It was a beautiful, slightly overcast Saturday morning.  An absolutely perfect day for an adventure in all things Americana, and after much nudging and canoodling from friends and co-workers, we had finally decided to take a trip to Meers, OK to sample what Bon Appétit magazine had dubbed the third best burger in America.

The plan was simple.  Drive North through Lawton, OK. Just past Fort Sill, hang a left and go up US 115 until we hit the joint and try what everyone in this part of the country (and other places around the globe) are raving about.  The trip would take about 45 minutes, so no major planning needed.  Just grab a printout from MapQuest, pack a diaper bag, secure the kiddo, buy some jerky and we were off.

At least that’s how it was supposed to go. but most good things result from plans that went terribly, horribly wrong, and this tale is no exception.

10:00am CDT: We left Wichita Falls heading North. A quick stop for gas and jerky and on through the Red River basin into Oklahoma.  There’s nothing really special about this part of the country at this time of year, since the Red River is generally more of a “sort of rusty-brown mud puddle” in late summer, so even though the camera was in the front seat with me, there was nothing startlingly beautiful or interesting to shoot.

We made a note to revisit the Red River in winter or early spring, when the river lives up to its name, swelling its banks with a torrent of deep red waters that almost always threaten to widen the border between Texas and Oklahoma by another few feet.  At this time of the year various birds of prey are also out strutting their stuff, seemingly happy to pose for a portrait in between darting at the shoreline to grab a well-deserved meal.

10:40am CDT: The printout says we’re supposed to turn West, then go about 0.8 miles and turn North onto a certain road.  Problem…  The road does not exist, but the map shows another road we can take, so we kept moving West for a mile or so and turned onto that road, which turned out to be Scenic Route 115.

Do you know the difference between a scenic road and a highway?  If not, let me tell you. A scenic road is generally shorter on paper, but will take three times as long to travel over. I’m not complaining about the long, leisurely detour on this one however.  This particular scenic route winds gently through the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, and for two people suffering from flatland insanity, sights like these are akin to therapy.

The first mountain I've seen in three years. I sat and stared at it for ten minutes. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Saddleback Ridge sits apart from the rest of the Wichita Mountains, which makes it even more majestic and impressive than it would be otherwise.

We drove and wound through deep forests dappled in shade, past live buffalo who wouldn’t cooperate for a photo, past a town of prairie dogs and finally came to the end of the park.  Unfortunately, we didn’t come out in Meers, OK.  We came out 20 miles away.

Let’s just say the map wasn’t being too helpful, since it didn’t mention that the road forked, or that we should be watching for it.

12:50pm CDT: We finally figure out where we are according to the crappy map and begin heading around the refuge to the other side, and our eventual lunch.  Even though this part of the drive was uneventful, the country we were driving through had obviously seen its share of very real events, some in the not too distant past.

The landscape in that part of Oklahoma is littered with abandoned farms and houses.  Most have stood this way, it seems, for years. Victims of storms or tornadoes. Either the occupants decided that some other part of the world suited them better or they are already in a much better place but for the towns, the story is different.

The sign reads: "Cooperton Baptist Church", though I doubt services have been held here in a very, very long time.

1:30pm CDT: After passing one of many new windmill Farms in Texas and Oklahoma, we finally arrived in meers, Population “6 people two cats and a dog”. Believe me, by this time the old country store ws a very welcome sight indeed.

The first thing that struck me about the place was the number of cars parked up and down the city’s only road. There were at least 10 passenger cars, a half dozen trucks and five SUV’s along with a pair of motorcycles, all parked around the restaurant.  For an 86 year old dive in a city of 6, these are impressive numbers.

It didn’t stop there. On entering we were greeted not only by and incredible set of aromas from ancient lumber, the musk of age, hickory smoke and beef, but by a line of at least 20 people, all waiting for tables. In the queue I heard accents from all over the world, not just all over the midwest.  One couple was visiting from the British Isles, another from Fort Sill, OK, several from Kansas, a couple from California and of course, a pair of foodies from Texas with a two year old in tow. All in a general store turned restaurant over 20 miles from the nearest population center.

