Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. As an Indigenous person, this colonizer holiday always feels so strange to me.
My wife and I went to my mother’s farm on Thanksgiving Day, but when it came time to eat, I really couldn’t stomach the holiday standbys of mashed potatoes, Stove-Top stuffing, and candied yams, mostly because of the mass slaughter of Indigenous people.
Having skipped the traditional celebration and its obligatory holiday fare altogether, I decided the real feast would come later—in burger form.
So the next afternoon I trekked to the far fat side of town to Biglow’s Burgers at 12309 North Council Rd., curious to see if these really were the biggest—and possibly best—burgers in the Oklahoma City area.
The community around North Council has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade or two. Baptist churches, Sonic drive-ins, and all the strip malls the eye can see adorned the landscape as I drove down the homogeneous road, feverishly looking for the place.
Nestled in a mini-mall of tanning shops and math tutors, on the corner there stood Biglow’s. As I opened the door next to a large caricature of Biglow himself framed in neon, I walked in and the smell was truly heavenly.
As the hearty cologne of sizzling beef wafted through the building, I ordered up front and then found a seat in the faux-aluminum chairs. Besides the grand design of true cow culture that permeated the place, what really got me was the working bar, serving a limited selection of alcoholic drinks that will wet anybody’s whistle.
Working bar and all, I chose a fountain Diet Pepsi—happily on tap, and it was good.
Beyond the burgers and sandwiches, Biglow’s chili is reportedly top notch. The waitperson told me the owner is from Cincinnati—one of the best chili towns in the country, no lie!—so I absolutely had to try his take on the Chili Dog ($7.00) as an aperitif, if you will.
Presented to me, it was a colossal beast. Sure, there was a hot dog somewhere in there, but the whole bun was absolutely slathered in this spicy, meaty chili. With a little cheese and a few diced onions, the hot dog itself was serviceable, but the hot chili was totally on-point. Biglow’s needs to hustle bowls of the stuff—hell, I’d buy it by the quart or two!
Having almost eaten the whole wiener, I had to stop because my big moment —and an even bigger burger—had finally arrived.
Looking over the meat-compound, angelic horns must have been blaring, because this was a thing of glory that had me drooling. I had the Bacon Me Crazy ($19.00), a seriously pork-heavy sandwich laden with strips of bacon and dollops of homemade bacon jam, as well as cheddar, grilled onions, and, of course, Biglow sauce.
Served on a tender brioche bun grilled in hot butter, a smoldering pile of bacon was coming out of every nook and cranny, and it was almost overwhelming—and that’s before the half-pound all-beef burger was eventually discovered. And don’t forget the hefty serving of hand-cut fries adorning this basket of manna from heaven! Those golden crispy spears were a welcome diversion from their hefty main player.
Featuring the tautest strips of muscular bacon and, even better, the most loadbearing pure beef around, it was a heavyset burger in all the tastiest ways, compelling me to take bite after bite. With the luscious bacon jam sticking the whole thing together, this burger is a Godsend to everyone in the Oklahoma City area.
Seriously, take the daunting trip to North Council and try a burger—any burger—from Biglow’s menu and taste the true pedigree.
Eating around half of the burger, I had to stop, drop, and box it up because there was no way I could muster the fortitude to finish it. Still, gluttony demanded one final move—and I’d heard Biglow’s desserts were homemade, natch—so I ordered the cobbler, but sadly it was already gone by the end of lunch.
Thankfully, they still had Cinnamon Rolls ($5.00) and, after that, it was game over, man! Served up hot, this roll was moist and sticky like a good cinnamon roll should be. I gobbled it all up, making circles with my fingers on the tray as I scraped up the icing and crumbs, almost forgetting I already had half a cow, a pig, and a (chili)dog in my belly.
By the time I came up for air, I knew I was officially done for.
Biglow’s Burgers is officially on my list of Best Burgers in Town and—bonus points—it also serves the best chili dog in town. Untuck your shirt, loosen up your belt, and prepare to indulge in a meat odyssey that no one walks away from unscathed. How lucky.
Cómpralo ya!
-
Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
