| Hamburger America | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | George Motz |
| Produced by | George Motz Casey Benjamin |
| Cinematography | George Motz |
| Edited by | George Motz Virginie Danglades |
| Music by | Tony Ormond |
Production company | MotzFilms |
Release dates | |
Running time | 54 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000 [1] |
Hamburger America is a 2004 American documentary film directed by George Motz. The film highlights eight family-owned hamburger restaurants across various regions of the United States.
Working as a commercial cameraman in 2001, George Motz had the idea to create Hamburger America while sitting with his wife Casey Benjamin, who co-produced the film; as Motz explained, "We were watching TV and saw a show about hot dogs, and I thought, 'Gee, I've never seen a really good documentary about hamburgers.'" [2]
Over the course of the next three years, Motz traveled across the United States to various hamburger restaurants, selecting them under the criteria that they must be family-owned, use fresh beef, be more than 40 years old, and offer a distinctive burger that has stayed the same over those years. [2] Motz researched 26 restaurants throughout the country, eight of which made it into the film. [3] None of the restaurants featured in the film are from major coastal cities; as Motz explained, "Anybody can go to New York or L.A. and get a burger ... But I want people to go to Milwaukee and get a burger. I want people to think about Oklahoma and think about burgers." [1]
Motz calls Hamburger America a "pro-burger film," in contrast to works criticizing fast food such as the documentary Super Size Me , which was released the same year, or the book Fast Food Nation , which Motz cited as an inspiration for the film. [1] [3]
The film premiered on April 19, 2004, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, followed by a release party at Billy Goat Tavern, one of the restaurants featured in the film. [2] [4] It was also shown on December 3, 2004, at the Santa Fe Film Festival. [3] It was released on DVD alongside two screenings at Two Boots Pioneer Theater in New York City on February 1, 2005. [1]
Hamburger America documents the following hamburger restaurants, listed in order of appearance in the film:
| Restaurant | Location | Opened | Known for | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dyer's Burgers | Memphis, Tennessee | 1912 | Deep-fried hamburgers | [2] |
| Ted's Restaurant | Meriden, Connecticut | 1959 | Steamed cheeseburgers | |
| Wheel Inn Drive-In | Sedalia, Missouri | 1947 (closed in 2013) [5] | Guber burgers (made with peanut butter) | |
| Solly's Grille | Glendale, Wisconsin | 1936 | Butter burgers | |
| Meers Store & Restaurant | Meers, Oklahoma | 1901 | Texas Longhorn burgers | |
| Bobcat Bite | Santa Fe, New Mexico | 1953 | Green chile burgers | |
| Louis' Lunch | New Haven, Connecticut | 1895 | Claiming to have invented the hamburger | |
| Billy Goat Tavern | Chicago, Illinois | 1934 | Curse of the Billy Goat and Saturday Night Live 's Olympia Café | |
In 2006, Hamburger America was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. [6] In 2011, the film was selected by the United States National Archives and Records Administration for a screening at the National Archives Building. [7]
Since releasing the film, George Motz has become a "leading authority on hamburgers," as described by The New York Times . [8] The film went on to inform Motz's later ventures, including his 2018 book Hamburger America: A State-by-State Guide to 200 Great Burger Joints, as well as his restaurant Hamburger America, which opened in SoHo, Manhattan in 2023 and draws inspiration from the restaurants featured the film. [4] [9]
A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing, and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger. Under some definitions, and in some cultures, a burger is considered a sandwich.
A cheeseburger is a hamburger with a slice of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, a cheeseburger may include various condiments and other toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, avocado, mushrooms, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
Burger King Corporation is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant chain. After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties, its two Miami-based franchisees David Edgerton (1927–2018) and James McLamore (1926–1996) purchased the company in 1959. Over the next half-century, the company changed hands four times and its third set of owners, a partnership between TPG Capital, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, took it public in 2002. In late 2010, 3G Capital of Brazil acquired a majority stake in the company in a deal valued at US$3.26 billion. The new owners promptly initiated a restructuring of the company to reverse its fortunes. 3G, along with its partner Berkshire Hathaway, eventually merged the company with the Canadian-based coffeehouse chain Tim Hortons under the auspices of a new Canadian-based parent company named Restaurant Brands International.
