The Oklahoma Onion Burger Is a National Treasure

I’m crying in a quick-service restaurant inOklahoma City。Chalk it up to a long day of traveling, or chalk it up to this: I’m holding the perfect beef burger with sweet, cheese-topped fried onions, smashed between fluffy buns, the tang of pickle punctuating each note of rich, as mayonnaise becomes one with the mustard becomes one with the bread.

I’m atTucker’s Onion Burgers，一个带有四个地点的本地OKC特许经营，专门从事该州最美丽的美食之一：洋葱汉堡。人们吃洋葱，炒或以其他方式，到处都是在他们的汉堡上，但这 - 这个是不同的。

“In my mind, the most important thing to know about the onion burger is that, like a lot of Oklahomans who enjoy it—it’s a humble food,” said Cameron Coit, an OK-born New Yorker who worked in restaurant kitchens for years. “It was born from the depression, so it’s simple: Onions…meat…bun. That’s all you need. I personally take mustard and a little pickle on mine, but nothing else. Anything else, and it ceases to be an onion burger.

事实上，洋葱汉堡起源于经济需要，至少根据Tucker的“讲述故事”。

"In the 1920s, a smattering of cafes in Western Oklahoma sought ways to stretch beef further in their menu offerings,"the restaurant's site reads.“厨师发现牛肉pressed with a pile of thinly shredded onions not only tasted good but helped cafes stay profitable as the Great Depression loomed. Soon, diners and cafes all over Oklahoma were serving fried onion burgers, and they have been a staple ever since."

When I toldmy colleague and America expert, David Landsel, that I was heading to Oklahoma City, he insisted I experience the onion burger, starting at Tucker's.

“这是一整件事，”他说。“Tucker随便使用咸石农场牛肉，并将它埋在烤洋葱山里，并将其销售给您，如5美元，没有大问题。”

At Tucker's, I accompany my single onion burger—which is, in fact, a big deal—with a side salad, which is essentially just a container of Fritos chips smothering a handful of iceberg, pinto beans and cheddar cheese. It’s perfect. The fries are crisp, thin and conservatively salted, the way they should be. I scroll through Instagram, eating and crying, and see that another one of my friends has completed a 5K. I’m happy for her. I really am.

Hours later, I meander over toGarage Burgers and Beers, a slightly bigger Oklahoma-based chain (but this one with cocktails), to get my fix. The burger here is fantastic, too: onion-packed, perfectly greasy, flavorful and cheesy. I wonder if there’s any way to cancel my flight home.

“Fried onions with a little hamburger meat and a bun is how I would describe the onion burger to an outsider,” said Coit. “It must be smashed down. They cook it quick.”

Coit added that the most famous onion burger can be found atSid's, in El Reno. (After discussing the topic with several Oklahomans, it's clear that the onion burger capital is widely considered to be El Reno, which is about a 30-minute drive from OKC.)

“这是og现货，”他说。“老实说，如果我甚至可以说关于洋葱汉堡的话，那并不是那些不同的不同。

Well, it looks like I have to go back to Oklahoma to taste for myself. This is my life now. And I could not be more pleased with it.