The ambiance of the place, by New York standards, would be a disgrace. From the standpoint of exactly what the Meers country Store and Restaurant is, it’s perfect.  Not one floorboard is level. the dining areas are sections of four pre-existing buildings, none of which were built at the same elevation, nor were they decorated in the same manner.

A view of our dining area. See the tin ceiling tiles?

The Meers Store is the epitome of down home country.  They’ve used what they had to make the place bigger over the years, because they didn’t want their patrons to have to stand in blistering heat or driving rain. And those patrons keep coming, just as they have for the past 86 years.  The reason is the same now as it was when the restaurant first started serving.  It’s the burger, and it’s nothing to be trifled with.

The Meers Country Store & Restaurant Cowboy Cheeseburger. If you're wondering why it's cut in quarters, that's a pie plate it's sitting in! The burger is seven inches in diameter.

Behold the world famous Cowboy Burger. Seven Inches of 100% longhorn Beef, mustard, tomatoes, pickles lettuce, onions American Cheese (because it’s an American Burger) and bun.  That’s it. That’s all.  No gimmicks, nothing fancy, nothing crazy.  And it’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.

1/4 of the meers Burger hitting the biggest mouth in the bloggosphere. Mine.

If you’re not fond of that combination, they will serve this moster to you with whatever condiments and toppings you prefer.  Be warned however, you may take a little ribbing at the hands of the wait staff. To quote the Meers Website:

Wondering what is in our burgers? How do we fix them? Why do we fix them this way? Why do we not fix them like other folks do?

• Meersburgers are made with 97% lean grass fed Longhorn beef from our own Longhorn herd.
• Our famous burgers are cooked medium well done and are served with mustard, dill pickles, tomatoes, purple onions, and green leaf lettuce. We use American cheese because our burgers are American burgers. We have been fixing them this way since the beginning, for over 50 years and this is the way our cowboys like them. 99% of our customers like them this way so this is why we respectfully call this burger (and your hats off boys) the COWBOY BURGER.
• Some folks like mayo on their burgers instead of mustard but call burgers with this a SISSY BURGER! Other folks like ketchup on their burgers instead of mustard. We call burgers with this a YANKEE BURGER! Cowboys believe ketchup belongs on fries, not beef.
• A few folks out there want all three—mustard, mayo, and ketchup—on their burgers. The poor fools are simply confused.

We don’t care how you want your burger fixed. We will fix it any way you want it. We cook your burger to order. Try one with bacon, jalapeno or both. However, if you order something other then a cowboy burger, please be patient; our cooks rarely encounter sissies, Yankees or confused souls.

Please note that there is one thing we simply cannot bring ourselves to do; We cannot fix an open-faced burger. The secret to our success is the blending of flavors that occurs when steaming hot Longhorn beef is placed on fresh onions, pickles, tomatoes and leaf lettuce (and mustard!). You can’t get the flavors to blend well any other way. This is our secret recipe, the secret to our success!

I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

don’t be fooled into thinking that the burgers are the only find at Meers.  Not only is the Barbecue far more than decent, but they even stock their own micro brew, and it’s outta this world.

One of the best micro-brews I've ever had

The beer, like the burgers, comes in an over sized 22 oz container, so if you’re with friends, ask for glasses and share.  The beer is more than worth it, witha  deep body and a dizzying array of overtones that I can’t begin to describe.  The combination of thee burger and the beer is a heady experience to say the least, and one I’ll be going back for again.

Of the other items we tried, the fries were just OK, the fried green tomatoes should have been allowed to ripen, but the fried okra and Texas fingers (deep fried jalapeño and onion strips served with ranch dressing) were phenomenal and their iced tea is fabulous.

My recommendation?

If you’re in Oklahoma, take the trip out to Meers. It’s an epiphany in the world of burgers. In my completely unbiased opinion, this is quite possibly the best burger on the planet, not just in the USA.

For more information on the Meers Store & Restaurant, click here.

Oh…  I have it on good authority that the banana pudding is pretty good, too:

Luvvin' the banana pudding