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Hamburger America: One Man's Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation [DVD] | ![Hamburger America: One Man's Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61OT1ggGLLL._SL160_.jpg)
| Author: George M. Motz
Publisher: Running Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $13.57
as of 11/21/2009 09:52 EST details
You Save: $6.38 (32%)
New (56) Used (20) from $4.63
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 77769
Media: Paperback
Edition: Pap/DVD
Pages: 312
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 1
ISBN: 0762431024
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.304931
EAN: 9780762431021
ASIN: 0762431024
Publication Date: April 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Whether you're an armchair traveler, a serious hamburger connoisseur, or a curious adventurer up for a road trip, Hamburger America will be your guide to reclaiming this precious slice of Americana. No other food says "America" like the hamburger, and documentary filmmaker George Motz has made it his personal mission to save our nation's unique burger identity. He has traveled across the country in search of the best burger joints - those that have survived outside the fast-food mainstream - and has documented their rich histories and one-of-a-kind taste experiences. This edition of the book includes George Motz's 1 hour documentary "Hamburger America" that profiles 8 burger joints across the USA.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
Three reviews in one - Kindle, paperback and DVD versions October 10, 2009
Timothy B. Riley (San Antonio, TX USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought the paperback version of this book several months ago and it included the DVD documentary movie version. Later I purchased the Kindle copy as well (I will explain why later in this review). I will break down my review into three sections, one covering each item.
PAPERBACK VERSION: Although the documentary was produced first it is the book that first attracted me to George Motz's work. The success of his movie inspired him to write a book featuring 100 great hamburger restaurants. It's important to note that he is not claiming that this is the 100 best, only 100 AMONG the best. Motz's research seemed to be pretty thorough, but the cost of traveling to all of the cities that are home to great burger joints would clearly be too expensive to make this book profitable. Choices had to be made and many key cities were not visited at all. For instance, in Missouri he visits Kansas City but ignores it's big brother, St. Louis (home of Karl's Drive-in, certainly as good and unique as many that are included). Austin Texas is also featured but the much larger city of San Antonio (only 70 miles southwest) is excluded. It would be easy for anyone living in a city not listed to feel slighted but I understand that would have been impossible for him to travel to every city that is said to be home to a great hamburger joint.
That being said, let's talk about the ones included. It's almost impossible to classify something as iconic as the hamburger restaurant but I will try. I would divide the restaurants into three groups:
* Classic: These are restaurants that have almost as much historical significance as culinary. They are places that serve a standard molded or flattened patty with the usual toppings but the building or the restaurant's history is significant enough to make it a local legend. Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern and New Hampshire's Gilley's are good examples.
* Gourmet: These are the best examples of what a burger can be. It can be the quality of the meat (such as Kobe or other exotics), spices, seasonings, method of cooking or truly unique (and expensive) toppings.
* Unique: Unusual burgers can be created by either using an unique cooking method (steaming, deep frying, using loose meat, enclosing the cheese into the meat or vertical flame broiling) or by applying distinctive toppings (such as a huge dollop of butter, adding peanut butter, using a "secret sauce", adding pastrami, etc.).
It is true that a hamburger restaurant can embody two or even all three of these attributes (I would say that Santa Fe's Bobcat Bite comes pretty close) but most are famous for one thing or another.
I must mention that although Mr. Motz is very thorough in giving pertinent information I am sometimes surprised by his omissions when profiling a restaurant. In both the book and the movie he doesn't explain the significance of the Billy Goat's Tavern strategic location in-between Chicago's two major newspapers (which is why it has newspaper articles all over the wall), and although he mentions San Antonio New Mexico's Owl Bar and Cafe's role in feeding atomic researchers during WWII he forgets to mention that it's current fame is largely due to being the closest restaurant to the famous Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge which attracts multitudes of birdwatchers every year (the town only has a population of a couple of thousand).
The photography in the print edition (mostly by Motz himself) is very good (4 stars). The photographs of the burgers are not so slick that it looks like a food stylist made it into something that you would never recognize when you see it in person but they are appealing (although they could have been better lit). I would have liked more photos of the people but still, the quality and quantity of the photographs are quite good.
DVD DOCUMENTARY: This is George Motz at his most charming. Others (such and the Travel Channel and the Food Network) have giving coverage to many of these restaurants but none with Motz's reverence for both the food and the people that produce it. His profiles of the owners and cooks show a true love and devotion for those that serve us well. Eight restaurants are profiled and they have, for the most part, been well chosen (I didn't think Sedalia Missouri's Wheel Inn Drive Inn is quite in the class of the others). These are unique restaurants with interesting history and great food. My favorites include The Meers Store and Restaurant in Oklahoma and Louis' Lunch in New Haven, CT.
