Here's the deal - the cheeseburger is the quintessential American food. A couple of years back, after reading a review in the Wall Street Journal about the best burgers in the country, only to find that three of the top five were in my own back yard, I decided that I needed to see for myself. With the help of George Motz's "Hamburger America", several lists, recommendations from friends and asking everyone about burgers from "their" town, this is the result...

If you're curious about my thoughts on foods other than burgers, check out my other blog Eat to Live? Or Live to Eat?

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Phillips Grocery, Holly Springs, MS (July 2011)

After the disappointment in Amory, we took a series of two- and four-lane roads to Holly Springs, MS.  Bill's was the first time a burger from the book hadn't been at least "good", so I was hoping for a good experience at Phillips Grocery.



The building was built in the late 1800s and started life as a saloon, converted into a grocery store during Prohibition.  When the legal liquor dried up, they switched to dry goods and then began serving burgers in the 30s.    Across the street from a partially restored train station (see above), this place is a throwback several decades.   The menu was, again, simple, but the the burgers were executed to a much higher level of "burgitude".  These were good.   


 

Did I mention that they had fried pies, too?  This one looked so promising: pan- instead of deep-fried; fork marks where the crust was pressed together.  But it was just okay.  The filling was made with baked apples instead of dried.   That would have sealed the deal.  Because the burger:
Single cheeseburger.  Seared, crunchy crust.  Nicely cooked center.  Mississippi burgerdom was salvaged.

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