Hamburger Shop Game

[Grimarlon Varner]

Therestaurant's burgers gained national recognition in 1978 when the Washington Post featured them as one of the "82 Great Hamburgers" in a survey of all-time favorite hamburgers.

A complete knockoff of White Castle, White Tower was a chain out of Wisconsin. In addition to this location, there was one (White Tower # 6) on Ludlow Street, built in 1949, which closed in 1966 and was moved to Springfield, Ohio. Another one, was wedged between Patterson and Main and is now a restaurant called the Brunch Club. Most of the small porcelain-paneled White Tower hamburger diners were built as prefab buildings by a Wisconsin company called Valentine Diners. This made it easy for construction, as well as removal, if they restaurant was sold or its location needed to be changed.

A second Hamburger Shop opened in the center food court at the Empire Mall in March 1984. By this point, the menu had become more diverse; a Texas steak sandwich and chislic were introduced, and fries had become available at the downtown location. The Empire location was gone by late 1986.

The downtown location carried on as usual, but added video lottery after it became legal in South Dakota in the late 1980s. In 1993, a new law prohibited persons under the age of 21 from being in areas with video lottery machines. The affected businesses had to either separate the machines in age-restricted areas, remove the machines, or disallow people under 21 unless accompanied by an adult. Randy Talbott, who owned the Hamburger shop at the time, opted to keep the lottery income at the possible expense of young clientele.

Ah, the hamburger, or burger as denizens of West Los Angeles commonly call it. A simple food, the choice of day laborers and others on the go, it has infinite variations but a few standards must be met to be a true hamburger: a "patty", which is a fun way of saying ground meat formed into a puck-like shape, and a bun. That's it! Americans have, over the last century or so, devised thousands of ingenious variations on the burger including some that the less adventurous might find a bit... wild.

That's where Big Tomy's comes in. Situated on a busy intersection in West Los Angeles, it would be easy to pass by this small shack under a giant strip club billboard, and dismiss it as just another West L.A. joint with greasy food surrounded by angry drivers in luxury cars. But Tomy's is where you can see local families rub elbows with what I assume were businessmen, and construction workers standing around doing normal things like talking and eating. I'm not from West L.A. but everyone welcomed me, or at least didn't make me feel uncomfortable; no one actually welcomed me per se.

The restaurant plays all kind of music on their tinny stereo speakers, from heavy metal, which is an aggressive form of Rock 'n Roll, to pop music, to local AM radio news depending on the time of day.

But back to the food! One of the more interesting items on the menu is a burger topped with the house-made pastrami, which is beef that has been brined, flavored with various herbs and spices, and then smoked and steamed. I've been told it's a common option in many Jewish delis, but I'd never had it on a burger until my last trip to Big Tomy's. The combination of flavors was invigorating, with each bite creating an explosive amount of flavor inside my mouth. The outside of my mouth was pretty explosive too, this meal required a shitload of napkins! I asked the chef to liven things up with lettuce, tomato, pickled cucumbers, and onion, a veritable salad of fresh vegetables which complimented the dual meat action nicely. The onion is not finely chopped and there is no cilantro, it's just a couple big slices of onion but it works. The monster of a hamburger was both comforting, and exciting, and a challenge that I welcomed.

Big Tomy's doesn't have a salsa bar, but there are a wide variety of condiments on display, including salt, pepper, yellow mustard, and ketchup. All are free, so stock up if you need some at home, I didn't feel like there was a strictly observed limit. I've been told by locals that "Heinz" is the brand of choice for most when it comes to ketchup, but unfortunately Big Tomy's uses something called "Fancy Ketchup" which I assume is supposed to make it sound more extravagant. They even have Tapatio! You may need it-- the food is full of flavor, but none of the burgers I tried were very spicy.

Another exotic burger option you can get at Big Tomy's that I had never tried before was the chiliburger. Apparently the origins of this dish trace back to Texas, but repeated questions to my chef yielded no more than a few nods and grunts. In any case, a chiliburger is a regular burger that is covered with a meat sauce. The sauce adds a real punch of meat overload, and is less tangy and smokey than the pastrami, but is arguably the more satisfying meal. Especially if you were as drunk as I was the last time I hit up Big Tomy's.

