The Hi-Boy Burger

[MileHighSmokerGirl]

I had the good luck of growing up around the BEST burger joint [that still exists] in North America (to my knowledge anyways) in Kansas City.

The place is called Hi-Boy Drive-In.
There are three locations left. There used to be four.
One is off 24 Hwy and Noland Rd.
One is of 40 Hwy and Blue Ridge Cutoff (just north of the stadiums)
The other is off 291 and Gudgell.

At first glance it looks like an average, basic burger. Simple bun, American cheese and whatever toppings you want. I'm a cheese and ketchup only girl. (I've gotten to where I can do red onions and jalapeños. But not on these.)

It's a 1950's style classic burger and WOW are they good. They are grilled on a stainless steel grill and one of the ladies behind the counter told me they only use salt and pepper as their seasoning for the burger. I was a bit shocked to learn that. Their tots are amazing and they have great soda's and shakes too.

I have traveled far and near in search of a burger that rivals this. There's two places that made a better burger. One was called Burger Lane. It was in Blue Springs, MO. It was very similar to Outback Burger but WAY better. Best fries, nice steaming hot charcoal burger with amazing flavor and very juicy. It lasted a few years and went out of business. The other was the Main Street Inn in Grandview, MO which sadly is no more. They had a killer hamburger. I must say Fuddruckers was really good too.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries is as close as it gets as far as taste goes these days. To be honest it's not too far off.

If you ever stop through Kansas City stop and get one (I usually throw two in zip lock bags and toss them in the cooler and take them home and reheat them). They have coupons on their website.

Coupons — HiBoy Drive-In

Click here for a buy one get one free sandwich coupon!

www.hiboydrivein.com

I just wish I knew how to make these myself. Maybe someone here has some insight on how a burger like this is made?

Pictured is the 1/2 lb double cheese sauce only

I didn't post this in review because I'm asking if there's way to duplicate these at home as close as possible. Just fyi.

 

[GatorAGR]

Looks great. I grew up in Nebraska and we had what we called a "Wisconsin". It was cubed steak with cheddar cheese inside grilled like a burger. Have never seen them anywhere else. Your burger reminded me of them though.

 

[voyager 663rd]

The current rage (which appears to be dying out now) are smash burgers.

I only agree with part of that process. The smash part would seem to squeeze out a lot of the moisture--water/fat BUT the part that is perfect is getting more of the meat on the pan.

You don't want to work the meat too much when mixing but you need to get it nice and flat.

Then you let the maillard reaction take over to get that nice brown crust over as much of the meat as you can. A ton of flavour plus the retained fat makes for the best burger.

Similar to cooking ground beef. Cook it in stages so it gets nice and brown based on the heat of the pan. Putting too much meat all at once causes an excess of liquid and the meat boils rather than being fried. It will still cook but you won't get the nice brown bits that are almost crispy in texture.

Depending on the size of the pan: I will only cook 1/3 lb of ground meat at a time. Remove when nicely browned and repeat.

 

[jcam222]

When I was in high school at Fort Osage Noland Rd in Independence MO was the weekend cruising road. Carloads of friends up and down the strip there crusing for girls and fun haha. Those were the days.

 

[BigW.]

Looks great. I grew up in Nebraska and we had what we called a "Wisconsin". It was cubed steak with cheddar cheese inside grilled like a burger. Have never seen them anywhere else. Your burger reminded me of them though.

Interesting. I've heard of a Juicy Lucy, but those are ground beef patties.

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

That looks tasty. Will be in kc in a couple of weeks. Will have to give it a try if find the time.

 

[MileHighSmokerGirl]

That looks tasty. Will be in kc in a couple of weeks. Will have to give it a try if find the time.

make it a priority. you won't regret it!

 

[chef k-dude]

It looks like a smashburger with cheese sauce to me. No way that's not real tasty.

I never did any smashburgers. I make an outstanding regular 6oz burger and dont need to mess with that! I only use S&P, but generously. I like a medium (pink in the middle) burger so thats why smashburgers never impressed me, but the more crispy edges/surface does add some good flavor.

I never use cheese sauce on a burger but I'm sure its good. I make a great keto molecular cheese sauce with sodium citrate that would work well, but I like a nice thick slice of extra sharp cheddar on a standard beef burger.

I grind my own burger meat from chuck roast. It has that good flavor for a decent price (whatever THAT is these days) and I grind it only once through the 1/4" die. Handle it as little as possible while forming. Then the trick is getting it griddled (never grilled for me) without them breaking, hot and fast to get a solid crust on both sides while keeping the center nice and medium.

 

[radioguy]

I will stop in there this spring. We are in Florida and have plans to visit old friends in Arizona. Looking for things to do places to visit on the way home to Ohio.

That burger place really resembles a drive in we have in Ohio. They have been in Akron Ohio for ever, but have recently expanded to other locations. Its called Swensons Drive in.

Swensons Drive-Ins | Home Of The Galley Boy®, "America's Best Cheeseburger"

swensonsdriveins.com

They have a lot of copy-cat recipes on the web. Our go-to burger is the double cheese burger and not the Galley boy. Double burger with cheese and “WITH EVERYTHING” meaning Mustard, Dill Pickles & Onions.
Here is one copy cat:

Swensons Galley Boy Copy Cat Recipe

DIY Swensons Galley Boys are double-pattied burgers smothered in two secret sauces that resemble tartar sauce and barbecue sauce.

thestarvingchefblog.com

Have Fun

RG

 

[Colin1230]

Hey Hannah, @MileHighSmokerGirl , the absolute best, hands down, burger I have ever eaten in my life is from Grandstand Burgers in Overland Park.

Grandstand Burgers

Grandstand Burgers is a delicious burger restaurant in Shawnee, Kansas. We specialize in juicy burgers, fries, shakes, and more. Call (913) 362-0111 today!

grandstandburgers.com

Next time you're in town and if you want to try, we'll do lunch.

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

Ever eat at BRGR in kc? They have a pretty good burger too. My brother designed the restaurant.

 

[Colin1230]

Ever eat at BRGR in kc? They have a pretty good burger too. My brother designed the restaurant.

I have not, but funny thing is it's right across the street from my dentist in Prairie Village. I'll give it a try next month.

 

[bill ace 350]

Sounds and look great!

I was born in 61...
Not being a smarta@@,, but what is 50s style?

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Looks good to me. When I used to work in Iowa all the time our crew chief always talked up Made-Rite and heard other people brag it up. Finally after years we were in a town that had one close to work site on a rainy day so we stopped to give it a try.
Now I'm not a very picky eater but what you get for what you paid I wasn't very impressed, I think we told the crew chief he should maybe pay our meals for subjecting us to that, we were joking on the Elmer buys thing (kind of sorta)