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. Eat up!
Gilley’s PM Lunch is an old Worcester diner. In the first half of the 20th century the Worcester Lunch Car Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, was the premier supplier of mobile lunch carts and prefabricated diners. Their distinct design set the precedent for all diners that followed in America.
Gilley's is now permanently situated on a lot donated by the City of Portsmouth, but prior to 1973 the cart was towed out to the center of town and served food to late night workers and other hungry people until the wee hours of the morning. There was a time in America, especially in New England, when carts like this were everywhere at night. Many of those carts were Worcester diners and very few exist today. Gilley's is one of the last.
"Isn’t that beautiful?" a customer said as he tilted his plate showing off his double cheeseburger. Both hamburgers and hot dogs are served at Gilley's, the hot dogs preceded the burgers by over sixty years. Starting in 1912, the first owners had a horse-drawn cart with wooden wheels that sold mostly hot dogs. Hamburgers were introduced soon thereafter and share equal popularity today.
The burger to order at Gilley’s is a bacon double cheeseburger. Gilley’s uses only fresh ground pattied chuck loin that is 85-88% lean. The patties are small, thin, and just under 3 ounces. The white squishy bun is toasted and no lettuce or tomato is offered.
"Portsmouth is the kind of place where things don’t change much," cook Bambi mused as I ate my burger. That’s a good thing, especially when it involves a historically significant slice of Americana like Gilley's. Thanks to people like owner Stephen Kennedy this tiny lunch cart may be around forever.
This is my favorite place to take friends in Portsmouth as no one ever believes me that it's wonderful food. I've met the strangest people there in the middle of the night over cheese fries and hot dogs. Even on a cold day the line frequently is out the door. It is a wonderful landmark. When I saw the picture on my RSS feed I knew it had to be Gilley's.
I was stationed at Pease AFB, on the outskirts of Portsmouth back in the late 60's.
Gilley's was always open really late (after the bars closed.
You could always count on getting a late-night snack and the daily number at no extra cost.
Of course, this was waaaay before the state got involved with betting on the number.
I have been to Gilley's many times, both sober and.... well, not sober. The food isn't gonna win a Michelin star, but it's honest and like a good friend...always there. Great to see it recognized...
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Gilley’s PM Lunch is an old Worcester diner. In the first half of the 20th century the Worcester Lunch Car Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, was the premier supplier of mobile lunch carts and prefabricated diners. Their distinct design set the precedent for all diners that followed in America.
10 Comments:
This is my favorite place to take friends in Portsmouth as no one ever believes me that it's wonderful food. I've met the strangest people there in the middle of the night over cheese fries and hot dogs. Even on a cold day the line frequently is out the door. It is a wonderful landmark. When I saw the picture on my RSS feed I knew it had to be Gilley's.
curiositykt at 3:23PM on 12/22/08
this shit right here looks like the realness, i'd so visit nowhere america to eat it.
yr momz at 5:23PM on 12/22/08
looks like the perfect burger.
davey at 5:56PM on 12/22/08
I guess if you live in Portsmouth, you can't skip over the bridge to Kittery and have fried clams or lobster roll every day...
emilydev at 7:22PM on 12/22/08
This is the best book!
I was lucky enough to win one over the summer and would read it at night in bed and my mouth would just drool over the different "burgs" described.
And the pictures!!! Now I am going to watch the included DVD!
Hunnyoil at 9:30PM on 12/22/08
Oh man. I haven't had cheese fries in a long time. Now I have the craving.
wunami at 10:40PM on 12/22/08
I was stationed at Pease AFB, on the outskirts of Portsmouth back in the late 60's.
Gilley's was always open really late (after the bars closed.
You could always count on getting a late-night snack and the daily number at no extra cost.
Of course, this was waaaay before the state got involved with betting on the number.
Grifola frondosa at 10:28PM on 12/23/08
My goodness!! That burger looks awesome!!
It's a shame I don't get up in that direction anymore. Not since my Grandmother passed away.
Raiders757 at 10:57PM on 12/23/08
I have been to Gilley's many times, both sober and.... well, not sober. The food isn't gonna win a Michelin star, but it's honest and like a good friend...always there. Great to see it recognized...
Pavlov at 3:55PM on 12/24/08
that burger got a "oh f*** yes!" from me. im SO hungry right now.
redzerostar at 11:03PM on 01/01/09