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.

Bill's Hamburgers, Amory, MS (July, 2011)

So we were heading to Memphis and, lo and behold, along the future I-22 corridor between Birmingham and the birthplace of rock 'n roll, lay two burger joints on "the list".  The first was Bill's Hamburgers in Amory, MS, just across the Alabama line. 

As the sign says, it was founded in 1929.  It started as Bob's and became Bill's when it was sold to an employee in the 50s.  Inside, it is simple, a long counter and a few tables.  They open at 7:30 and start serving burgers then.  The burgers are straightforward - mustard, onion, beef and bun.  There is no lettuce or tomato available.   There also is very little tableware.   We ordered at the counter and took a seat at a table.  The waitress arrived a few minutes later with two sheets of wax paper, a bag of fries and a bag of onion rings.  A minute later she was back with a burger in each plastic-gloved hand.  No frills, for sure.

Sadly, the food didn't even approach good.  Even the apple pie was bad.   

I walked out of the restaurant with two things on my mind: how cool Paul Newman was and a ride to the next burger. *

* (this is a thinly veiled homage to the opening line of one of the favorite novels from my youth.  Guesses?