Question of the Day - 20 June 2021

First off, it's Sickies without the apostrophe. Like Caesars, which eschewed the apostrophe so that every visitor would feel like a Caesar, every patron at the restaurant is supposed to at least pretend to be a "sickie."

That's slang for someone who takes a sick day, either because he/she was hungover ("Dude, I drank so much last night that this morning, I pulled a sickie") or skips work intending to tie one on. We're not sure where it originated, but it might be Australia where it's common ("On Friday, I'm chucking a sickie and going to the cricket"); if not, the Aussies have definitely adopted it and made it their own. We also understand that it pays a bit of homage to Sick Boy Motorcycles, a branded clothing shop in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Either way, we happen to agree that it's a curious name for a restaurant. Just our opinion.

Anyway, as for the eatery itself, according to the lore, the idea for Sickies Garage Burgers and Brews was hatched in the early 2000s, when a bunch of gearheads had regular get-togethers to help one another work on their cars and motorcycles. Burgers and beer started arriving at the confabs, with the friends one-upping one another with "extreme" versions. Inevitably, the gatherings lasted late into the evening and some participants had to miss work the next day. 

The first Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews opened in Fargo, North Dakota, in 2012 and over the years, more opened in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska. The Las Vegas outpost is the seventh in the chain. It took over a defunct Claim Jumper restaurant and opened in September 2020 -- perhaps a synchronism, considering it was in the middle of a pandemic. 

A rusty classic Ford pickup and Chevrolet sedan hang upside down from the ceiling, the walls are packed with license plates and auto-themed decor, and around three dozen TV screens are scattered around the place. 

The 50 "insane" burgers have won various awards over the years. One is a bacon cheeseburger with glazed doughnuts for the bun; a double bacon cheeseburger comes with fried jalapeños and a hellfire sauce on three layers of Texas toast. The menu is 12 pages long, filled with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and wraps, fish and chips, wings with 25 sauce choices, fountain drinks, and 50 beers on tap. 

Sickies also offers a food challenge, called the Victory Lap. The meal comes with five pounds of food, including two patty melts and two regular patties, two fried eggs, pulled pork, fried jalapeños and pickles, a mess o' boneless wings, and of course an entire grilled cheese sandwich in the center. To add up to five pounds, there's a Fuji of French fries. Finish it off in less than 60 minutes and it's free; you also get the T-shirt and a spot on the Wall of Fame. Don't and you'll pay $49.95 for the privilege of ... well, we'll leave it at privilege.