Another Classic Burger Joint Is Gone

I hate having to report this but one of the burger joints in my book has closed, possibly for good. I've recently learned that Pak-A-Sak, the nearly 60-year-old Oklahoma burger institution, shut off its flattop over a year ago. I received the unfortunate news from an Enid, OK native and confirmed the story Friday with a call to Enid City Hall.

It was hard to beat the Bible passages, romance novels, and sliders at Pak-A-Sak. And the cheese tots (one of America's greatest gifts to the world). Simplicity and tradition was the name of the game at this Northern Oklahoma burger joint. The burger to get was the regular with cheese and onions, a small smashed patty burger that shares DNA with the original American hamburger. It was an oniony cheese-and-beef bomb that melted in your mouth. I can taste it now and will miss it dearly.

I'm not sure of the details of its demise but this is exactly the type of American institution that needs to be saved. The importance of the American burger joint is rarely contemplated and I hope it is not too late for places with similar predicaments. Once again, the idiom, "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" rings true.

Here are a few photos of Pak-A-Sak, as I saw it the last time I was there, July 22nd, 2010: