Hamburger King - Shawnee, OK

Posted By Michael Stern on October 9, 2005 3:20 PM

When George Macsas opened for business in 1927, his Hamburger King sold large hamburgers for 5 cents apiece, extra-large for 10 cents. Today's prices are $3.05 for a regular burger ($3.70 for a basket with potato wedges) and $3.80 four a double, with cheese 20 cents extra. While hamburgers are its raison d'etre, this vintage lunch room has a broad menu that also includes catfish dinners, Frito pie, stew, chili, or "redtop stew," which is stew topped with chili.

But about those burgers: Right up front behind the counter and cash register where the broad, medium-thick patties sizzle on the grill, you can watch each one assembled by a cook skillful enough to bun, dress, and garnish one faster than it takes to name its components. The result is a classic lunch-counter hamburger: not too thick, not thin, oily enough to leave a delicious beefy imprint on the bun bottom, crusty to provide textural contrast to the lettuce, tomato, and pickle that surround it.

There used to be a small handful of Hamburger Inns in Oklahoma; now there is only one other, in Ada, and it is no longer in the family as the Shawnee one is. We love the look of this vintage lunchroom with its tall ceiling and long rows of tables, each equipped with a direct phone line to the open kitchen so you can place your order. On the walls are pictures that show the history of Oklahoma in general and Hamburger King in particular.

Overall Rating

Cheeseburger

Double Meat Cheeseburger

16 out of 16 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes

Posted By Rain Welch on June 22, 2011 4:07 PM

Oh, this is a treat for anyone traveling to Shawnee. I have been here a few times and I haven't tasted a better hamburger anywhere else. The fries are potato wedges and taste delicious, as do the onion rings! Worth the trip.

Overall Rating

Cheeseburger

Double Meat Cheeseburger

1 out of 1 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes

Posted By Ken French on January 23, 2010 2:14 PM

My family and I ate at the Hamburger King recently. It was, for lack of a better word, "AWESOME." In my 54 years here on planet Earth I have never eaten a better burger, and I have had some $20 burgers. Believe me, I have tried burgers from around the world. My entire family agreed: without a doubt the best burger ever.

Wedge fries and onion rings are a ten also. People are friendly and the service is great. It is a 50s/60s grill. When you walk in to the place you will have a flashback; pretty cool. Was kind of scary driving to this place at night. It is in an area of Shawnee that is very old and run-down. I used my GPS to find this place and I thought it had misguided me (which it has on occasion).

I lived in Oklahoma City for about 20 years and never heard of the Hamburger King until I saw it on this site. I now live in Ohio and that is probably a good thing; if I still lived in OKC I would probably weigh about 300 pounds because I would visit HK every chance I got. Whenever I am back in OKC for a visit you know where you will be able to find me.

Overall Rating

7 out of 8 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes

Posted By Steve Taylor on January 19, 2010 9:38 AM

After finding that I was going to be traveling to Oklahoma City on business, I immediately decided that a side-trip off of I-40 was requisite. Of course, after having read so many reviews at Roadfood.com, I had to find a target restaurant... just once. In this case, the Hamburger King in Shawnee was the destination.

What a truly unique place! After my father and I found the lone empty booth, we went with our internal caloric calculators, picked up the at-booth intercom telephone, and ordered the famous burgers (dad's a single, mine a double), along with a bowl of slaw each and some hush puppies. We were not disappointed.

The coleslaw is simple, creamy, and crisp. Wonderful. And the hush puppies, which are Texas-style sticks, remind me of some rather memorable fish fries that I've been a part of in the past. I can't say enough about the burgers. They're so perfectly prepared, I daresay there are very few to rival them. They are assembled from a grilled and buttered bun, a meat patty that has not been cooked so long as to lose even a smidgen of flavor, and fresh toppings. The flavor goes all the way from the top of the top bun to the bottom of the bottom bun. These are F-I-N-E.

Lastly, since there are so many more things that I could prattle on and on about, I'll choose to talk about the service: amongst the friendliest ever. Our server attended to every need we had with no prompting, and did so while tending to other customers with the same pleasant manner and efficiency she gave us. THAT was nice!

Highly recommended and worth every penny you pay. I believe you'll enjoy your experience here as much as we did!

Overall Rating

Cheeseburger

Double Meat Cheeseburger

Coleslaw

Hush Puppies

4 out of 4 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes