a grilled pork chop sandwich (boneless, of course). Sandy set the plate down on the bar (she has been taking great care of us the whole time through and if she worked for us we'd give her a raise!). This was a huge sandwich, topped with grilled onion, 2 slices of ripe tomato, pickles, and more. And, as though we needed it, a huge stack of chips came with. When I put it all together, it was stacked up to about 4 inches! And it was very good too.

Our other reviewer ordered a "Northern Lights", which is a ham/turkey and real bacon sandwich, with 1000 Island dressing, with 2 cheeses on dark rye. His review: "Awesome!"After lunch, we chatted a few moments with John and told him we enjoyed our lunch, and that we'd be writing up a review for DoorCountyNavigator.com!

So, if you happen to be strolling down historic Sturgeon Bay's Third Avenue, and find yourself a bit hungry, stop in for a nice lunch at Van's. And if you're there on a Thursday, say "hi" to Sandy, and leave her a nice tip - she's terrific!