Hamburger America: The Odyssey

Hi, everyone.  Jesse here.

I would like to take this opportunity to begin writing about something that has been very important to Amy and me this last year. We have be on a quest to indulge in the best burgers in America and this is the beginning of that tale. It will fall into several sections. Maybe a post per restaurant, maybe a post per trip. We'll see. All journeys begin with a single step. This one was no exception.

During the Christmas of 2011, I got a wonderful book from my wife, Amy. We always end up in a weird conundrum when it comes to her picking out gifts for me. She rarely gets me something that I ask for, yet at the same time the coolness of the presents that she selects for me typically pretty quickly outweigh the disappointment of not getting something that I asked for. The book that she decided to get for me was something that she heard about on The Splendid Table on NPR. This book was called Hamburger America.

 

The basic premise of the book is that this fellow, George Motz, traveled around America indulging his love for that simple fast food staple, the hamburger. He traveled far and wide and compiled “A state-by-state guide to 150 great burger joints” throughout the country.  Motz holds no illusions about these being the BEST 150 burger joints in America. He just claims that they are great. He even acknowledges that he may very well have missed some amazing places that are still out there waiting to be brought to light. The establishments that he does endorse though have made it through some pretty strict criteria.

First, the burgers have to be made from fresh-ground beef and never frozen. You will not find mention of a single place endorsed in this book that sells frozen patties. Secondly, there must be some sort of historical significance. This might be a connection to some big person or event or it might even be a great example of entrepreneurial longevity (one place in New Haven, for example, has been in business for over 100 years and continually owned by the same family for four generations). Third, the burgers have to be able to “excite the taste buds” of Motz. Quality almost exclusively beat out quantity in terms of consideration of inclusion for this book. Finally, it has to be a place you would want to go, so many of the places have been, for me anyway, as much about atmosphere as about the burgers. There is usually a lot of amazing personality that goes along with each of these places.

My initial reaction to the book was, “Um…ok. A book of places I’ll likely never go.” However, as I began to look through the book and read about the rich heritage of hamburgers as researched and outlined by Motz, I began to get drawn into this little niche of restaurant Americana. With every story about a seasonal mom-pop burger shack, my enthusiasm grew. Every mention of a horseshoe counter surrounding a flattop griddle and surrounded by red leather, swiveling stools reinforced my resolve. By the time I had finished reading the 367-page book, which took me all of about a day and a half, I was decided. We were going to go to every place in this book. Not only would we go to each place, but also we would make a scrapbook of it, journaling about each one, and if they had a t-shirt for sale, get the t-shirt.

I should clarify something right up front. The plans outlined in the previous paragraph were my plans. Not necessarily something that Amy understood the scope and depth of right away. She got me this book thinking it would be a cool thing to try every once in a while if one of these burger joints were on the way to somewhere we were already headed. She didn’t even see this coming...

Next blog post: the Hamburg Inn No. 2