Customer Reviews

Hamburger America: One Man's Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation [DVD]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first saw Motz's documentary Hamburger America (which is included with the book) and was amazed on how he captured more than just places that serve a mean hamburger. Every place he went in the film gave you a look at different types of Americans, their history, their future and all held together by the love of America's favorite food. The book builds upon that. Each entry is written with admiration for the burger, the restaurant and the people that cook them. By visiting different cities, cultures, races, and histories of the many burger joints in this book, Motz is able to bring them altogether on one theme: they all make a great burger. And isn't that what America is about? This hodgepodge of cultures in one place looking for the dream, can all be united by ground beef in a bun. Forget the mass produced fast food chains. It's the local mom and pops, diners, decades old places that Americans hold true to their heart. It was written that if you don't claim your hometown greasy spoon as serving the best burger, then you're a wimp. Well this book covers many of those hometown favorites. Even if you do not especially like hamburgers, this book is essential for reading on American folk-life and its wonderful people.

this book was really fun to read and so much information about the best hamburger places in the country. Makes you hungry the minute you start flipping through it. The DVD that came with it was a great bonus and very entertaining. This is a great buy.

I got this book for my husband for Father's Day. He has been on a little search of his own for the best burgers around. He loves the book and we can't wait to try some of these on our travels this summer.

I am partners in a small Hamburger joint here in Arlington Texas. I had to have this just to see what great gimmicks there are out there. I was greatly pleased with this book. Two of my favorite places back home in Columbus Ohio made the grade. As well as a place here in Ft Worth... But I don't think the one here compares at all with my criteria... must have been a money thing with them. But it's the DVD that came with the book that makes it all worth while. Wonderful DVD showing some of best and unusual places to be had across America.. Makes you want to do a rode trip.

This book is terrific. I can't stop reading it. It's like a fascinating trip through time, into the past forty years of life in America.

By way of anchoring this relatively unknown entity: if you like Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, then you will love this. Hamburger America started as a documentary by filmmaker George Motz in 2005. After favorable reviews and a James Beard Award nomination, he expanded on his mission (and likely his waistline!) and thus was born the book. The version sold here on Amazon includes the DVD, although the latter profiles only eight of the hundred eateries.

To be brutally honest, and with no disrespect, I am not sure all the burgers in the book (or the film) *are* the best tasting burgers you are going to find across the country. George included entries not only for the flavor of the food (not unimportant, of course) but also because of the character, history, and even photographic quality of the restaurant itself. Some are probably here because they are just so unique (think peanut butter burger).

So does Hamburger America contain every great burger in the country? Of course not. Are all the burgers in the book tastier than your local hometown special? Not necessarily. Are they all exponentially better (not to mention healthier) than McDonald's, Burger King, and the rest of the fast food alternatives now dotting the landscape? Most definitely. Will Hamburger America enrich your soul, even as it weighs down your gut? Again, yes. This book provides a slice of Americana to go along with that all-beef patty.

The book itself is almost coffee table quality, full of colorful photos that tell us about the wonderful people and places we would encounter on our journey. Many family eateries are disappearing, and this book provides a Route 66 road map of sorts to catalog for future generations. As Charles Kuralt once said, "You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars." I live in a part of the country not well represented in the book (odd, one would think, given the importance of cattle here), so I am starting at a disadvantage. Still, two down (Bud's in Colorado & Stella's in Nebraska), ninety-eight to go!

We picked up this book, late in 2008, and after viewing the DVD that was included with it, and reading about some of the restaurants featured in areas that we sometimes travel, a few of us have made it a point of sampling the burgers at many of these restaurants....

In all instances, we ordered and sampled the burger that was described in the book, and to date, we've only been to restaurants in the "South" - Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia etc.... We still have so many more to visit..

The fun part for us is making a trip to these locations, and seeing / sampling what the author wrote about in the book.

[...]

Considering the states I've listed above, three stand out...

The best so far is from Cotham's in Scott, Arkansas. Great Burger, Great Ambience... and Great surroundings. This one has to be seen and tasted.

A close second is Char-Grill in Raleigh, N.C. Very good.

Third is in Fort Worth - At Kincaid's...

We can't quite understand why Dyers on Beale in Memphis made it in this book... it's just not up to par with everything else we tasted. We went there twice in different months, to make sure we just didn't have a bad day... The second visit confirmed our thoughts of the first visit there.

El Camino in Austin was also a bit "typical" and did not meet the mark of our expectations.

We'll continue trying to visit (and photograph) the Hamburger America locations and sample their burgers... It's a great guide, with a lot of fun places to visit. But by all means, it's not a listing of the best there is...

That's a bit disapointing.

If you travel and love hamburgers this book is a must have. The wife and I love hamburgers and will use this book as a reference when we travel. We are determined to visit as many of these places as we can.

The book is very well put together. The writing is straight-forward and the photos were obviously taken by someone with a flair for the arts.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

I bought the paperback version of this book several months ago and it included the DVD documentary movie version. Later I purchased the Kindle copy as well (I will explain why later in this review). I will break down my review into three sections, one covering each item.

