Lunch with Limbaugh.

• Author: Kurowski, Jeff
• Position: Radio and TV commentator Rush Limbaugh - Briefs

"Toughest biker bar in Northern Indiana" now home to "Dittoheads."

Norm Burggraf Sr. is a card-carrying member of the electricians' union, but conservative radio and TV commentator Rush Limbaugh's popularity suits Burggraf just fine.

Burggraf, 57, owns the River Bank Restaurant and Lounge in Mishawaka, which has the distinction of having the country's first "Rush Room." For non-Dittoheads, a Rush Room is a special luncheon gathering place for Limbaugh fans.

"Norm's the first to come up with the idea, even before Rush Rooms were dubbed as such," says Kit Carson, Limbaugh's chief of staff.

Carson, who runs Limbaugh's show from its New York base, claims restaurant owners had noticed customers running into their establishments during the noon hour, placing orders and then running back out to their cars so they could continue listening to the program. Patrons would dash back inside during commercials to get their food.

Burggraf was the first to tune in Rush inside. The idea caught on like wildfire.

No one knows exactly how many Rush Rooms there are, but Carson has kept track of the so-called "official" Rush Rooms, those that promote their conservative cuisine though advertising and on-air promotions. He says there were about 200 official Rush Rooms around the country this winter, down from almost 300 last summer. The number tends to peak in the summer and drop in the winter with the ebb and flow of advertising campaigns.

Burggraf's Rush Room promotion amounts to the final phase of a campaign to...