Hamburger America (37 page)

You owe it to yourself to visit Kewpee. It’s a part of American hamburger tradition that remains vital in the face of a homogenizing fast-food culture. Pay homage to a burger chain that preceded Burger King and Wendy’s by almost 40 years. Look for the wide-eyed smiling Kewpee doll over the front door and remember the Kewpee slogan, “Hamburg pickle on top makes your heart go flippity-flop.”

 

 

T
he Spot has been a fixture in the center of downtown Sidney, Ohio for over a century. The large, gleaming neon sign over the front door is a beacon to those in search of genuine diner food and one of the best burgers in the country—the “Big Buy.”

The first time I stepped into this updated time-warp diner with its two-tone leather booths and vintage Coke signage I thought the place may have lost its way. Then an old-timer got up from his booth, approached the vintage jukebox and put on Little Anthony’s “Tears on My Pillow” and the whole place was transformed. The ownership had not fallen prey to ’50s kitsch. They had merely embraced it. A major remodeling effort in 1976 updated the interior of The Spot to a wood-paneled “country kitchen” look and it took sixth owner Michael Jannides to rescue the diner and restore it to its original character. “I wanted to bring the place back to the way it looked in the ’40s,” Michael explained, and he did so with amazing detail.

Don’t let the sock hop décor fool you. The Spot actually dates back to a time well before Elvis was King. In 1907 Spot Miller was selling food from a cart on the location where the restaurant now sits. The cart eventually became a permanent structure that burned down in 1940. A year later, the second owners rebuilt The Spot in the Art Moderne style that remains today.

Michael was no stranger to The Spot when he assumed ownership of the Ohio hamburger icon in 1999. In 1989, Michael took a part-time job at The Spot and liked what he saw. His grandfather owned an ice cream parlor in Sidney when he was growing up, and this most likely influenced Michael’s decision to buy The Spot.

There are many diner favorites on the menu like the BLT, the tuna salad sandwich, the seasonal mincemeat pie, and a house-made tenderloin sandwich. Michael confessed, “We’ve added things to the menu over the years but people come
in for the burgers.” For sure, the burger remains the number one seller at The Spot. The restaurant can go through up to 1000 on a busy Friday.

I had blinders on when I saw the best seller on the long burger menu—the “Big Buy.” Advertised as a triple-decker, the Big Buy is actually a double patty burger with one of those bun inserts in between the patties (like you’d find on a Big Mac). Cooked on a flattop griddle, the Big Buy is served on a toasted, white squishy bun with shredded lettuce, pickles, American cheese, and a house-made tartar sauce. The taste of this thing is phenomenal, although you’ll find lifting the Big Buy to your face a challenge. The two quarter-pound square patties slip and slide in the tartar sauce and make a mockery of the bun. If you can manage to get a solid bite that includes all of the ingredients, you are in for a treat. The tartar, tangy and sweet, plays to the beefiness of the burger with the cheese lending a salty hand.

The Spot grinds and patties their own burgers and have done so for years. Michael showed me the patty maker he inherited with the purchase of the restaurant, a strange looking contraption with many parts. From what I could tell, the burgers are not “pressed” or “stamped” like most patty machines, rather they are extruded sideways through a narrow opening and cut into squares. The patty, when cooked, stays loose and almost crumbly, most likely from not being pressed in the patty-making process.

Grab a booth or a spot at the counter along the window, then place your order at the register in the rear of the restaurant. When your order is ready, listen for your number to be called over a loudspeaker and pick up your burgers at the counter. At The Spot you can also enjoy traditional carhop service in one of the restaurant’s 21 parking spaces. Regulars have enjoyed carhop service for decades and as Michael put it, “It never went out of vogue here!”

After six owners I have a feeling this place will be around for a while. Almost everything at The Spot is fresh and made to order, which is a tough claim for most diners today. Michael is committed to keeping the dream alive and continues that spirit by sticking to the basics.

658 EAST CUYAHOGA FALLS AVE | AKRON,
OH
44310
(6 OTHER LOCATIONS IN AKRON, CANTON, AND CLEVELAND)
330-928-8515 |
WWW.SWENSONSDRIVEINS.COM
SUN–THU 11 AM–MIDNIGHT
FRI & SAT 11 AM–1:30 AM |
CLOSED
MONDAY

 

 

I
was happy to find that classic carhop drive-in culture is alive and well in Ohio. Anyone who has ever visited the Cuyahoga Falls Avenue location of Swenson’s can tell you that. There are other large burger chains in the United States that employ carhops but I’ve never seen anything like the energy displayed by the carhops at Swenson’s. For these carhops, delivery of a burger to your car is a true sport.

