Posted by Michael Stern on September 29, 2007
We’re not necessarily saying that a hamburger from Dyer’s is the best on earth; we’re not even saying that it is, objectively speaking, excellent. However, if you consider yourself a hamburger person, you must eat one. And once you’ve done that, you will likely want to eat many more.
If we equivocate, it’s because this hamburger is made and cooked in a wicked, wicked way, a way guaranteed to get the nutrition police sirens wailing. A round of raw ground beef is held on the cutting board under a spatula and the spatula is whacked a few times with a heavy hammer, flattening the meat into a semi-compressed patty at least four inches wide. Now, the really good part: the patty is submerged into a deep, black skillet full of bubbling-hot grease, grease that the management boasts has not been changed since Dyer’s opened in 1912! It’s the grease that gives a Dyer’s burger a consummately juicy interior while it develops a crusty outside and a unique, shall we say, intriguing flavor.
Our waitress explained that the grease is carefully strained every night after closing hour (usually about 4am; this is Beale Street, after all); and besides, the really old grease is always burning off, so the supply that supposedly never changes is, in fact, always changing. Whatever. The fact is that this is one heck of an interesting hamburger. We are especially smitten by the many ways in which it is served: as a double or triple, or as a double or triple “combo” (with layers of cheese), and with really good hand-cut French fries on the side. The menu boasts that each hamburger is served “Always on a Genuine Wonder Bread bun.”
If hamburgers are not your passion, allow us to suggest another Dyer’s specialty: the Big Rag Baloney sandwich. That’s a half-inch thick slab of baloney that is fried to a crisp in the same skillet, and in the same vintage oil as the burgers.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
17 out of 18 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
Reviewers "Must Eats" List
hamburger
($2.00)
baloney sandwich
($3.00)
"This is a single Dyer's burger, good and crusty. Big appetites order a double or a triple with two or three layers of cheese. It automatically comes dressed with mustard, onion, and pickle."
Michael Stern
"Looks good... "
agginole
"In that big old skillet on the stove is the secret ingredient for a Dyer's hamburger: old grease. The cook told us that they are very careful to strain it every evening, so it's good and clean for the next day."
Michael Stern
"Not only a good place to eat hamburgers: customers are known to come to Dyer's to imbibe adult libations, too!"
Michael Stern
"Beale Street has mostly become a kind of blues-music theme park and food court, but there's no food court anywhere else that offers hamburgers like this place."
Michael Stern
"With less than an hour to spare while staying at the Peabody Hotel one afternoon, Dyer's was the perfect destination, just a few minutes away. "
Michael Stern
