Bean Burgers (not same as veggie burger)

Are bean burgers strictly a Texas burger, or do they make them in other states? Beef patty, refried beans, Fritos corn chips or nacho chips, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, jalapenos. My favorite, and as far as I'm concerned, the best burger in Texas, is at Specht's Store just outside San Antonio. It will make your eyes roll back in your head from sheer pleasure at the first bite.

While I wouldn't mind trying a hamburger with refried beans, grilled onions, cheddar and jalapenos, you lost me with the chips.

the first time a friend of mine ordered one, I thought he'd lost his mind. But then I tried the one at Spechts, and OMG it was SO delicious! Specht's breaks tradition and uses a red corn chip on theirs, but it definitely works!

That does sound good, I have added potato chips to burgers but not cornchips

My bil adds cold pork and beans to his burgers. Blech.

My mother used to make a mixture called Mexican burgers when we were growing up. It also used pork and beans, and was a kind of sloppy joe, but not with tomato sauce and not sweet at all. I think it was Mexican in the sense that adding beans made a recipe ethnic in the oh-so-daring sixties and seventies. It's pretty laughable now.

quote:

Originally posted by HankNBugsy

Are bean burgers strictly a Texas burger, or do they make them in other states? Beef patty, refried beans, Fritos corn chips or nacho chips, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, jalapenos. My favorite, and as far as I'm concerned, the best burger in Texas, is at Specht's Store just outside San Antonio. It will make your eyes roll back in your head from sheer pleasure at the first bite.

I thought this was mainly a specialty of the San Antonio area and I have it on my list of things to check out next time I get over that way.

But I did a little searching and found a couple in the Houston area - Tookie's in Seabrook has a bean burger on their menu and a place called Mama's Cafe on Westheimer I've never heard of.

Looks like I may have a reason to head over to Tookie's other than the onion rings.

If the Mama's Cafe on Westheimer is a part of the same chain we have in San Antonio you can give it a pass. Food is okay, normal average generic American grill, but nothing to get particularly excited about.

Let me know how the ones at Tookie's are - we get to Houston for horse shows once in a while.

Indeed it is: http://mamascafe.net/default.htm I had no idea. Looks like this is the only one outside SA.

When I first saw the name I was reminded of a Harry Shearer line: 'Never eat at a place called 'Mom's,' never play cards with a man called 'Pops,'....

I've never cared much for Tookie's but I'll probably go check this out.

FROM A SAN ANTONIO NATIVE NEWLY RETURNED RE: BEAN BURGERS

DOES ANYONE OVER THE AGE OF 55 remember the original and what was in it?

I agree that the current BEST of the best bean burgers AKA: Bulverde Burger is at Specht's Store in Bulverde, just north of San Antonio...bar none. Owner Kate Mangold has refined the original to keep it in the real realm and price range. The gourmet version at double the price is at Cappy's on Broadway and lacks the funky quality we have come to love, but is delicious. And of course Chris Madrid's for those who cannot manage the drive to Bulverde.

I believe the original may be have been invented in the early 1960's at a local Alamo Heights joint near the McNay Museum at Austin Hwy and N. New Braunfel's called Sill's Snack Shack, which went out of business about 1984. Someone recently told me that a Sill relative is making them again on the South Side of town, but I have no details...but would like to know if it is true.

I have made what I think is the original recipe for years for my family on an electric griddle. This is a favorite of kids. If memory serves, the layering of the burger is critical to the taste, as in any sandwich. And of course make sure you get some burger grease on that bun.

On top side of bun: mayo, cheeze whiz, coursely chopped onions

Then burger meat

On bottom of bun: mayo, refried beans, crushed original frito chips (no substitutions, fritos were invented here)

Do not adulterate it with lettuce, tomatoe, etc.

Anyone out there, let me know if I am close to the history or the recipe.

According to food historian John Edge Sill started serving the bean burgers in the early 1950s but didn't claim to have invented them. He gave credit to a serviceman stationed at Fort Sam Houston. In 1953 he switched to using the new fangled taste sensation Cheez Whiz, which had just come on the market, instead of a slice of American cheese. Sill always used Rosarita brand refritos.

According to Edge, Cheez Whiz goes on both halves of the toasted bun, the onions on the heel, the beans on the top of the patty and the Fritos crushed on top of that. No mention of mayo.

BTW, welcome to Roadfood. San Antonio has been underrepresented here.

Now, tell me about chihuahuas and puffy tacos and where to get the best

P.S. Does Specht's offer the Ring Burger? Edge says that goes back to Sill also.

quote:

Originally posted by HankNBugsy

Let me know how the ones at Tookie's are - we get to Houston for horse shows once in a while.

