The legacy of George Webb and free burgers in Milwaukee

Legend has it George Webb first predicted Milwaukee’s baseball team would win 12 games in a row back in the 1940s – and maybe even hinted that his namesake restaurant would give out free hamburgers to celebrate the winning streak.

Decades passed before his prophecy came true, but in April 1987, the Milwaukee Brewers finally pulled off the feat – and some 168,194 people lined up outside George Webb Restaurants for free burgers. It’s hard to describe how big of a deal it was to those who didn’t experience it firsthand, but trust us, there are few things us frugal Wisconsinites love more than free stuff. Combine that with baseball and burgers, and it basically felt like a street festival.

While most people ate their free burgers, some decided to save the historic freebies for posterity. One man even had his bronzed for his father. Others threw theirs in basement freezers, only to find them decades later. (This reporter would like to apologize to her older brother, Paul, for throwing out his 20-year-old frozen burger instead of bronzing it.)

The Brewers did it again in 2018, and for only the second time in Milwaukee history people lined up to celebrate and claim their free burgers.

Even when it’s not promising free burgers, George Webb is a beloved burger joint open 24 hours a day. Still, any long Brewers winning streak definitely starts to feel like a free-burger watch party.