Hamburger America
George Motz says he has eaten 20,000 burgers, and most days he stands behind his own counter on MacDougal Street flipping them. Will Hartman scored the shop 8.1 for The Infatuation and says the one to get is the Oklahoma, griddled on a bed of paper-thin onions.
Why go
The Oklahoma is the burger to build the trip around. The paper-thin onions go down on the griddle first and the patty cooks on top of them.1 Hartman calls Motz the hamburger historian, and the board runs like one: regional specials rotate through it, and Hartman ate a Michigan olive burger off it.1 The counter is bright white and yellow, and it also sells classic lunch sandwiches, egg creams and cookies.1 A single smashburger ran $7.25 and a double $11.25 in September 2024.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Oklahoma. Hartman:
It's grilled on top of paper-thin onions, which impregnate the beef with their vapors.
1 - Order: the thick chocolate milk with it. Hartman calls it
obligatory.
1 - Order: whatever regional special is up that week, which is the part of the menu that changes.1
- Avoid: ordering the plain smash and leaving. Hartman calls the singles and doubles solid and picks the Oklahoma over both.1
What locals & experts say
- Will Hartman, The Infatuation, 27 September 2024, 8.1:
What do a university library and this Soho hamburger joint have in common? They're both run by scholars.
1 - The same review, on where it sits in the boom:
With the city's ongoing smashburger boom, there's an oversupply of greasy cheeseburgers on every corner. But here, they're served with a heap of doo-wop era nostalgia.
1
Good to know
- Solo: it is a lunch counter, and The Infatuation carries it in its dining-solo guide.1
- Booking: none. You order at the counter.
Verdict
should-visit — Smashburgers are everywhere in this city, and George Motz is on MacDougal Street cooking the older regional forms: the Oklahoma, a Michigan olive burger, whatever goes up on the board next. Go at lunch and order the chocolate milk with it.