Oklahoma’s favorite burger is 80% onion and you’ll love every bite

The Davis Family’s Depression-Era Burger Innovation in El Reno

The fried onion burger was born from hard times in El Reno, Oklahoma.

When 400,000 railroad workers went on strike in 1922, Ross Davis faced a problem at his Hamburger Inn near the train stop. How could he feed hungry strikers who had just taken a 13% pay cut?

Ross and his dad Homer came up with a fix. They pressed cheap, thin-sliced onions into beef patties to stretch their meat supply.

The result? A five-cent burger that kept bellies full and wallets intact.

Soon, the smell of those caramelizing onions pulled in crowds from miles around.

The burger that saved a town during tough times now draws thousands to El Reno’s annual Fried Onion Burger Day Festival each May.

Workers Walked Out When Pay Got Cut

The early 1920s hit railroad workers hard. After World War I, companies cut wages by about 13% while living costs kept rising.

Families struggled to buy food as paychecks shrank. Many workers couldn’t afford basics despite working full-time.

The money squeeze hurt communities across America, especially in towns where most jobs came from railroads.

This pressure built until workers couldn’t take it anymore, setting up one of the biggest labor actions in American history.

Trains Stopped Running Nationwide

On July 1, 1922, over 400,000 railroad workers walked off their jobs across America. Train stations emptied as shopmen, maintenance crews, and other workers joined strike lines.

The work stoppage hit major companies like the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway. Workers wanted their pre-war wages back and better working conditions after years of cuts.

In El Reno, Oklahoma, the strike hit hard since the town relied heavily on railroad jobs. Local shops felt the pinch as striking workers spent less money around town.

El Reno Thrived on Railroads

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway made El Reno important years earlier. The town served as a key point with big repair shops that gave hundreds of locals jobs.

Train crews changed shifts there, and travelers stopped for meals during long trips. The railroad yards stayed busy day and night when times were normal.

Downtown shops grew around the tracks, with restaurants, hotels, and stores serving railroad workers and passengers. The town’s whole economy tied to those steel rails running through its middle.

A Little Diner Opened in the Right Spot

Ross Davis started the Hamburger Inn near the downtown El Reno train stop just before the strike began. His father Homer joined him running the small eatery that sold simple, cheap food.

The tiny restaurant sat where hungry railroad workers walked by every day. They sold basic items working folks could buy on tight budgets.

The father-son team built their business knowing what customers needed – fast, filling meals at fair prices. Their spot near the tracks would soon matter more than they knew.

Meat Cost Too Much for Workers Without Pay

When the strike started, the Davis family faced a big problem. Their customers suddenly had much less money to spend.

Beef prices stayed high, making regular hamburgers too costly for workers living on strike funds. The Davises needed to keep their burgers at five cents to keep customers coming.

Selling normal hamburgers at that price would put them out of business.

They needed a clever fix that would let them sell cheap food while still making enough money to stay open during hard times.

The Davises Found a Smart Fix

Homer and Ross tried new ideas in their kitchen. They found that mixing thin-sliced onions into the meat made a little beef go much further.

The onions added size, taste, and juiciness to the burgers. This simple change let them use less meat while still making a filling sandwich.

The father and son got better at making these burgers through practice. They kept the price at five cents, making their creation affordable for broke strikers.

The mixed burger worked well for the business and satisfied hungry customers.

Pressing Onions Created Special Taste

The cooking style made these burgers different. The Davises sliced onions thin and pressed them right into raw meat patties.

They put the patties onion-side down on a hot grill. The heat browned the onions while cooking them into the meat.

This method created a special mix where onions became part of the patty instead of just a topping. The sweet, browned flavor went through the whole burger.

The sizzling sound and good smell filled the small diner and drifted onto the street, bringing in hungry people from blocks away.

Strikers Lined Up for the Cheap Meal

The onion burger caught on fast with striking railroad workers. The five-cent price fit their tight budgets during the strike.

Each burger filled them up and kept hunger away for hours. The smell of grilling onions and beef brought customers in from the picket lines.

News spread quickly about this tasty, cheap option. Workers told their friends and families.

The Hamburger Inn stayed busy even while other businesses in town struggled.

Other Restaurants Started Making Them Too

As the onion burger gained fans, other El Reno food spots took notice. Local restaurants started using similar methods to stay in business during tough times.

The cooking style spread to diners across Oklahoma. Each place added their own small changes to the basic idea.

Some used more spices, while others changed how much onion they mixed with meat. The main trick stayed the same – pressing onions into the patty before cooking.

The burger became famous in the region with loyal customers who liked both its taste and low price.

Tough Times Made the Burger Popular

When the Great Depression hit a few years later, the onion burger recipe worked perfectly for the bad economy.

Restaurants across Oklahoma used the method to make expensive ingredients last during the hardest money troubles in American history. Families even made them at home to stretch their grocery money.

The simple idea born from need became a loved food tradition. People kept ordering onion burgers even after money got better.

The taste had become part of Oklahoma’s food culture, lasting beyond its start as a money-saving trick.

El Reno Still Flips Thousands of Onion Burgers Today

The legacy of the Davis family’s innovation lives on in modern El Reno.

Several historic burger establishments still make onion burgers using the original technique from 1922.

The town celebrates its unique contribution to American food culture with the annual Fried Onion Burger Day Festival every first Saturday in May.

Cooks prepare the world’s largest onion burger during the festival, feeding thousands of visitors. Local restaurants compete for the title of best onion burger, with each claiming to stay truest to the original recipe.

A century after its creation, this Depression-era food remains a point of pride and identity for the small Oklahoma railroad town.

Visiting El Reno, Oklahoma

You can learn about the fried onion burger’s creation at the Hungry for History marker on the northeast corner of Wade and Choctaw.

Visit during El Reno’s Fried Onion Burger Day Festival on the first Saturday in May to see them cook an 850-pound burger. The free festival has live music, car shows, and eating contests.

Take the Heritage Express Trolley for downtown tours, or explore historic Route 66 and Highway 81 on your own.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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