I've tried this at home a couple of times and it's promising; I think I'll wait until I get over to San Antonio to get one made by experts.

Here's a review of Tookie's on Texas Burger Guy, just in case you get over this way and want to try it. http://texasburgerguy.blogspot.com/2005/06/review-16-tookies-burgers-seabrook.html I'd give Tookie's a little better score but I'm not fond of them. Their claim to fame is the squealer, a hamburger patty loaded with chopped, cooked bacon. I don't care for it; when I want a bacon burger I want a burger with added crisp smoked bacon, not a bacon flavored burger patty .

You guys should notify TBG about Specht's.

Ditto on the welcome to Roadfood.

Hey trix69y! I grew up here in SA, but missed out on Sill's. Do you remember Ackumpuckys on Perrin Beitel?

Oltheimer, I'm not sure if the ring burger is on Specht's menu, but I'll check next time I go. We try to take a long lunch every couple of months and run out there from the office.

I'll have to think about your puffy taco question - the first place that comes to mind is Sammy's in La Vernia (on Hwy 87 near FM 775) or maybe Norma's also on Hwy 87 but about seven miles closer towards San Antonio (inside Loop 1604). If you are coming across from Houston,
these restaurants are about eight miles south of IH 10.

And here's my newbie question - what does TBG mean?

TBG = Texas Burger Guy.

I'm hoping to get over that way soon but things keep coming up.

Let me know when you head this way, maybe we can can set up a roadfoodie meet?

Where exactly in Lavernia is Sammy's? It's been a long time since I have been there.
Been to Specht's Store community in the past,but not to eat.Maybe this weekend I may try to go there.
It's close by,so it will be a little road trip easy on gas.Course having a Chevy metro helps too.
I had a good hamburger at Texas 46 Grill,on Tx Hwy 46 in Bulverde,but don't know if they have bean burgers there.
LaVernia keeps on growing,understand a lot of houses going up out that way.

Sammys is straight out 87 from 1604. It will be on your left after the Shell Station but before the 775 traffic light. They're closed on Sundays, so if you make the run, be sure to go on Saturday. You've actually got 5 choices for Mexican food out here - Norma's which is inside 1604 on 87 (on the right before Bill's Tractor)great taco salad, Auroras - on 1518 between 1346 and 1604 - good fajitas, Sammys - local favorite, a new restaurant I haven't tried yet but which is always packed called Olivias (on 1346 between 87 and 775, and Los Santos (also on 87) - which is best if you want breakfast under $5. For town with a population less than 1000, it shows how much we love food out here. You might also consider Buffalo Joes (on the left on 87 before Sammys) which is a delicious sandwich shop. Or, if you're willing to go a few miles farther, turn left at the second light onto 775 and go on into New Berlin to Britschke (sp?) Station - the desserts are worth the trip.

La Vernia has grown a lot. I've been out here right at 6 years and its already changed. We've gotten big enough to get a Sonic, a Dollar General, and a second traffic light!

Wow, Didn't know there was a restaraunt on 1346 called Olivias.I have been to Auroras,and they do have good food.Maybe Saturday I'll try to take a run out that way.Wow a Sonic! Yeah both Schertz and Cibolo now have Dollar General stores.Been to New Berlin many times,but never at at Britschke Station.
Wasn't sure if Aurora's was still there or not.
Thanks for the tips.HankNBugsy,you rock!

Olivia's is fairly new, went in where Fibber Magees pizza was just past the Dollar General, on the left before it dead ends into 775.

I counted last night - we have 16 restaurants in a ten mile radius.

Wow,that's alot.Boy the area around San Antonio keeps growing and growing.

This says it all.......

http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000003RDS001008/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_008/102-8451064-3412103

Barbecue - Wittes (inexpensive, good, dive), Texas Pride (expensive, good)
Steaks: The Steak Co. (don't bother, management changed); Next Door (New Berlin-good, inexpensive)
General: Busy Bear (good tortillas, mediocre food); Brietzke Station (New Berlin - excellent); Ranch House (St. Hedwig-don't bother); Frankies (just closed); Buffalo Joes - wonderful; Maverick Cafe (Floresville - fabulous); Radicke's - used to be good, but was sold this past year and quality has tanked)
Mexican: Norma's, Aurora's, Sammy's, Los Santos, Olivia's
Chains: Sonic, Dairy Queen, Subway
Butcher: Lone Oak Grocery (dive - but great cuts of meat, and good sausage

Wow, thanks for all the listings. I don't know much about that part of Texas but it looks like if I ever get over that way I won't have to worry about going hungry .

