The original Fritz's Railroad Restaurant -- a combination 1950s diner, burger joint, and Rube Goldberg-style mechanical creation -- has lots more character than the newer, more antiseptic version at Crown Center. At both places you order your burgers or chili or pie by phone and it arrives a few minutes later in a cardboard box via the Skat Kat system, a tooting train on elevated tracks that drops the box off at a hydraulic lift, which lowers it down to your table. But the old place has more pizzazz. Fritz's burgers, such as the Kitchen Sink or the Freddie Burger, all have style, but it's the Gen-Dare Burger that really scores: a perfectly grilled beef patty topped with a pile of crunchy hash browns, fragrant grilled onions, melted American cheese, and pickles.