PAPERBACK VERSION: Although the documentary was produced first it is the book that first attracted me to George Motz's work. The success of his movie inspired him to write a book featuring 100 great hamburger restaurants. It's important to note that he is not claiming that this is the 100 best, only 100 AMONG the best. Motz's research seemed to be pretty thorough, but the cost of traveling to all of the cities that are home to great burger joints would clearly be too expensive to make this book profitable. Choices had to be made and many key cities were not visited at all. For instance, in Missouri he visits Kansas City but ignores it's big brother, St. Louis (home of Karl's Drive-in, certainly as good and unique as many that are included). Austin Texas is also featured but the much larger city of San Antonio (only 70 miles southwest) is excluded. It would be easy for anyone living in a city not listed to feel slighted but I understand that would have been impossible for him to travel to every city that is said to be home to a great hamburger joint.

That being said, let's talk about the ones included. It's almost impossible to classify something as iconic as the hamburger restaurant but I will try. I would divide the restaurants into three groups:

* Classic: These are restaurants that have almost as much historical significance as culinary. They are places that serve a standard molded or flattened patty with the usual toppings but the building or the restaurant's history is significant enough to make it a local legend. Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern and New Hampshire's Gilley's are good examples.

* Gourmet: These are the best examples of what a burger can be. It can be the quality of the meat (such as Kobe or other exotics), spices, seasonings, method of cooking or truly unique (and expensive) toppings.

* Unique: Unusual burgers can be created by either using an unique cooking method (steaming, deep frying, using loose meat, enclosing the cheese into the meat or vertical flame broiling) or by applying distinctive toppings (such as a huge dollop of butter, adding peanut butter, using a "secret sauce", adding pastrami, etc.).

It is true that a hamburger restaurant can embody two or even all three of these attributes (I would say that Santa Fe's Bobcat Bite comes pretty close) but most are famous for one thing or another.

I must mention that although Mr. Motz is very thorough in giving pertinent information I am sometimes surprised by his omissions when profiling a restaurant. In both the book and the movie he doesn't explain the significance of the Billy Goat's Tavern strategic location in-between Chicago's two major newspapers (which is why it has newspaper articles all over the wall), and although he mentions San Antonio New Mexico's Owl Bar and Cafe's role in feeding atomic researchers during WWII he forgets to mention that it's current fame is largely due to being the closest restaurant to the famous Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge which attracts multitudes of birdwatchers every year (the town only has a population of a couple of thousand).

The photography in the print edition (mostly by Motz himself) is very good (4 stars). The photographs of the burgers are not so slick that it looks like a food stylist made it into something that you would never recognize when you see it in person but they are appealing (although they could have been better lit). I would have liked more photos of the people but still, the quality and quantity of the photographs are quite good.

DVD DOCUMENTARY: This is George Motz at his most charming. Others (such and the Travel Channel and the Food Network) have given coverage to many of these restaurants but none with Motz's reverence for both the food and the people that produce it. His profiles of the owners and cooks show a true love and devotion for those that serve us well. Eight restaurants are profiled and they have, for the most part, been well chosen (I didn't think Sedalia Missouri's Wheel Inn Drive Inn is quite in the class of the others). These are unique restaurants with interesting history and great food. My favorites include The Meers Store and Restaurant in Oklahoma and Louis' Lunch in New Haven, CT.

KINDLE EDITION: Having decided to make it my mission to visit as many of these 100 restaurants as possible I wanted to have quick and easy access to the data for each restaurant. Beside the addresses and phone numbers Motz includes some important information that came keep one from looking like a tourist or a fool. Such as: which door to use (or even how to open it); what to say when ordering in order to sound like a regular; what NOT to say in order to avoid the wrath of the staff; what is the best hamburger or side on the menu; etc. I have downloaded it to my hand-held device and always have it ready. I have a Kindle 2 and the photos look pretty good on it, not great but decent.

There is a smattering of additional information in the book, such as "How to Buy Hamburger Meat", "Notable Burger Chains" and "My Favorite Sides". He also gives some recipes including his self-named "Motz Burger". This is an excellent, entertaining book and I highly recommend it to both the burger fanatic and the frequent traveler. Five Stars!

First, I was struck by the quality of the book itself. Thick quality paper stock, ample photos, font size that doesn't require a magnifying glass to read and a dvd to boot!
Hamburger America is a tour through America highlighting some of the author's favorite burgers and burger joints. But more than that, through the interviews with the myriad shop owners and burger slingers I sense the joy that comes from being a business owner in America. The freedom to choose a menu, the freedom to assemble ingredients, the freedom to set prices and hours. And because these Americans are free to pursue their dreams they prosper while providing a great product that makes many people very happy.
The variety of burgers and toppings is amazing and the author truly shows his love of the subject. I'm planning a summer vacation around many of the restaurants highlighted in Hamburger America. Buy this book and enjoy America.