Dyer's Burgers Memphis, TN
My wife recently had a conference in Memphis right down near Beale street. While she was in meetings all day I was forced to take tours of the Gibson Guitar factory and Sun Studio. I was also forced to find a place for lunch. I am always seeking out the best cheeseburger, and am often met with disappointment from referrals, so you can imagine my hesitation to take advice from the GPS lady with the sweet British accent. I mean, let's face it the British don't know a lot about great food...especially burgers. Never the less I found myself at Dryers Hamburgers on Beale street right across from Coyote Ugly. The place has been in business since 1912. Here is a brief history from their website...
"Back in 1912, the late Elmer "Doc" Dyer opened his own cafe and began to develop a secret cooking process for the uniquely delicious world famous burgers we still serve here today on Beale Street.
Legend has it that the "secret" was Doc Dyer's ageless cooking grease. This famous grease , strained daily, has continued to produce our juicy Dyer's Burgers for almost a century now. One of "Doc's" original employees, Mr. Kahn Aaron bought the establishment in 1935 and continued the Dyer's name and tradition of famous burgers. The Dyer's legacy continues to this day. Over the years, this famous cooking grease has been transported to our various Memphis locations under the watchful protection of armed police escorts, finally settling here on Historic Beale Street, Home of the Blues and World Famous Dyer's!"Ok, here we go. This was one of the best (if not the absolute best) burger I have ever eaten. I sat at the counter and watched the cook take a billiard sized ball of ground beef from a cooler. He pounded this ball out thinner than I would have ever thought possible. He then scooped it up with his spatula and placed it in a 18 inch cast iron skillet on top of a four burner stove. Inside this skillet was the very same grease that had been there in the beginning. Naturally I ordered the double cheeseburger, so he pulled one patty from the grease and placed a slice of cheese on top. Then he dipped the spatula, with the patty and cheese still on it, back into the grease to retrieve my other patty. That was topped with another slice of cheese,and then a quick dip back in the grease to melt the cheese. The top bun was added and all were pressed together over the skillet to drain any remaining grease. It was placed on the bottom bun, wrapped in paper and put in the basket with fresh hand cut french fries. In the mere seconds that it took the burger to come from the cook to the counter where I was sitting, the paper had become completely translucent.
Now, as I said this was one of the best burgers I had ever eaten, and I would not only recommend to anyone that they visit Dyers, I would insist in it. As good as the burger was, it would have not been fully complete without the dessert. A deep fried Twinkie with powdered sugar and sweet cherry topping.
Should you find yourself in Memphis around lunch or dinner time, take my suggestion and pass on the BBQ (head to Texas for that) make a direct line to Dryer's Burgers. Your mouth with thank you for it, your arteries will hate you for it
The key to a good hamburger or cheeseburger is to pound them real thin as was done and the tissue paper lining the plastic basket from what you wrote this man and your Poppy must have learned from the same school the picture looks a lot a cheese burger from Hale's Luncheonette only bigger wish the two of you could have cooked together the way you described the cooking process putting the bun on top and the process with the meat going back on top and then scooping it all up was just like Daddy did the only thing is Daddy cooked directly on a grill about 4ft by 3ft
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