Fried onion burger

[1] The burger was created in El Reno during the Great Depression by Homer and Ross Davis, a father and son, at their restaurant Hamburger Inn near the intersection of Route 66 and U.S. Route 81 as a way to stretch ground beef with less expensive onions to feed railroad workers during the Great Railroad Strike of 1922.

[6] Thinly sliced onion is piled onto a small thick patty of ground beef, set onto the hot grill, and pressed hard to form a large thin patty with the onions embedded into the meat.

[10][11] The burger is seared for a short time on the first side, and when flipped, the onions cook and caramelize.

[15][4][16][14][7] The city of El Reno holds a Fried Onion Burger Day festival annually on the first Saturday in May.

[17][8] Nic’s Grill in Norman and its onion burger were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on August 7, 2009.