Teriyaki is a cooking technique in which foods are broiled or grilled with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Although commonly associated with Japanese cuisine, this cooking technique is also commonly used in other Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Indonesian and Thai.
Whataburger is an American regional fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers. Founded by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton, it opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950. Family-owned by the Dobsons until 2019, the chain is now managed by the private equity firm BDT & MSD Partners; the Dobson family still holds a small stake.
Burger Chef was an American fast-food restaurant chain. It began operating in 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana, expanded throughout the United States, and at its peak in 1973 had 1,050 locations, including some in Canada. The chain featured several signature items, such as the Big Shef and Super Shef hamburgers.
Bobcat Bite is a restaurant that is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, off of the Old Las Vegas Highway. The location itself has hosted two businesses, both of which have gone by the name "Bobcat Bite". The original Bobcat Bite specialized in the preparation of steak, chops, and hamburgers.
Louis' Lunch is a fast food hamburger restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut, which claims to be the first fast food restaurant to serve hamburgers and the oldest continuously operated hamburger restaurant in the United States. It was opened as a small lunch wagon in 1895 and was one of the first places in the U.S. to serve steak sandwiches. According to Louis' Lunch, the hamburger was created in 1900 in response to a customer's hurried request for a lunch to go. In 1917, Louis moved the business into a square-shaped brick building that had once been a tannery.
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the world's third-largest hamburger fast-food chain with 6,711 locations, following McDonald’s and Burger King. On September 29, 2008, the company merged with Triarc Companies Inc., the publicly traded parent company of Arby's.
A hamburger is a specific type of burger. It is a sandwich that consists of a cooked ground beef meat patty, placed between halves of a sliced bun. Hamburgers are often served with various condiments, such as dill relish (condiment), mayonnaise, and other options including lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese.
A slider is an American term for a small sandwich, typically around 2 inches (5 cm) across, made with a bun or dinner roll. Sliders can be served as hors d'oeuvres, snacks, or entrées. They have become a popular game day appetizer in the United States.
Originally just a ground beef patty, as it is still interpreted in multiple languages, the first hamburger likely originated in Hamburg (Germany), hence its name; however, evidence also suggests that the United States may have later been the first country where two slices of bread and a ground beef patty were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold as such. Shortly after this combination, the hamburger quickly included all of its currently typically characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles.
The Thurman Cafe is a cafe and bar in the German Village district of Columbus, Ohio. It was opened in 1942 by Nick Suclescy, and has remained a family-owned establishment ever since. Thurman Cafe is considered to have one of the best hamburgers in the country.
J.G. Melon is an American restaurant established in 1972. It is located at 1291 Third Avenue on the northeast corner of East 74th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is known for its hamburgers.
A steamed cheeseburger, also referred to as a steamer or cheeseburg, is a hamburger topped with cheese that is cooked via steaming and originally only served by restaurants in central Connecticut in the United States. Despite it now being available elsewhere, it is still difficult to find outside that area.
George Motz is an American television personality, historian, author and filmmaker. Motz directed the 2004 documentary film Hamburger America and has written books detailing the history of the hamburger in the United States. He hosted the Travel Channel show Burger Land from 2012 to 2013. He is a contributor for First We Feast with a series titled Burger Scholar Sessions. He is also the owner and head chef of Hamburger America, a luncheonette-style restaurant in SoHo, Manhattan.
A butter burger is a hamburger topped with butter, either directly on the patty, or on the bun. Believed by many to be invented in Wisconsin, they remain popular in some northern parts of the midwestern United States, and are the principal item of Wisconsin-based fast food restaurant Culver's. Many restaurants in and around Wisconsin serve butter burgers.
Hamburger America is a luncheonette-style hamburger restaurant located at 51 MacDougal Street in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2023 by American chef, television personality, and burger scholar George Motz as an homage to the history of the hamburger in the United States. Specializing in traditional smash burgers, French fries, sandwiches, and milk drinks including egg cream, the restaurant offers 11-stool counter service, booth and table seating, and take-out.
A fried onion burger, also called an Oklahoma onion burger, is a regional burger style and specialty of Oklahoma cuisine. The dish was created in El Reno, Oklahoma, in the 1920s by a restaurateur searching for a way to stretch ground beef with a less expensive ingredient in order to cheaply feed striking railroad workers during the Great Railroad Strike of 1922. Its primary ingredients are thinly-sliced onions and ground beef.