Baumgartner Cheese Store & Tavern

Baumgartner's has been in business since 1931, selling cheese, beer, sausage, flasks of hard stuff, etc., from a counter in the front of the building and operating the tavern in back. The tall ceiling is covered with dollar bills -- it'll cost you a buck to find out how they got there, we're not telling -- and the walls include mounted animal heads, breweriana and signs of the area's Swiss heritage (a Baumgartner played on the 1996 Swiss handball team).

There's a map of Switzerland with information and shields of all the cantons. Just below and to the right is a giant black-and-white photo of workers in a cheese factory where giant wheels of cheese were once produced. Only one "factory," a small family operation, really, still makes the big wheels. It's located just a few miles north. The only cheesemaker in the United States still producing Limburger cheese is on the same road.

A cheese sandwich at Baumgartner's will run you $2-$2.25 (the Limburger sandwich comes with a breath mint); turkey, ham, etc., cost $3-$3.25. You have your choice of rye, rye and rye. A small cheese platter (a variety of cheese and sausages) is $4.50, a large $8.50. "Second-best chili" is $2 a cup, $2.50 a bowl.

The four regular taps are dedicated to Huber Brewing Co. products (the place is owned by a Huber and the brewery is literally right around the corner) while a portable tap sometimes pours a Huber seasonal (perhaps a Berghoff beer). You also may be able to get a New Glarus Brewing Co. beer, brewed all of 10 miles away. New Glarus and Gray Brewing Co. beers (from nearby Janesville) are available in bottles, along with variety of German beers. Our choice is easy here: the Huber Bock is $1.45 for 16 ounces. Quite simply, one of the best beer buys in America.