LAKE BLOOMINGTON - A restaurant owner in Bloomington was being interviewed a few years ago, and the reporter paraphrased:

"Fresh burgers … will be modeled after their (the owners') favorite area burgers - the ones at Green Gables near Lake Bloomington."

The verdict on the burgers at Green Gables usually comes down to this: great or greatest.

It's one of the great joys of life to know that you can travel the world over and a burger isn't going to be much better - or any better - than the $3.10 cheeseburger you hold in your hand in this unassuming stop outside Lake Bloomington.

Good beef is involved. It's a lean 80-20 mix.

But evidently, it is the most basic recipe for success imaginable. The taste is all about the old iron grill behind the bar.

Sandy Holder owns Green Gables with her husband, Mike. She revealed that nothing is done to the beef beyond placing it on the grill. No seasonings, not even salt and pepper, are added, she said.

It's the natural meat seasoning that sticks to this grill, where no germs survive but a sizzling flavor is emitted.

Sandy Holder said, "I can take this meat home and it doesn't taste as good."

A friend and I discussed the lore over a burger on a recent night. As the story goes, decades ago a new employee scraped the grill clean, down to the metal. He was chastised, and the burgers lost their flavor for months.

Asked, the man who multitasked as barkeep, waiter and cashier that night told us he was that very employee.

We'll take him on his word, but you can't say the same for the history of the business that is printed on the menu. This version explains that Green Gables opened in the early 20th century and became wildly popular, prompting the City of Bloomington to build Lake Bloomington to supply the customers. With the staying power of that popularity, the city then built Evergreen Lake for the patrons, the official history says.

The structure actually was built as a gas station and general store in 1929. Sandy's father, the late Ross Elvidge, opened Green Gables in 1952.

The gas pumps are gone but a grocery store remains, consuming about half of the building and offering food, drink, general merchandise and bait for Hudson and Lake Bloomington residents and visitors.

More on menu

Green Gables is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast is the standard line of egg dishes. Beyond burgers, the butterfly pork chop sandwich is a favorite, as is the grilled chicken. Italian beef, barbecue and tenderloins also are among menu items. The fried cheese balls are a favorite side dish.

Drinks

It's a beer bar - bottles. Only Bud is on tap.

Getting there

Take Exit 8 off Interstate 39 and head toward Lake Bloomington. You'll come to an intersection with a green wood-sided building on the right and another road bar-restaurant on the left. Green Gables is the green building on the right.

Lake Road Inn is the spot on the left, and it merits discussion in this column at a future date. The establishments are a 15-mile drive from the middle of Bloomington.

Bring cash

No credit cards accepted at Green Gables. You'll need cash but not much. The $3.89 butterfly pork chop sandwich is the priciest menu item. Lake Road has an ATM if you only have plastic.

Hours

Kitchen hours: Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 8 p.m. on Sunday. The bar can stay open later if there are customers, but usually closes by 10 on Sunday night.

Access

That's a problem. The bathrooms are very narrow, built in an era when builders didn't consider people with disabilities.