This is a Vintage episode from 2006

George Motz joins The Restaurant Guys to talk about Hamburger America, his documentary celebrating eight beloved burger institutions and the regional traditions, family pride, old grease, beef, and stubborn conviction that make them more than just places to eat.

Why This Episode Matters

• Before smashburgers became trendy and before Hamburger America became a restaurant, George Motz was documenting regional burger culture across the United States
• This episode captures an early moment in America’s burger renaissance, when great roadside burger stands still felt local, handmade, and deeply tied to place
• George explains why the hamburger is both a food story and an American story
• The conversation explores butter burgers, steamed cheeseburgers, old grease, grass-fed beef, and the fierce convictions of great burger makers
• The Guys debate what makes a real hamburger…and why foie gras burgers might actually be meatloaf

The Banter

Mark Pascal and Francis Schott discuss New York City’s crackdown on sous vide cooking and debate whether the health department should regulate emerging cooking techniques before banning them outright. On advice of imaginary counsel, Mark will not be offering any home sous vide instructions.

The Conversation

George Motz joins The Restaurant Guys to discuss his documentary Hamburger America, a film exploring eight legendary burger restaurants across the United States.

What begins as a conversation about hamburgers quickly becomes a broader discussion about regional identity, family businesses, roadside Americana, and the passionate people preserving classic burger traditions. George explains the strict criteria he used to select restaurants for the film, including fresh beef, decades of continuous operation, and a story worth telling. Along the way, the conversation moves through Oklahoma longhorn burgers, Wisconsin butter burgers, steamed cheeseburgers, the legendary grease at Dyer’s in Memphis, Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, which claims to have invented the hamburger sandwich, and Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, where burger lore became part of American pop culture.

More than a discussion about hamburgers, the episode becomes a celebration of old-school American food culture and the fiercely independent restaurants that helped define it.

Bio

George Motz is a filmmaker, burger historian, author, and television personality best known for his documentary Hamburger America. He later became one of the country’s leading authorities on regional American hamburgers and opened the restaurant Hamburger America in New York City.

Info

Hamburger America documentary

George Motz https://www.hamburgeramerica.com/

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