Most historical accounts date the national debut of the sandwich to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, when Fletcher Davis sold his creation at “Old Dave’s Hamburger Stand.”

According to Texas historian and author Frank Tolbert, “Old Dave” had been serving an unnamed sandwich, a beef patty between two slices of freshly baked bread spread with mustard-flavored mayo and topped with onions and cucumber pickles, since the late 1880s at his Athens, Texas, lunch counter.

(The article mentions a couple of Great Falls burger joints, including Ford’s Drive-In and Burger Master, a member of the odd species of apparently one-off fast food locations that thrive on 10th Avenue South. I last visited Burger Master two decades ago and don’t remember it well, but Ford’s looks to be worth a visit.)

The origins of the hamburger are of course controversial, with at least four contenders for paternity. To my mind the real hamburger centennial was back in 1995, the hundredth anniversary of Louis’ Lunch in New Haven. And unlike Old Dave’s and the others, the hamburger still lives at Louis’, thanks to Louis Lassen’s grandson Ken and great grandson Jeff, and to the hundreds of supporters who saved Louis’ from demolition by relocating and rebuilding it with bricks sent in from around the world. After the bars closed, many of my college nights ended at Louis’ with a slab of ground beef grilled vertically between old cast iron gas burners, then slipped between whitebread toast slathered with cheese, tomatoes, and onions (and maybe salt and pepper but never ketchup). The vertical burners give the Louis’ hamburger a meaty, lightly musky, even clean taste unadulterated by grill residues. Born of fresh and fragrant red meat ground and pounded before your eyes, innocent of sauces and condiments, it is the ur-burger.

So say what you will about who invented the original hamburger–there’s only one place in the world where you can still taste it the way it was. Just head to the little old brick shack on Crown Street and ask Ken or Jeff for a “Cheese Works.” (And if you still have room for dessert after two or three of those, get a slice of one of the homemade pies advertised on the blackboard over the counter; just don’t correct their spelling!)

Louis’ Lunch
261-263 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06510
Phone: (203) 562-5507