AHT Guide to Hamburger and Cheeseburger Styles

by Robert Koehler on September 22, 2009

Everything you wanted to know about regional US burger variants but were afraid to ask.

(HT to reader)

{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

1 KimcheeGI September 22, 2009 at 5:34 pm: Nothing tops the Hamburger…yum.
2 KimcheeGI September 22, 2009 at 5:37 pm: Ooops, meant the Bacon And Cheese Stuffed Pizza Burger!!!!
3 Gregory Curley September 22, 2009 at 5:38 pm: Best burger I ever had was at this place in Busan called Ono’s – a stone’s throw away from the beach. Smokey Saloon also does a fine job. I even had a great burger at Hooter’s in Yongsan, believe it or not.
4 seouldout September 22, 2009 at 7:51 pm: I submit for your consideration Chicagoland’s legendary Hackney burger.

And if you’re fortunate enough to ever visit the world’s ~~fifth~~ greatest city don’t miss Superdawg.
5 Brendon Carr September 22, 2009 at 9:46 pm: I don’t think all that much of Smokey Saloon. I go there from time to time with my colleagues because they think it’s a “good burger”, but all in all it’s just okay. The french fries there are especially disappointing. In my opinion the fries are just as important as the burger.

Sometimes in my daydreams I think I’d like to open a hamburger emporium here in Korea that serves the smashed burger described in the AHT report. When I was growing up in St. Louis I worked at a place called Steak ‘n Shake (in all aspects of the restaurant) and in my opinion those are the best burgers in the world. I’d like to duplicate that taste here.

Restaurant work is actually a great experience. The teamwork involved, the training, pleasing customers in a very direct way, and even something as mundane as keeping the place clean is extremely satisfying. Obviously it lacks the social prestige of other lines of work, but not everything is about prestige.
6 ZenKimchi September 22, 2009 at 11:00 pm: Heh, surprised to find a reference to the slugburgers in Decatur, AL, and a link to C.F. Penn Hamburgers. I used to go there in the old days.
7 ZenKimchi September 22, 2009 at 11:03 pm: Agreeing with Brendon here. Love Steak ‘n Shake. Hate Smokey Saloon. Something’s wrong with a joint that charges 15,000 won for a burger and doesn’t include fries. Much better burgers in other places at better prices, but I always see a line of folks outside Smokey. I’ve had more polite service at the Varsity in Atlanta. And at least the Varsity gives you your order within fifteen minutes.
8 Darth Babaganoosh September 22, 2009 at 11:08 pm: Nothing beats the Burger from Hell at Coyote Bluff… not for babies or the faint of stomach. It’s the hottest thing you’ll ever eat, and make you cry home to your momma. Heaven!
9 shakuhachi September 23, 2009 at 5:41 am: When I was in the US I had a hamburger and the taste was great. Some seriously mad beef.
10 WangKon936 September 23, 2009 at 5:51 am: Joe,

Have you seen these articles?

Korean food getting popular in Indiana?
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090916/LIVING07/909160310/1007/LIVING/On+a+Korean+kick

Indiana native comparing kimchi to her grandpa’s sour kraut.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090916/LIVING23/909160305
11 Sperwer September 23, 2009 at 10:06 am: Geez, WangKon, give it a rest! In a post about burgers, you’ve got to put in a plug for kimchi? You get the Korean babbitry award.
12 Granfalloon September 23, 2009 at 10:24 am: Homesick.

On the plus side, the mad cow disease scare that had me slamming my head against the wall last year has resulted in quite reasonable prices for U.S. ground beef. It’s a little fattier than what you might get at home. My buddy compensated by adding some paprika to the mix, and the result was da bomb.
13 WangKon936 September 23, 2009 at 10:33 am: Sperwer,

Was I fucking talking to you? Joe and I have been exchanging emails discussing Korean food and he’s used a few of my emails as basis for a couple of his posts on Zenkimchi. I meant to communicate w/him and I was lazy this time and choose to use the comment section to communicate. Perhaps you can ignore # 10 as it wasn’t an attempt at promotion.

Seriously Sperwer, you are like anal leakage. Butts in at the wrong time with unexpected (and unwelcomed) stink.
14 stumbler September 23, 2009 at 10:45 am: Brendon @5 – oh, I love the Steak ‘n Shake french fries.

ZenKimchi @7 – ah, yes, the Varsity! Much to the detriment of my health, my freshman dormitory was a 3-minute walk across the interstate overpass to the Varsity (I went to the North Avenue Trade School, sometimes called Ga. Tech). I remember once making a “Varsity run” during a TV commercial break, and returning with the food before the program resumed. They made some good onion rings! Haven’t eaten there in years. To Hell with Georgia!
15 stumbler September 23, 2009 at 10:49 am: ZenKimchi – did you see that one place in Birmingham sells a peanut butter and jelly hamburger? Yikes!
16 wjk, 검은 머리 외국인 September 23, 2009 at 11:07 am: Mr. Carr.

Are you talking about Steak and Shake, as in Steak and Shake the chain restaurant?
17 Above Criticism September 23, 2009 at 11:32 am: One place I’ve yet to see mentioned in any of these MH burger-related posts is Jacoby’s Burger, in Haebangcheon. Though the fries leave a bit to be desired, the burgers are big, excellent and reasonably priced.
18 Brendon Carr September 23, 2009 at 12:30 pm: To a kid from the American heartland centered on St. Louis (eastern Missouri, downstate Illinois), there is only one Steak ‘n Shake — as Roger Ebert rhapsodized recently. He’s a great writer.
19 Sperwer September 23, 2009 at 6:01 pm: WangKon:

Well, shit for brains, if you want to communicate privately, why don’t you do so in private rather than in a public forum. Or at least address your comment to someone individually. Otherwise, don’t presume to dictate to members of the forum what they may or may not comment on. I hate to say it, but you have a really typical Korean sense of undeserved entitlement; did you forge your personality by misunderstanding the message of Chrisse Hynd’s “Precious”?
20 shakuhachi September 24, 2009 at 4:30 am: WK#,

Whoa, man, that seems out of character for you. As Jesus would say, calm thy ass down.
21 tbonetylr September 25, 2009 at 6:43 pm: I make a better burger at my home than any fruitloop could at any burger joint in all of Korea.