Chopped beef and bread. Add whatever suits your fancy between the slices. And voila, a hamburger it is.
Google “The history of the hamburger” and the search engine reveals the American version of the German sandwich started with a smashed meatball in Wisconsin back in 1885, and since then we’ve seen everything from White Castle and McDonald’s to Elby’s and the Hamburger Inn in downtown Wheeling.
It’s been 70 years since the first Big Boy was first served in the “Friendly City”, and while that double-decker didn’t debut in downtown Wheeling, it sure started something special. Not too long after the first Elby’s opened, Burger Chef started operations on National Road and 29th Street, and the arches of McDonald’s started shining in Warwood in the mid-1960s.
The hamburger. We make our favorites at home, and we order our favorites at our favorite restaurants, bars, and joints, and once upon a time ago in downtown Wheeling, an unspoken “best burger” battle was heated and competitive, and this is what I recall from my jaunts during the late-1970s.
The Hamburger Inn
Every booth had a mounted machine connected to the joint’s juke box, and the balcony offered a hideaway for kids like us who peddled all the way from Woodsdale.
And the burgers? Well, that’s why it was named the “Hamburger Inn”, after all, and every one of those patties that were prepared on a flat-top grill dripped with griddled grease.
The Hamburger Inn was located along 11th Street in Market Plaza just up from Louis’ Famous Hot Dog, and the counter was on the left, the booths on the right, and the milkshake machine seemed to run non-stop most early afternoons.
The Bridge Tavern
Former owner George Dormas was proud of the “Bridge Burger”.
“Never frozen, that beef,” he’d remind you with that smile of his, and if you were smart, you got the buns toasted and you ordered a side of fries. The Bridge Tavern’s menu always featured a number of sandwiches and soups and salads, but it was the delicious burger that always crowded the eatery’s counter grill top.
The bar and grill was opened by George’s father (Pete) in the early 1960s on the street level of the former Hotel Wheeling at 10th and Main streets, and after George ran the restaurant for more than 30 years, brothers Mike and Doug Carl purchased the business and the building in 2016.
“Bridge Burgers” remain popular options on the Carl’s menu.
Bill’s Hamburger Grill
He had a counter, booths along his Main Street windows, tables scattered about, and ashtrays everywhere because, back in the 1960s and ‘70s, smoking was supposedly a healthy habit to have.
Bill’s advertised quick lunches, milkshakes, sundaes, and sandwiches, and his slogan for his famous hamburgers was “WE FRY ‘EM – YOU BUY ‘EM” – and he did, and they sure did, too. On Jamboree USA evenings at the Capitol Music Hall, Bill’s Hamburger Grill was packed with a line snaked out the door.
G.C. Murphy’s
On any given day at G.C. Murphy’s, a customer could purchase a purse, a toy, men’s and women’s underwear, and almost everything else from the five-and-dime department store, and that included one of the best hamburgers in downtown Wheeling.
The diner included at least 20 swiveling chairs, and somehow, three or four ladies made their way up and down that counter’s kitchen lining Murphy’s wall. While coffee may have been the most ordered item, Murphy’s burger with French fries and a Coke seemed to be constantly cooking between late-morning and early afternoon.
Elby’s Family Restaurants
The Boury brothers – Mike, George, and Ellis – not only introduced the “Big Boy” double-decker to the Ohio Valley in 1956, but their menu also offered a few twists when it came to the common hamburger.
Sure, there was the classic All-American Burger with lettuce, tomato, and requested condiments, but the Brawny Lad and the Brawny Swiss changed the game. The “Lad” featured “Fine Quality Tender Chopped Beef” with a slice of sweet Bermuda onion on a toasted rye bun, and the “Swiss” had melted Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tartar sauce on the same crisp rye bun.
