That's a Great Burger is our occasional spotlight on burgers that deserve your attention, your money, and your taste buds. Previous entries include Stella and the (at least temporarily) departed Burger Pig.
New State Burgers & Spirits
https://www.newstateburgers.com/
1705 NW 16th Street, OKC
The Cheeseburger - $9
Fast food ruined hamburgers.
I’m not saying fast food hamburgers are the worst, though they’re far from the best, but they have completely destroyed the dining public’s sense of worth for burgers. At this point I’ve pretty well blocked and muted anyone who dares hop on my timeline to complain about spending $10 on a burger.
Cheap burgers are made of cheap ingredients and put together by cheap labor. That’s not something to celebrate, especially as our overindulgence in burgers plays a role in our statewide heart health woes. (Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Oklahoma and we’re only the third worst in the nation.)
“Did you...bring us here to say we shouldn’t eat hamburgers?”
No. I’m just asking you, once again, to stop eating bad hamburgers. Well, me and Bernie.
Hamburgers should be a treat—whether that means once a month or once every couple of days is up to you. But fast food burgers are just not good enough for you to blow a treat on. New State Burgers & Spirits, on the other hand, is the kind of treat you’ll be desperate to tell your friends about.
There are a couple of options for burgers, but the one I can’t get over is simple The Cheeseburger.
It’s so straightforward, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s a buttery bun, two patties of incredibly perfect beef—thin, but still cooked medium—cheese, chopped pickles, chopped red onions, and a smear of dijonnaise.
The layers on this thing are intoxicating. There’s a slight crispness to the toasted bun. There’s an even layering of chopped red onions and chopped pickles that you’ll really only experience after you’ve taken the bite. The cheese is gooey and it’s partially merged with the pair of beef patties, which are crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.
It’s a failure on my part that I cannot explain this to you better, but you really have to taste one to understand. It’s amazing. As your teeth descend through the layers, you’re getting more and more flavor, until suddenly you’ve got this perfect bite that encapsulates everything. Every bite of this burger is immaculate. Every single one.
Sometimes I’ll think about getting a second burger, but I never do. There’s no need. Even a big old boy like me feels extremely satiated after eating The Cheeseburger. All I want is more of that flavor, but that just means I should come back the next time I get to have a burger. As a treat.
