Brandished like a cutlass toward the sky, the mini pretzel suddenly disappeared into the mouth of a mustachioed patron, who promptly doubled over in an uncontrollable fit of coughing. A scattering of raucous laughter erupted as the man continued his cherry-faced wheezathon and pushed through the crowded bar toward the bathrooms. Next to the man’s beer sat two unlabeled jars, unremarkable squat things with small plastic spoons standing up straight. One white, one brown. A condiment, a dare, a treasure – the booty of some strange, shipwrecked pirate.

Behind the bar, the pear-shaped “Horseradish King” smiled briefly and continued pouring beers for the thirsty crowd trying desperately to warm their spirits on a frigid October day.

*****

It wasn’t the first time I’d watched a man nearly cough up a lung. Each of the past four summers my wife, in-laws, and I have made the pilgrimage to the Smugglers Lounge in Eagle River, Wisconsin, a touristy little town half an hour south of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Judging by the exterior, you wouldn’t guess at the treasure inside.

On this visit, we shook cold October rain from our umbrellas and quickly knifed inside to find pleasant warmth and a sea of customers packed like sardines in a tin. The restaurant’s narrow, dim interior is layered with wood paneling – even the ceiling – and the walls are draped with ship’s wheels, Miller Lite beer can boats, and other bits of nautical and otherwise off-beat paraphernalia. Think Lost‘s Black Rock crossed with a kitted out bar. After jostling our way toward the back and acquiring a small table near the toilets, we ordered a pitcher of beer. I noticed just about every patron with a pint or pitcher of their own and a few were three sheets to the wind. It was 1:30pm. The feel of Eagle River’s small town Americana was nowhere to be found; the Horseradish King ruled his kingdom by his own code.

Smugglers Lounge

Turns out the Horseradish King is also the waiter, and he sidled up to take the food order his wife would prepare in the “kitchen.” It looked more like a converted mop closet that boasted a small griddle.

“I’ll have the Captain Burger,” declared Ann, my mother-in-law.

His majesty looked nonplussed. “It’s not your turn,” he said with a hint of fatherly condescension.

“Age before beauty.”

“Beauty was a horse,” he grunted. Joe, my father-in-law, and I looked at each other and grinned. Ann congenially played off the edgy banter as Sarah put in her order.

The order came back to Ann. “How are the cheese curds? Are they any good?”

“They wouldn’t be on my menu if they weren’t good.”

“Hmm, how about the sweet potato fries?” At this point, Ann gleefully pushed the old rogue’s buttons.

“Should I be asking your husband the same questions?” The Horseradish King queried with mock seriousness. Joe dropped his head in his hands and we collectively groaned in feigned offense. It’s the kind of statement that could only be uttered by that man at that time without fisticuffs. We were truly in a foreign land.

His grace promised to bring the mustard and horseradish jars to our table and wandered off. Behind us, middle-aged locals in beer jackets plugged quarters into a Pot O Silver machine and yelped in victory when their 10 dollars turned into four dollars worth of winnings. I slowly drank beer from my tiny eight ounce glass and shivered. Despite the damp and the arctic drafts outside, there was something heartwarming about finding Smugglers Lounge just off Eagle River’s main drag. Not a block away chain t-shirt shops, candy stores, and souvenir shops sold kitschy knick-knacks to help visitors prove they were here. Or to recall the experience. But given the choice, I’d choose a verbal duel with the Horseradish King over an Eagle River hoody any day of the week.

Noticing that his lordship had completely forgotten about the mustard and horseradish, Ann retrieved the jars of death after a brief spar with King Friday. By all appearances the contents of the jars are benign, homemade unctures. In fact, ingesting the tiniest dollop yields a chemical fireball of immeasurable megatons, a blast that turns your sinuses into your own personal version of White Sands, New Mexico. Eat any of the pure horseradish and you will immediately turn into Ghost Rider. As it turns out, the Horseradish King truly is a smuggler; he sells these vicious jars to insane customers seeking such rough treatment on a regular basis. Believe me, this stuff makes for hilarious pranks (“Oooh, pretzels and mustard!”).

Cranial Inferno at Smugglers Lounge

On the way out I decided to purchase one of the nondescript, noticeably-lacking-of-FDA-approval jars of mustard. A woman about my age sitting at the bar turned to me.

“Sorry, I got the last one.”

The Horseradish King reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a jar, and slapped it on the bar in front of me.

“That’ll be $8.”

“Oh, he told me I got the last one,” she said and looked down.

“Heh, it wouldn’t be the first time I lied to a woman,” the charlatan laughed, she giggled, and I took the mustard.

Title photo by augrust via Flickr under Creative Commons

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Article Comments

  1. ayngelina October 5, 2010 at 6:41 am

    Hilarious story, which unfortunately made me hungry for strong mustard and food from home.

