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?

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Burger Station, Winfield, KS (September 2011)

Once we got to the the Walnut Valley Festival, I was moderately consigned to the fact that the best food we'd have outside  camp was the fair food on the midway.  So while chatting with some friends at their campsite (about my preternatural fascination with cheeseburgers, among other things), one of the locals said, "Have you been to the Burger Station?"  My ears raised like a cat to the sound of a can opener.  

He then went on to describe a "carry-out only" place that served a "heart-attack-in-a-sack" for which you had to hold your hand under the bag because the grease would so weaken the paper that you couldn't carry the burgers all the way to the car without them crashing through the paper to the ground.   Jo and I, along with two buddies (David and Coy, whose last names will be withheld to protect their identities) headed over there for lunch on Thursday.  Walking in (the door on the right)
you sidle up to a counter where you place your order.   With the four of us inside, we stretched from in door to out door.  On the opposite side of the counter was, from right to left, cash register, counter-top (the picture picks up here), grill, then deep fryer with an old-time Frigidaire icebox where they stored the patties.  The burger choices were simple, and you are out of luck, if you wanted lettuce or tomato. 

The burgers were "five-to-ones" and quite tasty.  I went for a cheeseburger with chili and they didn't lie about the grease factor (check out the wax paper).   It was a good burger.  We'll go back at some point next "Bluegrass".

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