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 chicken. 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

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By Pete Mohs, Publisher

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The Brainerd Dispatch has worked hard, especially during the challenging past 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide accurate and timely news coverage for its thousands of readers through many forms of media. And the readers have rewarded the Dispatch for its efforts by ranking the publication first place in the “Best Newspaper” category among the almost dozen newspapers in a 60-mile radius of Brainerd. The Dispatch was the top pick of voters for the “2021 Best of” contest while the PineandLakes Echo Journal finished second.

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.

Minnesota Home has been published annually the past six years and focuses on new construction and remodeling trends in the area.

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Also, longtime Dispatch photographer Steve Kohls placed second in the Best Photographer division.

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The Dispatch has been responsible for covering our area since it was first published in 1881. The newspaper was a main source of local information, and that continues today — although the news is delivered in a variety of forms. The Dispatch began to transition its news and advertising coverage to a combination of print and online platforms with the debut of the Dispatch website in 1996.

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 on their computers or phones with the option of gaining deeper knowledge of news and events when the newspaper arrived at their homes.

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THIS WAS THE

We’ve never missed a publication date. EVER.

1881 First edition: Dec. 22, 1881 (weekly)

1907 1907 Fire destroys original building.

Paper moves to

South Sixth Street June 16, 1883, City council votes Brainerd Dispatch as the city’s official newspaper

Earliest microfilm issue: Vol II No. 33, published on Aug. 2, 1883

Second South Sixth Street building

1990

First South Sixth Street Home shown in the early 1920s

1968

Composing room at 215 South Sixth Street office in 1968

1990- The Brainerd Dispatch moves to 506 James St.

2001

Brainerd Dispatch begins engaging socially on the web by creating forums, chat rooms and personals/dating pages

2010s

2010s- Brainerd Dispatch gets a Facebook page and a Twitter feed

1996- The Brainerd Dispatch becomes available on the Internet

2020

2020- Brainerd Dispatch switches to 2 days per week print publication. The Dispatch still publishes digital E-edition newspapers six days a week.