My first impression of Swenson’s, with its young men and women in white polo shirts darting back and forth, was that something was wrong. These carhops were moving way too fast for college-age kids. A half-dozen carhops crisscross with trays of burgers and drinks at lightning speed, often running into each other entering and leaving the kitchen area. When a car pulls up to the 58-year-old drive-in, the driver barely has to flash lights before a carhop is
sprinting in their direction. And when a regular pulls up, the carhops all shout out their name in singsong fashion, “Angela’s here!” or “Omar’s here!” It’s pretty incredible to witness and a great show to watch. Swenson’s hires only college students for their youth and their flexible schedules. “It’s a rigorous, hard job,” Patty Palmer from Swenson’s main office told me. “It takes a special person to do that.”

The Cuyahoga Falls Avenue location is the oldest physical structure dating back to 1952 but the local chain now boasts seven locations in Akron, Canton, and Cleveland, all drive-ins with carhops, or “curb-servers” as they are referred to at Swenson’s. Wesley “Pop” Swenson opened his first drive-in in 1934 after he had success selling burgers from his station wagon to high school students as classes let out. The Swenson family sold the business in the late’50s to the Phillips family who in turn sold it to current owner Steve Thompson in 1974 (a former curb server himself at Swenson’s in the’60s). He was responsible for expanding the business by adding five additional locations, as well as rebuilding the original 1934 West Akron drive-in. The Phillips family probably ran the drive-ins well, but Steve had an added advantage. Friendly with Pop’s granddaughter, Steve was able to get the original Swenson recipes making the drive-in today as authentic as it could possibly be.

The menu at Swenson’s is large and offers Ohio classics like the fried bologna sandwich and the Sloppy Joe, but the burgers are the star attraction, headlining the top of the menu. The signature burger at Swenson’s is the “Galley Boy,” a double cheeseburger with two special sauces. I deduced that one sauce was mayonnaise and the other was barbecue sauce. “You are sort of right but not quite,” Patty told me. Clearly the sauces are a secret. There are many condiments available at Swenson’s, but if you ask for everything, you’ll get mustard, pickles, and raw onion. But the Galley Boy, with its two sauces, two 3-ounce patties, and cheese, is perfect.

All of the burgers are served on buns that are a special recipe and been made exclusively for Swenson’s by the local Massoli Italian Bakery. Fresh ground beef is delivered daily to each of the locations in the chain, pattied and shipped out from their central commissary location in North Akron.

Swenson’s is also known for its shakes and the incredible chocolate peanut butter is one of the most popular. There are 18 flavors to choose from with “limitless combinations,” Patty explained. Swenson’s also offers seasonal flavors, like the immensely popular pumpkin shake in the fall.

People are crazy about Swenson’s and the restaurant has a solid legion of fans. “It’s bizzaro!” Patty explained of the lengths some fanatics go to enjoy their Swenson’s burgers. “We just sent two burgers to a wedding for the bride and groom,” Patty explained. That’s right, the newlyweds ate Swenson’s burgers, and the guests ate the catered food. That is my kind of wedding.

 

 

T
he quaint, historic German Village in Columbus, Ohio, with its low, ancient buildings and streets paved with red brick, is the perfect setting for this broken-in, dark and cozy tavern. The menu at Thurman Cafe is loaded with great food from decades-old family recipes like the Coney sauce for the hot dogs and terrific French fries. But it’s the burger you came to eat, so settle into one of the odd-shaped booths and prepare to feast on one of the tallest burgers in the land—the “Thurman Burger.”

Thurman Cafe has all the trappings of a typical time-tested favorite local hang—walls covered with the obligatory license plates, beer ads, and old photos. But look a little closer and discover the amazing ceiling covered in vintage Budweiser wallpaper and the thousands of signed dollar bills dangling over the bar area like party decorations. Chances are, while you are waiting
for your Thurman Burger to arrive, one will pass by on its way to another customer. Your first glance at the famed burger will result in an audible gulp that signals either fear or hunger. This is because the Thurman Burger is enormous.

Macedonian immigrants Nancho and Dena Suclescy opened the Thurman Cafe in 1937. Today, more than 70 years later, the café is still in the Suclescy family, run by third-generation siblings Mike, Paul, and Donna.