Bill's Hamburgers - Amory, Mississippi

Bill’s Hamburgers in Amory, MS, is a special place that serves a special hamburger. Aside from a couple of choices of french fries and I think some turnover pies, Hamburgers is all they serve. Only burgers with or without mustard and onions, and that’s how you order them. I take two cheeseburgers with, you say, and that means you want mustard and onions. If you’re a child and your onion/mustard gene hasn’t yet activated, you get them without. They’ll put ketchup and hotsauce on them if you make a special request, but if you want anything from the garden like lettuce or tomato, you’re flat out of luck.

I never pass up a chance to grab a burger at Bill’s. The place opened in 1929, and they grind their own beef and season it according to a recipe that is over 75 years old. The griddle master will drop a tray of the beef patties onto the cool side of the griddle. They start out as balls, and as they make their way to the hot side of the griddle, they gradually get flattened into a patty, so there’s a slow cook method to it. When they are ready for the bun, they go straight to it, grease dripping, so if you’re scared of beef fat, and many people seem to be, this is not the burger you want, but then I wonder, do you even like burgers? The hot beef and grease melds with the mustard and onion in the heel of the bun to form something that is like candy in burger form. You slidle up to the counter, place your order, and in no time you’re getting that hot burger right from the griddle. It is hard to beat. I can eat three or four of them in one sitting, but I usually restrict myself to just two

People from all over stop by for burgers at Bill’s. Years ago, back in 1999, I sat next to former Ole Miss head football coach Billy Brewer and enjoyed burgers with him and we chitchatted a little.

This is the text from the sign posted inside the restaurant:

Bill's Hamburgers was originally founded by Bob Hill in Amory, MS. His secret recipe has been passed down for over 75 years! Bill's unique flavor begins with our own fresh ground beef served "with" or "without" mustard and onion. "Without" is served plain and you dress it with your own favorite condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, and hot sauce. Our burgers are so good, that's all you'll need! Thank you for dining with us and please come again.

There’s not a lot of reasons to visit Amory, to be honest. It’s a small and sleepy Mississippi town that puts on a yearly Railroad festival, and it has Bill’s. I drive there just to eat at Bill’s, and if you’re ever in that neck of the woods, I recommend you stop by. I think what strikes me the most about Bill’s is how this old-school and simple burger style really calls attention to how awful most burgers are nowadays, like the fast food versions served by McDonalds and the like with their preformed patties and which by the time you bite into one are sort of stiff and lifeless. Bill’s is the antithesis of that. What you get is a hot, fresh, custom beef blend served right off the griddle, the way a burger ought to always be served. Some things are just exactly right, and this is one of them. It cannot be improved. It’s burger perfection.