The Thick Pub Classic Burger

Sometimes biting into a big, juicy burger is what you crave, but for the most part the burgers of our forefathers were not like this. In the first few decades following the appearance of the hamburger in America, it remained small and smashed thin on a flat top, making for crisped edges. Although this method produced a profoundly tasty burger, the one thing it lacked was the copious juices you might find in, say, a steak.

The best pub-style thick patties come from bars that have a tiny flat top, in certain cases still located near or just behind the bar to quickly feed tipsy patrons. Some of the best I’ve ever had were thick, hand-pattied beauties that were just about the only thing on the menu (other than alcohol). Places like the Mo Club in Missoula, Montana, and Paul’s Tavern in Dubuque, Iowa, evoke a simpler time when the burger truly was an egalitarian meal and the poor man’s steak. But it’s New York City that leads the pack in pub burgers per capita. There are still many pubs in the five boroughs peddling nothing more than burgers and booze, some of them more than a hundred years old. In my opinion, the best pub burger experiences can be found at New York City classics such as J.G. Melon, P.J. Clarke’s, and Donovan’s Pub.