I'll try to give you a heads up if I'm headed that way --- if I have enough warning myself! I'm retired and just like to hit the road sometimes and don't really know where I'm going until I get there .

oltheimmer,check out www.texasescapes.com,they may have some information on LaVernia and New Berlin
etc.or go to Texas Handbook on Line.It lists people places,and things in our great state and has information on lots of towns around here.You can also go to MapQuest and look for St.Hedwig and LaVernia.I don't know if either two has a website,but both New Braunfels,Gonzales and Seguin do have city websites,and these twons are also county seats as is Castroville,west of San Antonio which has an Alsatian restaraunt or two.

No worries oltheimmer, if you do get out this way just IM me - I have yahoo on my phone. even if i can't get free i can always at least give you directions to where you want to be!

HankNBugsy and HollyDolly thanks for your expressions of hospitality. I'll look forward to an opportunity to take you up on them. It's about time we Texas Roadfooders had some sort of gettogether instead of leaving all the fun to the folks back East.

Definitely agreed!

Okay, I'm a believer. I made the 80 mile round trip trek to Seabrook today to try the Bean Burger:



Tookie's Bean Burger with their famous (and very good) thick cut onion rings.

That's a very good burger, much better than I expected and much better than my attempts at home (and much better than Tookie's much hyped Squealer).

It was very messy. I wore a shirt that was just out of the laundry over the weekend -- it's in the washer again right now with some special stain removing stuff. I sure hope I can save it.

A very helpful waiter who was going off duty said it's even better with extra jalapenos. My waitress said it's best to order them on the side because they put a lot on them.

It was kind of pricey -- $4.98 for the burger, about the size of a BK Whopper perhaps (I haven't been to BK in several years); the ORs are $3.99.

Thanks for the photo.Boy those are big onion rings,and you are right about the burger.Never tried to make one at home.I think EZ's Brick Oven Grill also makes a bean burger,but I have never trIED IT.

Whoohoo! a convert Actually, Tookie's looks somewhat messier than the norm, but does look delicious.

HollyDolly - funny you should mention EZs. We had lunch brought to the office from there this week, and I had their version of a beanburger. Don't waste your $$. The yuppified blackbeans they put on it were no substitute for lard laden taste oozing refried beans, they skimped on the cheese, and overcooked the burger (read hockey puck).

quote:

Originally posted by HankNBugsy

Whoohoo! a convert Actually, Tookie's looks somewhat messier than the norm, but does look delicious.

Thanks for turning me on to this. I had read about it in John Edge's Hamburgers and Fries but wasn't really turned on by the concept.

But are you suggesting there could be such a thing as a bean burger that isn't messy . This cannot be.

not AS messy as that one LOL

HankNBugsy,Which EZ's did you go to?The original one on Brees and North New Braunfels is pretty good.However i never had their bean burger at that location.I had the Nachos at the one in the Olympia Forum when some of us ladies here at work got together.Those were good nachos and a lot of them too.

The inventor most believed to have truly originated the beanburger was Frank Sill, Sr. His business Sill's Snack Shack, was in the 400 block of Austin Hwy, in Alamo Heights, a suburb of San Antonio, TX. It was a great lunch place for myself and other 1960's high school students. It had 7 or 8 tables and a 5 cent Williams batting machine. I worked there for about a month one summer. Frank's son ran the Snack Shack for a while, but then closed it down. He "retired" to Adkins, Tx, about 20 miles from Alamo Heights, on Hwy 87 past China Grove. He re-opened the Snack Shack in front of his house for 4 or 5 years, but finally retired from that too, saying it was too much work. A Sill's Beanburger: Hamburger bun, toasted on the grill, beef patty, cooked medium. Place 1 large spoon original Rosarita refried canned beans on top of the patty when it's turned over and done on both sides. Turn again to heat & grill the beans. Place chopped onions on one bun, place Cheez-Whiz on the onions, turn patty one last time and place bean side up on the onions & Cheeze-Whiz. Top the beans with slightly crushed original size Fritos (we used Facs corn chips, now out of business), and serve. Best with crisp tater-tots. The beanburger had no mayo, no mustard, no lettuce, no pickle, no grilled onion, no cheddar cheese, no jalapeno. The Ringo establishment, now also closed, made the same recipe, and credited Frank Sill for it. Billy T's, a few blocks out Austin Hwy, still makes the original Frank Sill recipe.

Holly Dolly - this one was from the EZs at Blanco & 281.

wes-tex-rex - by any chance is the old Snack Shack about 2 miles outside 1604 on 87? If its the building I think it is, its latest incarnation opened with a new owner on the 1st as a smoked barbecue place - haven't tried it yet though ....

