Woodhouse Bingo

The location is nearly perfect – halfway between the hospitals and the Interstate. The Woodhouse is one of the classic family hamburger joints. You come in, seat yourself in a booth and then you pick up a phone and call the kitchen to order your meal.

My family loves the place. The owner and his family also own their own butcher shop so the ground beef is made fresh daily. The only spices on their hamburgers are salt and pepper – you don’t get much more American than that.

Other menu favorites are a jumbo platter of onion rings – best in town. A bowl of ham and bacon soup is also a must. If you are tired of burgers, order some broasted chicken. For dessert, they sell all kinds of pies. And if you don’t want to drink water or a soda, they serve thick milk shakes.

Yeah, a meal at the Woodhouse is like stepping back into time…certainly the 1960s, maybe even the 1950s.

People who live in Mandan and Bismarck like to eat there at lunch because it’s about a stone’s throw away from the North Dakota capitol, which is circled by numerous association buildings, including the one I work in.

But the real customer base of the Woodhouse is the elderly who come to Bismarck for their medical, dental and optical needs. In the fall, you will see people from all the small towns. On their jackets are the names of cattle ranches, volunteer fire departments, bars, businesses, etc. And under all of those logos are the names of the towns where these people live.

From the north and west of Bismarck are Washburn, Center, Hazen and Beulah. To the west and south are New Salem, Glen Ullin, Carson and Elgin. To the east and south are Wing, Sterling, Menoken, Hazelton and Linton.

Actually, this is only a small list of the towns, but they are a good representation of the names you will see on the various jackets as the elderly couples come into the Woodhouse. They have seen their doctors, got their teeth cleaned at the dentists and have had their annual eye exam, so before they leave town, they might as well have the best burger, onion rings and milk shake in Bismarck before they head home.

So, my idea is simple. When you walk into the Woodhouse, you could pick up a bingo card. But instead of numbers, there would be five rows of randomly chosen towns listed in each row. Then you’d sit down in your booth, order your food, enjoy it and watch for the out-of-towners. When you saw someone wearing a jacket with “Cannonball” on it, you would look on your card for the town of Cannonball. If you had it, you would circle it. This would continue until someone had five correct towns either vertically or horizontally on your card.

If you win, you would holler “Bingo” and you’d get a free bacon cheeseburger. I think Woodhouse Bingo would add to the allure of this well-known restaurant.