I’ve never liked the Big Mac, but I once tried a Big Boy burger. It feels like an old-school, club-sandwich take on the Big Mac, but it’s closer to a diner burger, so it has real texture and sharpness. I admit I still don’t get the middle bun, but when in Rome.
It’s the first double-decker, historically speaking, that I know of. A quarter pound of beef is split into two thin patties, and a middle slice of bun gives each one its own deck of sauce and lettuce. It’s the same weight of beef as a single burger, but twice as tall and with twice the crust. Cool lettuce and a sweet, creamy sauce on both decks balance the salt and fat.
Picks
Tall, creamy, and sweet; soft crunch on every deck.
- Forming burger patties: Two thin patties, a quarter pound split in half, wider than the bun
- Seasoning burgers: Salt and pepper on the griddle
- Cooking patties: Griddled hot, flipped two or three times, cheese on the lower patty after the last flip
- Assembling burgers: A three-part sesame bun, toasted; shredded iceberg on both decks; one slice of American cheese
- Sauces and condiments: Mayonnaise and red relish, or a Thousand Island special sauce
There are a few variations on the construction of these, but this is one common take.
Where it comes from
Glendale, California. Bob Wian opened Bob’s Pantry there in 1936, and in February 1937 a bass player from a band that ate there asked for something different. Wian made a double-decker, meant to look ridiculous, like a leaning tower. It was named for a boy who came in while Wian was looking for a name, whom he greeted with “Hello, Big Boy.” The original was a quarter pound of fresh beef in two thin patties, with lettuce, American cheese, and mayonnaise with red relish (sweet pickle relish, ketchup, and chili sauce) on a three-layer sesame bun. In the late 1940s Wian licensed it to regional chains like Frisch’s in Cincinnati, which sold it under their own restaurant names, and the sauce drifted: Frisch’s used tartar sauce on a plain bun with pickles. (Big Boy Restaurants, Wikipedia.)
| Constraint | Pick it explains |
|---|---|
| A regular asked for something new | A double-decker, built to look tall |
| A quarter pound of beef | Two thin patties, not one thick one |
| Franchised to regional chains under their own names | Red relish, Thousand Island, or tartar sauce, depending on where you ate it |
Why these picks
- Two thin patties. Twice the browned surface from the same beef, and each cooks through in a couple of minutes on a griddle.
- The middle bun. It separates the decks, so each patty has its own sauce and lettuce, and it soaks up the juices that would otherwise make the bottom bun soggy.
- Lettuce on both decks. The only crunch, and the only thing cool on the burger.
- Sweet, creamy sauce. Relish and ketchup in mayonnaise, so the sweetness and the fat arrive together.
How it fails
- Leans or slides: patties too thick, or too much sauce between the decks.
- Soggy middle: the middle bun wasn’t toasted on both sides.
- Bready: the middle bun is too thick, so bun outweighs beef.