DallasBurger Quest , our National Burger Critic ’s local stop on his journey to bump America ’s practiced burger , will come out on Wednesday , October 12 .
I made two greenhorn mistakes when I pulled into Keller ’s crusade - In on Northwest Highway in Dallas . The first was produce out of my car at all , though that could be forgiven . The 2nd much less forgivable trespass was attempt to walk into the restaurant .
I open up the doorway and peaked my head in , and at once notice that it was just the cook and two waitresses . The Captain James Cook , turning from the grill where he sat sky burgers , stared at me like I was wearing a Warren Moon Oilers jersey . “ No honey , ” one of the waitress told me , pervade some urgency in that honey drawl . “ Go back to your car . We ’ll find you . ”
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
Keller ’s Drive - In has been finding people in their cars for 51 years . Jack Keller ( the beginner who sadly passed away earlier this year ) had work at a private road - in ( Kirby ’s Pig Stand ) as a adolescent , and was charm of the concept . In an interview with theDallas Morning Newslast year on the 50th anniversary of the first Keller ’s , he relay his original , refreshfully straightforward , not - often - taught - in - biz - school day strategy : “ Just a spot to sell beer and some hamburgers , that ’s all . ”
And that ’s what they do . The menu , which is bolted up on the cinderblock rampart , feature six Burger , corn and hot dogs , ham , Sir Francis Bacon , steak , and chicken sandwiches . A cheeseburger is $ 2.35 . The most expensive menu token , the grill volaille sandwich , is $ 3.39 . Extra bacon is 80 cent . Chili is a one-fourth . grill Allium cepa are detached . What a world .
As instructed by various Dallas occupant , I dictate the most popular burger , the “ No . 5 Special , ” which is a double cake with Malva sylvestris , chopped lettuce , tomato , and “ special dressing . ” It is every bit the diner burger you ’d think it was , but the details make it utter . The three-fold patty basically hook up with thanks to the tall mallow and the special sauce , creating a praiseful soupiness that blends nicely with the grill sum , and the cool crunch from the shredded lettuce and tomato plant . The bun is perfectly griddle and refuses to yield to the wet mess stack atop it . Also , in a sort of foreign twist , it has poppy come on it , which my photographer assert is very coarse in Dallas .
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
“ Wait , ” I enounce , discreetly attempting to pick nutty poppies from my tooth . “ What did you say ? ”
“ Poppy seed buns , ” she said . “ They ’re all over the place . ”
This was unknown to me . Although poppy seed hot dog butt were ubiquitous in Chicago , on my journey around the country , I ’d never experience more than an occasional poppy seed hamburger bun . So I excavate around a little routine , and indeed it ’s true of many of the sure-enough - schooling North Texas burger spot : the Dallas burger joint chain Snuffer ’s , which spread its first restaurant in 1979 , utilize poppy seed buns . poker chip ’s Old Fashioned Hamburger , spread in 1981 , has them as well . As does Jake ’s , a small Warren E. Burger chain that ’s been around since 1985 . The trouble is : no one seems to know why precisely they do it .
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
My waitress at Keller ’s did n’t know . “ It ’s just how we ’ve always done it , ” she said . A few margin call around produced similarly evasive answers . I asked local nutrient diary keeper , and though no one was quite sure , the best guess come in from Nick Rallo at theDallas Observer , who thought it might be an homage to " old German poppy come - spot pastry dough formula . "
In the closing , it could just be a classic case of abide by the leader . Keller ’s was a successful burger range of mountains , it had poppy seed buns , so others follow case and it became a course . But still , it continue a mystery .
“ WHAT ARE YOU AND YOUR POPPY SEED HAMBURGER BUNS conceal FROM ME , DALLAS ? ” I shouted at the sky .
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
Somewhere over the trees , a crow cawed , but I think that was just a coincidence .
posture next to the cut through parking spaces close to the menu is a minuscule greenish shed . If you squeeze one of the doors aside , it reveals a nickelodeon you may play while you look for your burgers . There is nothing else in the shed . When I recite you get word the jukebox was one of the more satisfying achievement in my life-time , I ’m only using slight exaggeration .
I wanted to drop time spill about how a place like Keller ’s brings all sorts of people together . How I saw fancy oil men in suits with their Mercedes next to truckers with aggressive hit man - based bumper sticker next to stone SMU kid next to unseasoned Latin families , and all of that make a thawing pot and blah blah blah # OneAmerica . But maybe that ’s reading too much into it . After all , as the owner gloriously put it to the Dallas newspaper publisher when asked who his client base was , “ People who like burger , I guess . ”
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
And though I saw all of those people feed their No . 5s or No . 8s or No . 3s or No . one and savor the George Strait on the juke box , I substantiate that a shoes like Keller ’s may bring them together in proximity , but each group is palisade off in their own railcar . At Keller ’s , it ’s really just you , your car , and your burger . Drive - ins , in many ways , are solitary places that feel communal . It ’s like eating a meal in a subroutine library cubicle , except with better euphony and beer . And that ’s actually kind of a nice thing . So much of eating in cars is on the go , as drive - thrus supersede crusade - in , the sort of eating that is rigorously sustenance- and widget - based . At Keller ’s , sitting in your car , it ’s the opposite . You ’re not grabbing random collation as you repel , trying not to shed tomato ketchup on your blazer , or cramming as much as possible in at the traffic light . you may sit back and reflect on your Clarence Day , your week , or hell , your life .
Or you could just , you know , eat your Warren E. Burger .
In the end , I justify to my waitress for walk into Keller ’s . “ It ’s all right , honey , ” she said . And then she tap the side of my elevator car doubly , the Keller ’s version of a pat on the shoulder , and walked back inside to get another order .
Shana Anderson/Thrillist
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Shana Anderson/Thrillist
