Friday, October 17, 2008

Billy's Giant Hamburger - Jackson Hole, WY

Billy’s Giant Hamburgers in Jackson, Wyoming really does have giant burgers. We were in Jackson Hole for a few days to celebrate my friend Bill’s 50th birthday. After a morning of mountain biking through the Tetons we slipped into Jackson for some refueling.

Billy’s is a small place. The grill is surrounded by a counter that seats about 20. Billy’s is located right across the street from the main square in Jackson. Just look for the giant arches made of elk antlers, then head to the west side of the square. It shares a space with the Cadillac Grille, but eat in Billy’s at the counter.

They were a little backed up. The grill was loaded with huge patties of fresh meat and our server said we would have to wait about 20 minutes. Billy’s supplies burgers to the Cadillac Grille too. I ordered the Cheeseburger and fries ($6.70) with grilled onions (50 cents). Bill had a cheeseburger.

The guys behind the counter efficiently got caught up and before too long we had our burgers. They sat upon a nicely grilled sesame bun amongst a pile of criss-cut fries. Each burger has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. The meat was nicely seasoned with pepper and salt and cooked nicely medium, although Bill’s was closer to medium rare.

It had been a good six weeks since I had my last burger. It was heavenly and I downed it in minutes. In my beef deprived state I might have gotten a little carried away, but I thought it was superb. The meat and the vegetables were well-balanced with the burger coming out prominently in the mix.

We headed off for the afternoon for some beautiful hiking in the Tetons – well fueled and satisfied. They like their elk meat and trout here, but nothing beats a good slab of ground chuck, well-prepared like they do at Billy’s.

Burger 4.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 3.5 spatulas

Billy’s Giant Hamburgers
55 N. Cashe St.
Jackson, WY 83001
307-733-3279
www.cadillac-grille.com/Billys.html