Or, yesterday I had a burger fried in grease that hasn’t been changed in nearly 100 years.

Dyer’s burgers is world famous for straining and using the same grease for nearly a century now. In fact, when they moved from their Bartlett location to their current home on Beale St in downtown Memphis the grease was accompanied by a police escort. They also keep the grease locked up so nobody can steal it.

I won’t go into too much detail about the history of Dyer’s but if you are curious, you can read more on their website which also has links to reviews in much more prestigious publications than this one. Places where the reviewers use adjectives *and* adverbs.

I went to Dyer’s with my oldest son while we were on Beale St so he could complete an assignment for his photography class. I’ve been meaning to go forever, but the last time I thought about it I couldn’t get my double jogging stroller through the doors and it was packed so I gave up and had a Philly cheesesteak instead.

I ordered a single with cheese and chili cheese fries and he had a double cheese double meat with regular fries.

Dyer’s is a casual, dinner type restaurant and the food came in wax paper lined plastic baskets and our soft drinks came in disposable plastic cups. I’m not sure, but I guess that part of the reason for so much disposable plastic is that it’s open until 1 am on weekdays and 5 am on weekends and some of the customers might be feeling a bit too cheery to be trusted with glass.

You can see more of the decor and full sized pictures of the food on my Dyer’s Burgers Flickr set..

We went very early, just after 11 am on a Saturday and had no trouble getting a seat. The service was friendly and quick.

The burgers were pretty tasty. Not too greasy but with a nice flavor. As you can see, they came with plenty of pepper on them and dressed with mustard, onions and pickle. The patties were thin and a single on its own is probably not enough to fill up most adults although it’s probably got your entire day’s supply of calories.

Did the century old grease add anything to the flavor? Probably not, but it was fun to eat and I, personally, like and admire a place with a good gimmick.

The fries are hand cut and good if you like slightly soggy rather than extremely crispy fries.

My chili cheese fries were hot and tasty and could have been an entire meal on their own. The chili was beefy and mild and full of tomato and it was topped with what seemed to be real cheddar cheese. You can also add the same chili to your burger; I scooped up a bit of the excess chili and put it on my burger and it was indeed good.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough room left to order a deep fried Twinkie or Suzy-Q for dessert. The meal was very reasonable for a tourist location, we paid right under $17 for our meals and drinks and as I said before the service was fast and friendly.There is better food in Memphis, but if you’re on Beale and want something fast and relatively inexpensive to eat in the downtown area and are the kind of person to find 100 year old grease a plus, Dyer’s is the place for you.

Dyer’s Burgers Website

My Dyer’s Burgers Pictures on Flickr

If you want to see the burgers being fried in the 100 year old grease, watch this video. Actually it’s worth watching for the guy being interviewed who is trolling the travel channel. “Pleasure yourself once a week” Hehehe.