Editor's note: Burgermeisters! Here's another excerpt from George Motz's book Hamburger America. George and his publisher were kind enough to allow us to run them here, along with George's beautiful photos. We'll be running one every other week. Eat up!
Crabill's is very, very small. What’s amazing is that the original Crabill's was much smaller. Eight stools sit bolted to the floor at a small counter and there is barely enough room to pass behind them. "The old place was five times smaller," grill cook Andy Hiltibran told me.
The first time I visited Crabill's I sat next to a white-bearded regular named Will Yoder who, for decades, plays the annual town Santa. Will had recently had his teeth removed and was on a soft food diet. Personally, I couldn’t think of a better spot to dine on tasty, soft food. The tiny burgers at Crabill’s, with their pillowy Wonder buns and healthy dose of burger grease, actually do melt in your mouth.
The burgers at Crabill’s are cooked in a wide, shallow griddle. The griddle is filled with about a half-inch of grease. "The griddle in the old place was much smaller," Andy told me, and showed me with his hands only a foot apart. "It was also much deeper.” Small balls of fresh ground beef are tossed into the grease then pressed once with specially made spatulas. The grill person uses two of these spatulas at a time to systematically press and flip the dozens of patties floating in the grease with a sort of Bennihanna-like speed and dexterity. As your burger nears doneness, it gets a splash of grease from a spatula and is transferred to a tiny waiting Wonder bun.
Chopped raw onion, spicy mustard, and relish are standard, but cheese and ketchup are also available. There is a sign on the wall menu that explains that ketchup was introduced in 1990. That’s right, it took ketchup sixty-three years to be accepted at Crabill’s.
Crabill’s Hamburgers
727 Miami Street, Urbana OH 43078 (map)
574-522-9101
Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m to 6:30 p.m.; Sat, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Sunday
Hamburger America is available at Amazon and comes with a DVD of George's movie of the same title.
I hipped AHT to Crabill's a few years ago. There've been some local write-ups and tv pieces due to their recent inclusion in "americasbestonlie.net." I assume this is more trickle-down from that.
Go for doubles, skip the cheese, buns dipped. The brown mustard, relish, and onions are a must. You'll pay for the onions but it's it's worth it. I swear they much ferment them or something, they're super strong, white onions.
Here's a funny aside... At the old location, when I was a little kid, I used to go in with my dad and be mezmorized by the technicolor layer of chewing gum stuck under the counter. I had to be inches thick. They used to paint over it. Frida Crabill always asked if you wanted your buns dipped in the grease.
Oh, wow, I grew up about 15 minutes from Crabill's! Great burgers! It's probably been over 10 years since I've been there. I'll have to stop by the next time I'm home.
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Crabill's is very, very small. What’s amazing is that the original Crabill's was much smaller. Eight stools sit bolted to the floor at a small counter and there is barely enough room to pass behind them. "The old place was five times smaller," grill cook Andy Hiltibran told me.
5 Comments:
I hipped AHT to Crabill's a few years ago. There've been some local write-ups and tv pieces due to their recent inclusion in "americasbestonlie.net." I assume this is more trickle-down from that.
smokeboy at 11:07AM on 10/01/08
I live in Columbus, so I may just have to make a trip to try those little tasties...what luck!
gastronomeg at 11:12AM on 10/01/08
Go for doubles, skip the cheese, buns dipped. The brown mustard, relish, and onions are a must. You'll pay for the onions but it's it's worth it. I swear they much ferment them or something, they're super strong, white onions.
Here's a funny aside... At the old location, when I was a little kid, I used to go in with my dad and be mezmorized by the technicolor layer of chewing gum stuck under the counter. I had to be inches thick. They used to paint over it. Frida Crabill always asked if you wanted your buns dipped in the grease.
smokeboy at 12:01PM on 10/01/08
Oh, wow, I grew up about 15 minutes from Crabill's! Great burgers! It's probably been over 10 years since I've been there. I'll have to stop by the next time I'm home.
earlybirdkate at 12:11PM on 10/01/08
Where are you people??? I'm in Springfield. Come visit me...we'll go eat. =)
akk328 at 2:52PM on 10/01/08