A Hamburger Today
In Talk, History of the Theta Burger
Last week on our Talk boards, Serious Eats member FoodPorncess asked about the history of the Theta Burger, a burger topped with barbecue sauce (also known as Hickory Sauce), shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and dill pickle slices. SE member holdthemayo says that the burger may have originated at the now closed Split-T in Oklahoma City.
Today you can find it in many restaurants in Oklahoma; a bit of searching revealed it on the menus of Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler (started by Johnnie Haynes, who used to manage the Split-T), Irma's Burger Shack, Interurban, Henry Hudson's, and Billy's On The Square to name a few. It's seemingly nonexistent outside of Oklahoma, although in Texas it's served at Hut's Hamburgers in Austin and Scotty P's as a barbecue cheeseburger (multiple locations).
The only information I could find about the origin of the burger's name is from this review of Johnny's Burgers & More where a commenter says it's named after the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
Does anyone else have more information about the Theta Burger?