The Quieter Master of Burgers
Story by Megan Burbank
The roadtrip continues! Any restaurant recommendations along this route? -Katherine
Burgermaster, the Northwest’s Most Slept-On Burger Chain
By Megan Burbank
From the stringy-yet-perfect fries at Seattle’s Dick’s Drive-In to shakes thick with ribbons of locally sourced marionberry at Portland’s Burgerville to the dominance of In-N-Out up and down the West Coast, the Western Seaboard has no shortage of iconic burger joints that are more institutions than mere fast-food purveyors. But one flies under the radar, despite its excellence: Seattle’s Burgermaster, the most slept-on burger chain in the West.
Burgermaster was founded in 1952 by Phil Jensen; ownership remains in his family to this day. Each location but one operates as a drive-in restaurant: Carhops take your order at your driver’s side window, an approach that, while antiquated, was clutch during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s when I really fell in love with the place, and the rare dining opportunity that includes listening to a podcast in the front seat of my Volkswagen sedan. As the pandemic layered fear onto the pleasure of restaurants, Burgermaster — casually, without fanfare — became my favorite local burger chain in a very crowded field.
To get to the Burgermaster I normally visit, you must venture into a pocket of the city you’d only know by living here: a highway locals associate more with Seattle’s survival sex trade and hellish pedestrian crossings than wholesome culinary experiences. The giant steer horns beckon over bright red letters, evoking OK Corral. As you pull in, you nod at a cross-section of city dwellers: kind-eyed older couples, single men in their boxy “I just went hiking” AWD cars, middle-aged women eating solo, all with a kind of joy rarely seen outside of children’s birthday parties writ large on their faces. You pull in, park, and flash your headlights for service. The fries are artfully crisp, the beef is juicy and grass-fed (since 1984: Burgermaster was an early adapter), the shakes are comfortingly substantial.
It’s enough to make you wonder: Why isn’t this place as popular as Dick’s or In-N-Out? But maybe Burgermaster’s occlusion is part of its charm. Development up and down the West Coast means our communities are changing, and if you grew up here, like I did, it can leave you feeling world-weary and prematurely aged. But sitting in my car at Burgermaster, cramming fries into my mouth as a transcendent sunset streaks pink and yellow light above the outlines of evergreens over Emerald City Smoothie in the grim little strip mall across the street, it feels like an experience New Seattle can never touch. Because Burgermaster isn’t just a burger joint. It’s a state of mind. In a rapidly changing city, in a frequently terrifying world, it is a place stuck in time, a tender center that will always welcome you. All you have to do is turn on your headlights.
Episode 225: Using Your Food with Tamar Adler
Tamar Adler does such cool work with cooking - her new book, The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z, outlines how to actually use all the food you have in your kitchen. It’s extremely helpful and I really appreciate her point of view - there’s a tendency in the US to be like "here are things to buy to be more earth-friendly.” No. That is not the vibe today. Also I bonded with Tamar over the dirty looks we get in the grocery store for doing something that is considered so gross - but it’s not!
Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn • Amazon Music
More Food Reading:
Great essay from a woman who’s on the verge on inheriting a dairy farm and doesn’t know what to do about it.
Trying to get American drinkers to go low-alcohol is not easy, as the vermouth makers are finding.
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This newsletter is edited by Katherine Spiers, host of the podcast Smart Mouth.
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Allecia Vermillion has some great Spokane restaurant recs here: https://www.seattlemet.com/travel-and-outdoors/handy-guide-to-spokane-restaurants-dine-best
Proof in Kennewick is also pretty good
Hello, I just wanted to let you know this is excellent. I appreciate when people have the ability to help me see the wonder of ordinary things. Or to help me see a thing I perceive as simple more deeply. I particularly enjoyed your episode on using food. I never thought of food in that way. I appreciate your work, keep up the good job. Thanks.