Hamburger America (55 page)

Jimmy, who has since passed away, used to work at Lankford making change and small talk
at the end of the counter. He said to me once, referring to the much-debated
GQ
magazine hamburger list, “What do these swanky men know about good hamburgers anyway?” True. A real man would do well to put one of these burgers down—a Texas-sized, fresh meat, two-fister.

Burgers at Lankford’s are cooked to perfection on a flattop griddle, juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside. They start as hand-pattied fresh ground meat and are roughly eight ounces. Order a double and you are getting a pound of meat. The burger to order is the Bacon Double Cheeseburger (the bacon single works just fine, especially if you plan on eating again that day). The burgers come with shredded lettuce, red onion, pickles, tomato, cheese, mayo, mustard,
and copious amounts of crisp bacon. All of this is served on a large toasted bun with a single toothpick straining to keep the contents vertical. I’m a hamburger professional and can deftly maneuver the sloppiest of burgers with ease, but this one got the better of me. “Uh, would you like a fork?” Jimmy said, sensing my struggle with the unruly pile of ingredients.

There are other burgers on the menu that sound excellent, like the “Soldier Burger,” explained best by waitress Robin. “A man walked in one day and asked for a burger with an egg on it, so I did it!” Or try the “Fire House Burger” that contains a homemade habanero paste. “It is REALLY hot!” Edie warned me as she approached with a mason jar containing an orange paste. “Just try a little . . . do you have water?” The paste contained radishes, onion, mustard, and habanero peppers and was hot as hell. It was a deep-down hurt though, not a sharp pain, with lasting heat. Would I spread this on a burger? Absolutely. And recently a new burger creation has become a big seller, the “Grim Burger,” which is topped with mac and cheese, bacon, an egg, and jalapeños. “One of our customers dreamed that one up,” Edie told me.

Lankford’s is only open for breakfast and lunch, so don’t plan on having dinner there. Burgers are served all day though, starting when they open at 7 a.m. “People order burgers for breakfast, right when we open,” Edie told me.

The small, sleepy café looks slightly out of place in this neighborhood very close to downtown Houston. “We used to be able to see the buildings downtown. These were all vacant lots,” Edie pointed out. Those lots are being quickly transformed into condos and other large construction projects. Edie plans to be around for a while though. She wants to leave the business to family one day but told me, “I plan on being here as long as I can flip that burger.”

 

 

D
on’t look for this burger destination near the famous Alamo in downtown San Antonio. There are now six Longhorn Cafe locations and they all cater mostly to locals and any visitor willing to venture to the outskirts of the city. The 25-year-old burger chain is a beloved Texas roadhouse serving burgers, beer, and many other favorites and is totally worth the drive.

One of the keys to the success of the Longhorn Cafe is the amazing attention to the quality of the ingredients. Everything that goes into the burgers at the Longhorn is visible in a bank of glass-front coolers behind the counter. The
burgers are cooked on a flattop griddle in a big, open kitchen and prepped at a station adjacent to the griddle. It is all out in the open and as employee José Penado told me with a wave of his arm, “Everything we do is right here.”

What they do is burgers and they do them expertly. The original griddle from opening day in 1984 is still in place and sees thousands of burgers a week. Longtime manager Uko Equere told me that the beef is always fresh, never frozen. “If someone brings in frozen I’ll have to slap them!” he proclaimed. Uko is on your side.

The sign outside of the restaurant exclaims that the Longhorn Cafe is the “Home of the Big Juicy.” I asked José what was on the “Big Juicy” and he explained, “All the burgers are Big Juicys,” which is basically a one-third-pound, wide, flat patty on a large, toasted, white squishy bun. There are many burger options at Longhorn Cafe but the most popular, Uko explained, “is the double meat, double cheese.” Ask for everything, and you’ll get a burger piled high with shredded lettuce, raw onion, mayo, mustard, and pickles—a true Texas classic.

The kitchen area is an incredible study in efficiency. Everyone has a task to complete and during peak times the kitchen works like a well-oiled assembly line. A griddleperson slaps patties on
the flattop and toasts buns alongside the burgers while another employee preps buns with condiments. Completed burgers are delivered to the counter in plastic baskets lined with waxed paper.