KINDLE EDITION: Having decided to make it my mission to visit as many of these 100 restaurants as possible I wanted to have quick and easy access to the data for each restaurant. Beside the addresses and phone numbers Motz includes some important information that came keep one from looking like a tourist or a fool. Such as: which door to use (or even how to open it); what to say when ordering in order to sound like a regular; what NOT to say in order to avoid the wrath of the staff; what is the best hamburger or side on the menu; etc. I have downloaded it to my hand-held device and always have it ready. I have a Kindle 2 and the photos look pretty good on it, not great but decent.
There is a smattering of additional information in the book, such as "How to Buy Hamburger Meat", "Notable Burger Chains" and "My Favorite Sides". He also gives some recipes including his self-named "Motz Burger". This is an excellent, entertaining book and I highly recommend it to both the burger fanatic and the frequent traveler. Five Stars!
 A celebration of freedon September 29, 2009
Donald B. Willaims (portland, or United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First, I was struck by the quality of the book itself. Thick quality paper stock, ample photos, font size that doesn't require a magnifying glass to read and a dvd to boot!
Hamburger America is a tour through America highlighting some of the author's favorite burgers and burger joints. But more than that, through the interviews with the myriad shop owners and burger slingers I sense the joy that comes from being a business owner in America. The freedom to choose a menu, the freedom to assemble ingredients, the freedom to set prices and hours. And because these Americans are free to pursue their dreams they prosper while providing a great product that makes many people very happy.
The variety of burgers and toppings is amazing and the author truly shows his love of the subject. I'm planning a summer vacation around many of the restaurants highlighted in Hamburger America. Buy this book and enjoy America.
America's love with the hamburger September 2, 2009
Jon Hunt (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
George Motz's book, "Hamburger America" is a delight from beginning to end. Accompanied by an hourlong DVD highlighting some of the places the author has visited, Motz sets out to find the one hundred best places to find a hamburger in the country. He succeeds with gusto.
"Hamburger America" is a terrific book on many levels, but trivia is central to its core. Who knew so many Americans of Greek descent got into the hamburger business, for instance? And not all states make the cut. One might imagine not finding a really good hamburger joint in Hawaii, but Rhode Island, Kentucky and Wyoming are not represented either. Yet there are five in my small state of Connecticut that turn up in "Hamburger America", and naturally, there are lot of good ones found in California and Texas.
What does come through in Motz's book is the love of making hamburgers. It's amazing how many people have owned or have been employed by hamburger joints for twenty, thirty or forty years...or more! One finds butter bugers, tall burgers, steamed burgers, deep-fried burgers, huge ones and small ones. One of the best aspects are the mini-interviews with the owners and employees. A certain hamburger proprietor swears off ketchup, while another places ketchup containers at regular intervals on his counter and yet others barely tolerate the condiment, condemning it to "take-out". They often get adamant that their way is the right way and you'll often find customers who back them up to the hilt. By the way, you'll never run across another book that refers to "squishy buns" as much as this one does!
There are side dishes and desserts of course and the accompanying photographs are often tantalizing. Regularly included are looks inside and outside of the "joints" themselves. Motz has an ability to relate the flavor of the region, not just the burgers. I highly recommend "Hamburger America". It's comfort reading about comfort food.
A great starting point, but it leaves some questions about some burger choices. June 29, 2009
DMC-FS5 User
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
We picked up this book, late in 2008, and after viewing the DVD that was included with it, and reading about some of the restaurants featured in areas that we sometimes travel, a few of us have made it a point of sampling the burgers at many of these restaurants....
In all instances, we ordered and sampled the burger that was described in the book, and to date, we've only been to restaurants in the "South" - Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia etc.... We still have so many more to visit..
The fun part for us is making a trip to these locations, and seeing / sampling what the author wrote about in the book.
[...]
Considering the states I've listed above, three stand out...
The best so far is from Cotham's in Scott, Arkansas. Great Burger, Great Ambience... and Great surroundings. This one has to be seen and tasted.
A close second is Char-Grill in Raleigh, N.C. Very good.
Third is in Fort Worth - At Kincaid's...
We can't quite understand why Dyers on Beale in Memphis made it in this book... it's just not up to par with everything else we tasted. We went there twice in different months, to make sure we just didn't have a bad day... The second visit confirmed our thoughts of the first visit there.
El Camino in Austin was also a bit "typical" and did not meet the mark of our expectations.
We'll continue trying to visit (and photograph) the Hamburger America locations and sample their burgers... It's a great guide, with a lot of fun places to visit. But by all means, it's not a listing of the best there is...
That's a bit disapointing.
Hamburgers May 2, 2009
R. Stephan (Arlington Texas)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I am partners in a small Hamburger joint here in Arlington Texas. I had to have this just to see what great gimmicks there are out there. I was greatly pleased with this book. Two of my favorite places back home in Columbus Ohio made the grade. As well as a place here in Ft Worth... But I don't think the one here compares at all with my criteria... must have been a money thing with them. But it's the DVD that came with the book that makes it all worth while. Wonderful DVD showing some of best and unusual places to be had across America.. Makes you want to do a rode trip.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
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