As I pulled up to the 2510 Restaurant, nestled in the shadow of the interchange for US Highways 51 and 29, on the north end of Wausau, Wisconsin I was filled with anticipation.  Maria and I walked into a festive Christmas atmosphere and strode past the giant checkers set in the waiting area of the restaurant to take our seats at the small horseshoe shaped bar. They have an extensive bakery list but we were more interested in the brief escape from the northwoods winter they provided with their $3 Mai Tai special.

The main objective of our visit was to devour their deep fried cheese curds which we found to be displayed in a prime position on their menu.  There wasn’t a picture to accompany the enticing description but they did boast of a secret recipe and offer three different varieties; original, beer battered and garlic.  Our bartender talked us into trying the sampler option to get a taste of each.

As we sat in anticipation of our bounty we enjoyed our drinks and watched the Milwaukee Bucks clobber the Celtics in Boston.  Our wait was a short one and as soon as we glimpsed the plateful, split into three cups to avoid cross contamination of flavors, it was clear that the price of $8.99 was a bargain.  The presentation was simple, without a garnish, and they were served with a side of ranch that had a faint greenish tint which we were told was to distinguish it from their blue cheese dressing.

The cheese curds themselves varying in size but fairly uniform in their cylindrical shape.  The batter was light and left no greasy residue on your fingers, accenting the cheese nicely but adding little in terms of crunch and overall structure.  The beer battered curds were the most traditional, golden brown in color with a savory yeasty-ness that meshed well with the salty white cheese inside.  Next I tried the original which turned out to be my favorite. These were closer to white in color and had a sharpness that I found enjoyable. The difference between these and their beer battered counterparts seemed to be that the tang of the cheese was the star and the batter a willing side kick.  Last, but not least, were the garlic cheese curds.

They were similar in color to the original with green flecks embedded within the breading. This was the first time I had eaten curds like this and they were truly delightful – tasting remarkably like cheesy garlic bread – a great way to round out the trio.  They were delicious but don’t get the nod as my top choice on this night because their unique flavor momentarily made me forget I was even eating cheese curds.

 

Overall, the entire experience was excellent.  I had two minor quibbles; the batter lacked texture and they were a little bit on the salty side, but they provide a generous portion of high quality batter fried cheese curds. Also, bonus points for the variety of fantastic flavors.  

I would highly recommend the 2510 Restaurant, rating it 4.4 curds out of 5.0

 

 

Cheesy Fact of the Day:

According to a study, conducted by the Center of Retail Research, cheese is the most commonly stolen food in the world.  Retailers can classify it as a “high-risk” since roughly 4% of all cheese ends up being shoplifted.

 

 

What’s O-curd to Me:

Going forward I will use this space to brain barf half-baked ideas, serve up hot takes, share stories and various other forms of nonsense.  But today I want to explain what you can expect from this site as a whole and why I’m so excited about it.

I have long been a devout worshipper of my lord and savior, the deep fried cheese curd.  Now that the internet has reached Wisconsin my mission is to spread the golden brown gospel from America’s Dairyland to the rest of the globe.  My hope is to turn milk into beer battered cheddar and amass a group of faithful dairy disciples.

My wife Maria – who is a lovely, kind-hearted and funny person – has had to sit next to me, horror struck, as I’ve stuffed my face with fried cheese at more establishments than either of us can remember.  I consider myself to be an enthusiast, but when she asked me who makes my favorite cheese curds I wasn’t able to come up with a definitive answer. This blog is my excuse to chase that all-important truth.

I will be indulging in curds and evaluating them in a pseudo scientific manner to determine my favorite.  I’m going to follow my watering mouth, and your suggestions, from place to place. Even if it means I end up chowing down in Nebraska dressed like Guy Fieri, I intend to see this through.

Cheese curds make me happy and I’ll have fun doing this, my goal is for you to get a laugh or positive experience out of it as well.  Come for the curd analysis, stay for the cheesy puns and a chance to dunk on me by finding grammatical errors littered so frequently throughout my posts that you could put up an “Adopt a Highway” sign.

I’ll be posting at intervals as unpredictable as the shape of any given curd but you can stay updated by following @curd_consumer on Twitter or like Chasing the Cheese Curd on Facebook (you can also leave a suggestion, question or insult on this site’s contact form if it fries your cheese).  Additionally, you can expect to find cheese news, my curd rankings and many other nuggets on the home page.