If you really want to "ride the bus to flavor town", which is the catchphrase of superstar TV personality Guy Fieri (who I kept imagining would bust out of one of Big Tomy's walls to congratulate me to trekking to West LA and experiencing this delightful hole in the wall), go for the Chili Cheese Burger, which is everything in a chiliburgerbut with tons of gooey, melted American cheese in-between the patty and chili. If you're a burger n00b you might try one of the other choices until you build up to this more advanced and exotic example of the form.

I'm a big fan of carne asada fries, and one thing a spot like Big Tomy's seems to have picked up from taquerias and loncheras is that they put pastrami and chili and chili cheese on french fries. In the picture you'll see it hasn't melted yet, but it does melt after a few minutes, don't worry. I've been told that if you ask nicely, they'll put all three one your fries for you. Yeah, this place is legit. It's open 24 hours, so stop in any time for a true Westside burger experience with the local flora and fauna.

History recorded that Charles and Frank Menches ran out of pork for their sausage patty sandwiches at the 1885 Erie County Fair. Their supplier, reluctant to butcher more hogs in the summer heat, suggested they use beef instead. The brothers fried some up but found it bland. They added coffee, brown sugar, and other ingredients to create the taste America knows today as the Hamburger.

Since 1885 we have been building our legacy to preserve the history of the hamburger. We are a family-owned and family-operated business and we love to bring people together to share in the delight of the original burger.

On Friday, a local hamburger shop sold a combined total of 468 Hamburgers and cheeseburgers. The number of cheese burgers sold was three times the number of Hamburgers sold. How many hamburgers were sold on friday?

While the hot dog is considered quintessential cuisine for the July Fourth holiday, the hamburger is undeniably king among American eats. It is a menu staple at restaurants throughout the U.S., not to mention the backyards and ballparks in which countless grilled patties are served up and consumed.

After expanding into Omaha, Nebraska, White Castle turned its sights on the burgeoning Kansas City market. The first restaurant opened in 1924 at 13 West 19th Street. By the end of the year, there were three additional locations. The franchise continued to grow over the next decade, with the 11th Kansas City White Castle opening at 38th and Main streets in 1937.

Like White Castle, Bungalow restaurants were housed in small buildings just large enough for a grill, lunch counter, and a few stools, and were located in high foot traffic areas. Both franchises weathered the Depression by serving affordable fare to working-class clientele.

While the Sparks and Billings partnership dissolved soon after, Sparks continued to grow the franchise, opening three new locations by 1955. The last shop opened in 1987 on Johnson Drive in Mission, Kansas.

Do you want to ask a question for a future voting round? Kansas City Star reporters and Kansas City Public Library researchers will investigate the question and explain how we got the answer. Enter it below to get started.

The others that I remembered were Jack In the Box, Burger Chef, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Of the three, only Burger Chef is the one I never ate there. I remembered the Burger Chef TV commercials that aired on WFLD-TV Channel 32 in Chicago in the 1970s. Their two famous hamburgers were Big Shef and Super Shef. Their locations closed in the early 1980s. Jack In The Box was in the Chicagoland area for years. I remembered one in the city and was at the corner of West Fullerton Avenue and Kimball Ave. It was across the street from the Avon Theater. It is still in business on the west coast.

When I started my Facebook page a few years ago, a restaurant that closed down years ago was mentioned frequently in the comments. It was called the Come Back Inn, and it was at Melrose Park, Illinois. Their desired item on the menu was the Kodiak Burger. It was a half-pound hamburger on dark Bavarian bread. It was a huge seller. I am amazed that the restaurant and menu item made an enormous impact on everyone that dined there.

John the Hot Dog King his first stand was on 62nd and Damen.Then moved to 63rd and Mozart.Hand made patti every time .Fries were made on site fresh from the spud.A southsider from Englewood or Marquette park would remember Johns.A true staple.

For starters, indulge in some warm pretzel bites, mac and cheese bites, or our aioli fry flight. Then, choose between our aioli gourmet burger, white truffle swiss burger, California burger, black & blue burger, Italiano burger, falafel burger, or the classic aioli burger. To go with your burger, enjoy a side of our signature loaded fries, golden fries, sweet potato fries, or roasted farm vegetables. Finally, what goes better with a burger than a cold shake or float? Not to worry: From root beer floats to strawberry shakes, we have you covered! The full restaurant menu is available in the Restaurant tab and the food truck menu is located in the Food Truck tab.

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