Food & Grocery: Ann Arbor's Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger featured on Travel Channel

By Jessica Webster Community Content Coordinator

Posted on Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 10:52 a.m.

Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, 551 South Division St., Ann Arbor

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

Ann Arbor Travel Channel fans may have noticed a familiar burger griddle flash across their TV screens recently. Yep, after features on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and Man v. Food, Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger was acknowledged as one of the best burger joints in America on an episode of Hamburger Paradise.

Blimpy Burger owner Rich Magner is sanguine about it all. This kind of attention is expected for a restaurant that is routinely voted best burger in local media. The lines out the door and around the block on home game Saturdays is evidence enough that Blimpy Burger has credibility to spare.

"The biggest difference we've seen since it aired," said Magner, "is just that it reminds townies that we're still here."

The griddle at Blimpy Burger. There are rules about how to place your order, from whether to grab a tray (required if you are dining in) to when to indicate your cheese choice (only when they ask).

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

The filming for the show took place in the spring. Staff at the restaurant had to cover up the autographed Guy Fieri Diners Drive-Ins and Dives poster that graces the wall behind the counter, as Hamburger Paradise airs on a different channel.

To date, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives has had the biggest impact on Blimpy Burger's business.

"I did actually get some people, a few families, come in after they aired Hamburger Paradise. But Diners Drive-Ins and Dives has had the biggest effect," said Magner. "They aired that one back in 2008, but they just keep re-airing it. It always gets people in. They rerun the show, and then we'll get a flurry of phone calls right after it ends."

And it's not just locals. Magner says the restaurant is a magnet for people passing through town.

"A lot of people from Detroit, a whole lot people from Ohio. Sometimes they're just driving through. Sometimes they're here for the hospital or something."

A Blimpy Burger staff member prepares a "quint 5" for a customer - ten patties, or a full pound of ground beef.

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

And sometimes, they're just here for the burgers.

"Yeah, we've had people tell us they've come 500 miles or more for our burgers," said Magner, with a smile in his voice. "Five or six hours just specifically to come here."

Blimpy Burger staff has a reputation for being a little, say, impatient with customers who don't follow their strict ordering rules (don't tell them the cheese until they ask you for the cheese, for God's sake!). So when these shows bring in new customers, does Magner instruct his staff to maybe go a little easy on the Blimpy neophytes?

"The rules are there to expedite the line," explained Magner. "Not to be burger Nazis."