    1. Keith Savage October 6, 2010 at 1:44 pm

      Ooh, sorry about that. Not only would these products be confiscated by the ATF upon shipping, it’s probably not safe to drive with them in the car. I feel confident saying this: think about the hottest mustard or horseradish you’ve ever had and this stuff is orders of magnitude “hotter.” Not hot in the chili pepper sense, hot in the wasabi sense.

  2. Tweets that mention Long Live the Horseradish King | Traveling Savage -- Topsy.com October 5, 2010 at 8:22 am

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  3. adam October 5, 2010 at 11:51 pm

    that stuff is not to be trifled with. i’ve been told i can attest to that but there are 4 days missing from my memory around the time i was offered a taste.

    1. Keith Savage October 6, 2010 at 1:45 pm

      Yeah, I usually black out a little bit whenever I eat some. And by some I mean an amount that wouldn’t fill a pinhead.

  4. Christy - Ordinary Traveler October 6, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    Sounds a little like how customers get treated at Dick’s Last Resort. Great descriptions! I felt like I was there, and I got a little embarrassed for your mother-in-law. :0

    1. Keith Savage October 7, 2010 at 9:43 am

      Thanks Christy, glad the story made an impact on you. Where’s Dick’s Last Resort? Sounds like my kind of place.

      1. Christy - Ordinary Traveler October 7, 2010 at 1:31 pm

        They have a few locations. Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Vegas and Myrtle Beach. I saw the one in Boston.

        1. Keith Savage October 7, 2010 at 10:00 pm

          I thought it sounded familiar. Might have seen it in Chicago or Las Vegas.

  5. Michael February 11, 2013 at 10:48 am

    I first encountered this mustard at the Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, WI. They had a jar there for the tasting and I tried it. It hurt. It hurt….. SOOOOO GOOD! I had to buy some. I purchased the horseradish, the yellow and brown mustard. I brought them home and continued to abuse myself with these ridiculously hot mouth melters until they were gone. Then, I started to order it online from the Mustard Museum.

    While vacationing with friends in nearby Saint Germain, we took a trip to Eagle River. We wandered into the Smugglers Lounge and ordered some beer and burgers. I saw the little brown jar on the bar and immediately recognized it. I said to the barkeep that I have been buying that stuff online from the Mustard Museum. He said, “Well, I don’t have to buy it from them, I make it!” I did buy some more for the trip back to Western Pennsylvania.

    Whilst there, a gentleman strolled in off the street and sat on the bar stool next to mine. He ordered a beer. He than asked me to pass him the mustard. I asked if he’d had it before and he said no. I warned him of its heat and tfe impending doom his mouth and nasal passages were facing. He scoffed and said, “How hot can it be?” With that, he dipped a mini pretzel into the brown colored lava and popped it into his pie-hole. It took about 4 seconds for it to register. He got up from the bar even before his beer came, ran outside and did not come back. Oh wel, he should have listened, eh?

    Thank you for your article on this place. I enjoyed it!

    1. Keith Savage February 11, 2013 at 11:10 am

      It’s always awesome to find others who have tried this man’s mustard and horseradish. Words cannot do justice to the extreme nasal burn contained within a tiny fleck of the stuff. It’s more of a gag gift than a condiment for me, but my dad used to slather the stuff on his sandwiches. Unfortunately, last I heard the Smugglers Lounge was for sale and I don’t know what is to become of this tasty chemical weapon.

      Great story, by the way.

    2. Bob Beaupre August 29, 2022 at 10:55 am

      My experience with this horseradish concoction (Royal Bohemian Horseradish Mustard) starts out pretty much as Michael’s above. First finding it at the Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, during a visit to my sister in-laws in Madison. After coughing out a lung trying it on a cracker I learned the proper application and learned to love the taste and expression on friends faces when they give it a try. The next years visit was a great disappointment as the Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin no longer carried the mustard. Now, it came down to a serious Google search, but to no avail. Over the next year or two I would revisit my search for the mustard, even a call down to the Mustard Museum was of no use, they were in the process of moving and had no one available to try and find the original source. Then one day bingo, I ran across a small bar in Northern Wisconsin (Smugglers) that was said to have an extreme horseradish mustard. My heart was a flutter, a little further research and there it was Royal Bohemian Horseradish Mustard with it’s gold oval label in that squatty bottle. First chance I had we made a pilgrimage up to Eagle River, Wisconsin and came back with several bottles. Over the years since finding it I always kept a watch for when friends and family would say they were going that way in an effort to keep my supply complete. But now after moving down to Mesa, Arizona I’ll have to rely on my last bottle and trying their mail order. Wish me well!

  6. Matt F September 4, 2020 at 8:19 am

    I would like to report I was at Smugglers not to long ago. They still sell this mustard there. They say its made from a place outside of town but will not tell you where. I tried it and after the 10 sec or so of not being able to breath I coughed for a min straight. I then ordered 4 jars and finished my beer.

    Enjoy reading others who have commented on this and plan to go back next year for more pain and suffering.

    1. Aelyth Savage September 8, 2020 at 2:50 pm

      Glad to hear it’s still going. Thanks for the report, Matt.

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