One employee spends his time only at the deep fryer. Get the “Half & Half” with your order and choose 2 of the 3 deep-fried sides: onion rings, fries, or tater tots. The onion rings are not to be missed (they are cut and battered in-house) but it’s also hard to pass up on tater tots.

At Longhorn Cafe, you place an order at the counter, then find a seat and wait for your name to be called. Grab a pickled jalapeño at the counter to munch on while you are waiting. At the Blanco Road location you can sit in either the large dining room filled with booths and picnic tables, or check out the equally large outdoor patio with its big homemade slide for kids to play on. When things get crazy Uko opens up the private party room to handle overflow.

It’s a big, clean, easygoing place that caters to all types. The first time I was there it was lunchtime and the place was mostly filled with dudes in auto mechanic uniforms and families, a mixed clientele that changes as the day progresses. Nighttime brings local high school and college students (and sometimes players from the San Antonio Spurs). “There is usually a line out the door,” Uko explained. The place is packed on game day weekends.

The restaurant apparently opened in the ’50s as a taco stand at what is now the Blanco Road location. In 1984 a Sooner (a graduate of the University of Oklahoma) and an Aggie (a graduate of Texas A&M) bought the stand, started selling hamburgers, and changed the name to the Longhorn Cafe. Two high school buddies, David Wynn and Paul Weir, came along and purchased the business in 1995. The duo is responsible for the Longhorn’s expansion into a six-store chain.

What I also love about the Longhorn Cafe is that my favorite Texas beer, Shiner Bock, is available by the pitcher. I couldn’t think of anything better to do in Texas than eat a roadhouse burger while drinking one of the best beers in Texas at a picnic table. What more do you need?

Directly across the street from the Blanco Road location (the original) is a Sonic Drive-In that is obviously not affecting business in the slightest. “We’ve been here so long that our customers are pretty loyal,” Director of Operations Karen Turner told me. Be smart and go where the locals go.

 

 

B
ehold the “Crown Burger.” At first you see what appears to be a pastrami sandwich, then, upon closer inspection, realize that your wildest fantasies have just come true—you are gazing at a cheeseburger stuffed to bursting with warm, thinly sliced pastrami.

Unique to Salt Lake City and its neighbors, the pastrami cheeseburger is a beloved Utah burger that, according to some locals, is best represented at the Greek-owned Crown Burger chain.

The Crown I visited was the second built (in 1979) in Salt Lake City. I was assured that the other six Crowns were similar, which is hard to believe given the almost indescribable décor of the interior of this restaurant. “Back in the ’70s my family was in the Greek nightclub business,” Mike, son of owner Manuel Katsanevas, tried to explain. Gargoyles, stuffed quail in flight, large chandeliers, Greek statuary, lush wallpaper, and a huge working fireplace round out the phantasmagorical setting. “We know we are fast food but we wanted to create an upscale dining experience,” Mike told me.

It’s true—don’t be put off by the large staff in uniform behind the counter working at warp speed, multiple registers, numbers being called over a loudspeaker, and a general feeling of ordering food at one of the superchains. As you wait for your number to be called you stand between an ancient nine-foot-tall ornately carved wooden hutch and a grandfather clock, both salvaged from a hotel in France. “People ask all the time if this stuff is for sale,” Mike said, pointing to the clock. “No, it is not.”

The genius behind Crown is their business plan, which could only be pulled off by an intensely proud Greek family (they are actually from Crete). Each restaurant in the chain is independently owned by a family member. They share recipes and suppliers to maintain sameness and quality.

The burgers come in fresh as quarter-pound patties “every morning,” Manuel explained. The menu is large and eclectic and includes hot dogs, tuna sandwiches, a fish burger, and, you guessed it, some of the best souvlaki and gyros in town.

The Crown Burger, char-broiled over an open flame, comes wrapped tightly in waxed paper and includes lettuce, tomato, chopped onion, American cheese, and of course, gobs of pastrami. My warning to you—do not remove the waxed paper prior to hoisting this beast to your lips. It will explode and the pastrami will end up in your lap.

The idea for pastrami on a cheeseburger was imported from Anaheim, California, by a relative of the Katsanevas family. “Uncle James had a restaurant called Minos Burgers and served a pastrami burger,” Mike explained. When he moved to Salt Lake, he brought the idea to his family.