Never at at the Snack Shack though I know where it was.Haven't tried Billy T's yet.
Will have to look for the former Snack Shack at 1604 and 87.
HankNBugsy,never eaten at the one at Blanco and 281.Hate that area lots of traffic,especially at 281 and Bitters over by the Embassy Theatre.I'll let you know some time how the beanburger is over at the Forum one .

"the old Snack Shack about 2 miles outside 1604 on 87?" That sounds right, it was a small simple white building on the left, in front of the owners residence. I bet if you stopped in they could tell you, but no guarantee you'll get a beanburger!
Last Wednesdays TASTE section of the San Antonio Express News promised an article this Wednesday on "After Inventing the beanburger, Felix Stehling didn't rest on his laurels". He owned the Crystal Pistol, and then opened the first Taco Cabana across the street, but didn't know he laid claim to the beanburger. Can't wait to see...........

Well,today in the Express News they had the article about Felix Stehling in the food section.According to the article,he leased the little building from Sill and called it the Triple S.
Later when the lease came up Sills took back the building and started his own place and also started selling the bean burgers.The article mentioned that the newspaper claimed Sill invented it.However Cappy lawton,who owns several resaurants in town and knows Stehling,wrote them a letter stating that Stehling was the real inventor and had eaten them there when Stehling ran the Triple S on Austin Highway.

Good evening! I stopped at the restaurant that we think may at one time have been Sill's Snack Shack tonight. It re-opened this month as "Home of Da Smoke Bar-B-Que" and is owned and operated by Smoke Master Robert Norman. Mr. Norman used to have a little place across from Radicke's Lone Oak Restaurant. I have found barbecue nirvana. It was amazing. Without a doubt the best barbecue I have ever had. The brisket was so tender you could cut it with a butter knife. (Okay, I realize this isn't a beanburger post, but since we have expanded into Adkins/La Vernia restaurants I had to mention it)

ok - this thread is pretty old, but its time to open it again.  Billy T's, the creator of the one and only ORIGINAL beanburger is back in business in San Antonio.  The new restaurant is open at the intersection of Nacogdoches and North New Braunfels in Carousel Court.  If you haven't ever had a bean burger, THIS is the place to go for one.

Sills Bean burger has just re-opene in a truck parked by the Magic Time Machiene. It is owned and operated by Brian Sills, The grandson of the original owner. Go by and tell them Kimberly sent you!
 

Beans belong on a Burrito.

fishtaco

Beans belong on a Burrito.

Or anywhere else you want to put them!
As a result of this insipiring post, I'm gonna season some burger meat with Mexican seasonings and make some Bean Burgers this weekend! 

Great thread.Yeah,I know where the Carousel Court is.
HankN Bugsy,have to get down to the Home Of Da Smoke.
I don't know if the Bracken Cafe in Bracken out on Nacogdoches Road has bean burgers, though they do have good burgers.
The mexicans make a sandwich called a torta.It's a bollio roll they split, and put beans,meat extra on it, so got wondering if this was an american version.
Oh HankNBugsy, what do you know about Cousins Corner  on Abbot Road and Farm Road 1518, it's on your right hand side after you cross 1518 and continue on Abbot, not to far from the intersection. In the past, the place was open at night,don't know if it was a beer joint or not. You can see on the left where there were once some streets,and a few poles going up one of the streets that's not totally over grown.Wonder if there was a little community in that area at one time.

sills snack shack is back in business...

Here is my take on the Bean Burger
Country Fried Refried Bean Patty, Cheddar Cheese, Fried Jalapeno Chips, Onions, Mayo
 
http://www.wienerandstillchampion.com/2011/09/menu-spotlight-texas-bean-burger.html
 

Wow, what a lot of food! May have to try to make one myself, unless I go to Billy T's  on Nacogdoches.  Now you're making me hungery.

There have been some recent changes in San Antonio. The Sill's Snack Shack Trailer has unexpectedly been retired ~ a shame since the burgers were the REAL deal. We hope they reopen soon. The Bracken Store Cafe DOES have a tasty BeanBurger - handmade patty and all, AND Tater Tots to DIE for. Lastly, Billy T's owner Scudder Miller has closed their physical location @ Carousel Court, and reopened a Billy T's Trailer down the hill. They operate lunch hours 11am-3pm Mon.-Sat., and are at the South-West corner of Loop 410 and Nacogdoches Road, at the site of a former Texaco Station. Bean Burger is $5.25 + Fries or Tots add $1.50

Had them in Austin once from a food truck. They were awesome. Didn't realize it was common all over tx

Thanks, Wes-Tex-Rex. Bracken is closest to me.Maybe Saturday, if remember , I'll have to stop their and get one of their bean burgers. Or heck,could make one myself. I have refried beans at home, and ground sirloin patties, though i could make it with ground chuck from H.E.B.,have the cheese, just need the buns and fritos.