For years, as I’ve been traveling back and forth to Odessa for business, I’ve seen the Permian Basin Hamburger Company.  I’ve even tried to eat there on a couple of occasions.   But until today, the stars had not so aligned themselves as to allow it.

The menu, on the outside wall, appeared straight-forward,so I went in.  It appeared fairly standard with a line working toward the door out of cattle shoot from the left corner.  When I got to the counter to order, I was standing at a three-quarter’s height wall directly in front of the griddle. 

I ordered a cheeseburger, and the cook took a patty off the front of the griddle, slapped it on a giant Colonial bun, spread some grated cheese across the top of it and handed it to me on a divided plate (like you would get in a school or hospital cafeteria). 

Next in line was a steam table (again like you see in a school cafeteria) which contained french fries and re-fried beans.  I’ve never been to a place that served beans with their burgers.  Interesting.  These were followed by small styrofoam containers of dessert – banana pudding and cherry cobbler.

This is the view from my table top toward the front of the restaurant.  Most everyone that was there appeared to eat there on a regular basis by the way they carried on conversations with the other patrons and the wait staff.

Here’s my plate:

The french fries were skin on and, had they been hot, would have likely been quite good.  The burger itself was thin and pricey (for $8.48 with fries, beans and a drink) and I’m just not a fan of melted grated cheddar cheese on a burger.  The cherry cobbler was industrial tasting, at best.  All things considered, it was comparatively pricy and not terribly good. 

Sadly, I had built it up in my mind over the years that I hadn’t made it there so it was a truly disappointing experience.