Missouri’s On The Regional Burger List Thanks To Sedalia

Vine Pair published a list of America's Regional Cheeseburger Styles this past spring. Yet, if someone forty miles away is clueless about that burger, can it really represent the entire state on a list?

Vine Pair says 50 billion burgers are consumed in the United States every year, and with such a widespread admiration for this fast food staple, there's bound to be some deviations. Vine Pair goes on to assert there's a burger style from almost every region of the United States that riffs on the traditional hamburger. This is what they came up with:

First, why does Oklahoma get two mentions on the list for regional burgers? Well, maybe it's because the Theta Burger is over in Norman by the University of Oklahoma, and the Fried Onion Burger comes out of Ardmore, which is practically Texas. Speaking of Texas, I can certainly tell you the San Antonio Bean Burger wasn't a thing in Lubbock, yet the Green Chile Cheeseburger, at least how Whataburger did it, was definitely a Texas thing.

So, would you consider the Guber Burger a regional Missouri thing? I'm not so sure I would. It's a Sedalia thing, and people of a certain age who came into Sedalia to eat regularly at the Wheel Inn are all about it. Yet, it's not precisely a Missouri thing. I'm not sure I'd even say it's a West Central Missouri thing.

I might say the same about Iowa's Loose Meat Sandwiches. Sure, Maid-Rite, the chain with THE recipe for Loose Meat Sandwiches, started in Muscatine, Iowa, near the Quad Cities. Yet, by the time I got there, even though Davenport had a couple of Maid-Rites, no one—and I mean no one—was tripping over themselves to take me to Maid-Rite, yet they couldn't shut up about Quad Cities-style pizza.

Interestingly enough, my girlfriend Stacey, who grew up in Waverly, was clueless about the Guber Burger, yet is aware of Maid-Rite because you can point your vehicle to Lexington and pick yourself up a Maid-Rite sandwich at their store there.

My point isn't so much to pick on Vine Pair's Regional Cheeseburger map or say they're wrong because the Guber Burger doesn't represent all of Missouri. Or Loose Meat sandwiches aren't a thing in ALL of Iowa. Or they couldn't give White Castle Sliders the nod for Illinois. It's a Chicago thing.

It's cool to see the connections—the origins of different burger styles. Sure, Butterburgers come from Wisconsin, but they're a Midwest thing, thanks to Culver's. The Green Chile Cheeseburger is a New Mexico thing that spills into Texas and Oklahoma because of Whataburger. The Guber Burger rates a mention because it's such a Sedalia thing; you can still get it at Goody's and Kehde's. If neither place had it on the menu, I'm not sure Missouri would be on the list.