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SEPTEMBER 5 & 9, 2021
Father-son duo open burger company in Staples
Waitress Vicky Nitti brings drinks for customers Kristie Larsen, left, and Deb Wiese Wednesday, July 21, at Beck's Burger Co. in staples.
Photos by Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
By Jennifer Kraus Brainerd Dispatch STAPLES — Beck’s Burger Co. in Staples is not your typical bar and grill. The burger company doesn’t just serve any kind of hamburgers — it serves homegrown premium United States Department of Agriculture-approved beef raised on Mike Becker’s
land in Staples. Becker and his son Devin Becker purchased the building — which used to be leased by Twisted Sisters off Third Street Northeast in Staples — and Devin manages the burger company. Customers not only may get two juicy patty burgers in a toasted bun topped with anything they’d want — from a
Philly cheesesteak burger with “one big ole patty topped with a mushroom and onion blend, bacon, Beck’s sauce and Mike’s favorite American cheese” to a single patty burger topped with bacon to a cheese curd burger with Beck’s sauce. The options are endless. However, even though burger is in the bar
and restaurant’s name — it’s known for more than its burgers, such as its Asian menu Tuesdays when the place is packed day and night. Customers can build a bowl with their choice of fried rice or yakisoba noodles to include beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, Gochujang chicken, shrimp, potstickers, egg rolls or orange chick-
en. They have several sauces to pick from: sweet and sour, orange, Gochujang, Korean, barbecue, garlic teriyaki or peanut. They also make a few varieties of grilled chicken, such as their grilled chicken breast topped with bacon, tomato, lettuce and a creamy avocado poblano sauce.
And what makes Beck’s Burger Co.’s burgers so great? “We don’t hand patty, we scoop and smash, we do the smash burger,” said Tomasenalyn Lingenfelter, the kitchen manager. “So it gets a good caramelization on the
BECK'S: Page 27 BD Video brainerddispatch.com
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The demand continues to grow for accurate Also, longtime Dispatch photographer Steve news reporting and quality and entertaining stories Kohls placed second in the Best Photographer and photography during the changing times of division. media coverage. The Dispatch produces newsprint publications The Brainerd Dispatch has worked hard, on Wednesdays and Sundays and digital especially during the challenging past 18 months newspapers on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and of the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide accurate Friday. The Dispatch also features continuous and timely news coverage for its thousands of news updates on the brainerddispatch.com readers through many forms of media. And the website. readers have rewarded the Dispatch for its efforts The Dispatch has been responsible for covering by ranking the publication first place in the “Best our area since it was first published in 1881. The Newspaper” category among the almost dozen newspaper was a main source of local information, newspapers in a 60-mile radius of Brainerd. The and that continues today — although the news is Dispatch was the top pick of voters for the “2021 delivered in a variety of forms. The Dispatch began Best of” contest while the PineandLakes Echo to transition its news and advertising coverage to Journal finished second. a combination of print and online platforms with Two other Dispatch/Echo Journal publications were also honored as Her Voice finished second and Minnesota Home placed third in the Best Magazine division. Her Voice has been published 3-4 times annually since 2003 and features hundreds of stories about women making a difference in the lakes area.
the debut of the Dispatch website in 1996.
Dispatch staff members won three individual awards. Sports Editor Jeremy Millsop finished first while Chelsey Perkins was second for Best Writer/Journalist. Millsop joined the Dispatch as a sports reporter in 1999 and was promoted to sports editor in January of 2019. Perkins had worked for the Echo Journal before joining the Dispatch staff in 2014. She was promoted to community editor in 2017.
Today, the Dispatch has an annual audience of more than 22 million page views with 2.4 million users while many also read the Dispatch e-edition. The Dispatch also produces podcasts and has expanded its video coverage with breaking news and weekly features. The Dispatch is also active in social media like Twitter updates that link our stories to Facebook posts.
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1907 Fire destroys original building. Paper moves to South Sixth Street
1883
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In the early years, the Dispatch website offered news stories after the information had first appeared in print. But in the past 15 years, that strategy changed with the explosion for the demand of immediate breaking news from all age groups. Audiences wanted immediate updates Minnesota Home has been published annually on their computers or phones with the option of the past six years and focuses on new construction gaining deeper knowledge of news and events and remodeling trends in the area. when the newspaper arrived at their homes.
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June 16, 1883, City council votes Brainerd Dispatch as the city’s official newspaper
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Second South Sixth Street building Composing room at 215 South Sixth Street office in 1968
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