BAIR DRUG HAS REOPENED AS BAIR BISTRO >>>

The hamburger is simple. The hamburger is the girl next door, the one I grew up with in the Lakewood neighborhood of Oakbrook. Between us there is no drama, no distance, no complexity. We're good together because we know each other inside and out. The hamburger is my heart and soul.

Standing outside The Bair Drug & Hardware Store in Steilacoom today - now called Bair Bistro - I was thinking about hamburgers: about great ones and poor ones, and the places I've had them. Lost in my own internal reverie, I didn't notice I was in the middle of a pack of - for lack of a better word - old ladies. They were chatting reverishly about why they love The Bair Drug & Hardware Store that Sarah Cannon of Fircrest reopened last month, after it had been dark more than two years. Clutching their purses tight, they agreed that no matter how many loft developments get thrown up, no matter how many wine bars or architectural studios are crammed into the old blocks, that Bair is Pierce County's historical tenderloin. If alive, pharmacist W.L. Bair and his wife, Hattie, no doubt would be proud to hear such a statement 115 years after they opened it.

I, too, have found memories of Bair - having sipped many a milkshake there since the '70s.

I also have a new Bair memory - The Bair Burger ($9.99). It's good. It's not the best burger in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but the Bair itself is a great spot to eat one - a perfect wedding of food and place. When I asked for my burger bloody rare, the Bair kitchen did it right. My waitress didn't even cluck her tongue at me, and I didn't receive a food-safety lecture on the hazards of eating under-cooked beef. More important, no one told me I couldn't have it rare - as has been happening more often lately in restaurants. It seems many owners are terrified of a customer suing them because they picked up spongiform encephalopathy or some kind of carnivorous intestinal fluke from eating a hamburger done less than Branch Davidians-well-done. It's sad.

Lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles and mayo joined the rare treat, all nestled inside a Kaiser roll.

Tasty, indeed.

Bair Bistro swings open the antique doors 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday from breakfast, lunch, espresso and soda fountain fare.

Breakfast consists of scrambles, omelets, fancy egg dishes such a Benedict and Florentine, as well as smoked salmon potato pancakes, French toast dipped in orange-zested batter, and malted Belgian waffles. Oatmeal, fruit and granola are available for those watching something. They also boast serving real maple syrup.

Besides the awesome burger, lunch includes salads, sandwiches and soups. The Papa Bair sandwich ($8.49) - caramelized onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, pepperoncini, and havarti, with choice of ham, turkey or roast beef - sounds tasty. If the peppers throw you for a loop, choose the Mama Bair.

And if summer ever arrives, grab a stool at Bair's soda fountain for a "Root Bair Float," malted milkshake, sundae or banana split.

After my lunch of burger and crispy onion rings, I couldn't imagine hitting the Fountain. Maybe next time, because I'll be back.

It's early, but I still remember the Bair Burger fondly.

Bair Bistro

1617 Lafayette St., Steilacoom
253.588.9668