part of the last twenty years researching, eating, thinking, writing, talking about, and generally loving hamburgers. In those years, I have taken the deep dive into the truth about the American hamburger and why we love them so. In many cases, I have spent far too much time trying to get it right and can barely count on two hands my truest burger allies. But when I met Sef Gonzalez, I realized I was in the presence of someone I could trust.
I was struck by his dedication to the Burgerverse, and we became instant friends and confidantes. In the past decade, we’ve regularly traded findings on burger joints and speak often about the poorly documented history of the American hamburger. And just when I think I’ve got a certain history or timeline correct, Sef is there with a new detail. On more occasions than I’d like to admit, usually immediately following an Instagram post or a mention in a newspaper, Sef has set me straight. Sef is deeply knowledgeable about many of the burgerways in America, and for this I’m constantly grateful.
When he told me he was considering opening The Burger Museum to house his growing collection of burger ephemera, I thought, Who better? followed by. How much stuff could he have? In my mind, it was sure to be a cute one-room pocket museum with a few cool items. When I first set foot in the place, I was knocked over by the more than 3,500 items on display, many one-of-a-kind. A new level of appreciation had been achieved.
To me, the hamburger is one of the greatest gastronomic expressions of American proletarian food with its rich and varied history. Sef has done his research, and this book is arguably the definitive resource on a subject very dear to the both of us. Lose yourself in the stories which make up the patchwork that is the fabric of America, and learn why after more than a century, we love burgers today more than ever.
George Motz
Professor of Hamburgers at NYU,
Brooklyn, 2019
Before we get started, let’s set one important ground rule here. I’ll only be talking about hamburgers. In my world, ground beef in patty form cooked and placed between bread is a hamburger sandwich. Yes…sandwich. I said it once, and I’ll be saying it again throughout the book. The hamburger is a sandwich—always has been and always will be.
I have loved hamburgers since as far back as I can remember. My earliest burger recollections are with my mother, Cary, when she worked in Miami Beach. Mom would wait to take her lunch break with my dad, Serafin; my sister, Michelle; and me. We would then head out to McDonald’s. There were no golden arches near our home, so this was a rare treat. I always ate a burger with minced onions, cheese, ketchup, and mustard.
The truth is, I was more of a Burger King kid. Miami happens to be BK’s hometown, which I’m sure was a contributing factor to their having been the dominant burger restaurant all over South Florida during the 1960s and 1970s.
On Saturdays, my mom would take us through the BK drive-thru after a long day of shopping. The regular cheeseburger was topped with mustard, ketchup, cheese, and those pesky pickles, which I always removed. I had an emotional attachment to this charbroiled burger. It reminded me of the ones my dad would make us on special occasions. And by special occasion, I mean whenever he busted out his BBQ grill.
By the time Wendy’s arrived in my neighborhood in the early 1980s, I was in full-bloom burger obsession. Unfortunately, my family had to deal with it. Wendy’s happened to be across the street from the printing shop my grandfather owned. He received many an after-school call from me; I would beg him to bring me a single with cheese.
I was bad and some might say out of control. It was around this time that my restaurant ordering habits changed. It didn’t matter what type of eatery it was as long as the menu had a burger on it.
Even as I grew older, my love for burgers never left me. A little over ten years ago, my life drastically changed course after many years spent in retail management. I needed an outlet to destress after long days of dealing with customers. My wife, Marcela, suggested I write a blog about my love for burgers. When I couldn’t come up with a suitable name, she said, “Burger Beast!” I was like, “Huh?!” Yes, my friends, my wife believed that I ate my burgers like a beast, and so my nom de plume was born.
The Burger Beast blog, along with my social media posts, still chronicles my visits to all types of restaurants. However, there is a focus on mom-and-pop establishments that sell burgers and comfort food. Any historical background on the spots where I have eaten is eventually added to my musings.
My friend “Bulldog” Jim Winters ended up gifting me an old Burger Chef sign. At first, I wasn’t familiar with Burger Chef, but within a week I was well versed in it. The burger steward side of me had been awakened.
I now remember it as if it all happened overnight. It really didn’t though. There were bins and bins of memorabilia from all of my online purchases hidden away in my old bedroom at my parent’s house. My yearly road trips had begun to include stops at old-school burger joints. Antique shops and anywhere I could do some picking helped grow my collection.
It wasn’t long before my mom strongly suggested I find a new home for everything. She was over my using my old sleeping grounds as a storage facility.
The old Burger Beast headquarters became home to three rooms decorated with parts of the collection. It was during a meeting at our HQ that Scott Savin, CEO of Miami’s Magic City Casino, saw my collection. A few days later, I pitched the idea of having MCC lease me some space at the casino. They said yes, and a full-fledged Burger Museum opened in December 2016.
I’ve been lucky enough to meet hundreds of burger lovers from across the world at my Burger Museum. I love it when they tell me about what great memories the collection stirs for them. Plus, I’m able to have discussions with them about their favorites and find out facts that I never knew. The Burger Museum has been a great learning experience for me. It has only deepened my love for all things burger.
All about the Burger is the next logical step in my burger evolution. For posterity’s sake, I had been documenting little details and stories that hadn’t made it into other great books about burgers. My own book is the ideal vehicle in which to share them.
I will take you through every era of the burger movement. We’ll talk about little-known historical facts, regional burger specialties, the Burger Wars, burger festivals, and much more.
It is also crucial that those restaurants which helped shape our love for burgers, as well as their individual histories, are well represented. Whenever applicable, any innovations are covered as well.
At this point all I’m doing is holding you up. Go forward and read, my friend.
There is no set-in-stone, 100 percent accurate history of how the hamburger came to be in the United States. It is believed, however, that its origins go back to the Mongols, who would ride with minced meat stored under their horse saddles. The theory was that the meat (mutton) would be tenderized during their long rides. After the Mongols invaded Russia in the 1200s, bringing their minced meat with them, the Russians adopted it and made it a part of their cuisine as “steak tartare.”
During the fifteenth century, steak tartare was introduced to the Germans, who would eventually shape and refine the delicacy. The dish made its way to New York in the nineteenth century from the port of Hamburg, Germany, and then became known as Hamburg Steak. By the way, Hamburger in German means “from Hamburg,”
