Stay calm: Oldie’s burgers will be back

The best burger in Wimberley is taking a short break.

For two years running, the hamburgers at Oldies Burgers & More have been voted the best in Wimberley by readers of The View. But, thanks to a dispute over parking spaces, Oldies closed down its spot at 801 FM 2325 last month.

The popular restaurant is moving down the road and will be bigger and better. For now, the menu will remain pretty much unchanged.

Sisters Liz Jones and Tracy Scudder have taken out a three-year lease on the site of the old Odie’s Food Court (411 FM 2325) across from the library. Besides being in a more prominent place, the new fenced location will feature a shiny, new, commercial kitchen, plenty of parking, and restrooms. Eventually, there will be a covered pavilion with tables and misters, horseshoes and other games for the kids, as well as live music.

The new Oldies is set for a soft opening later this month in anticipation of an official grand opening.

The sisters are enthusiastically embracing the challenge.

“We were sad to leave there (the old location),” says Liz. “We had a thriving business there. It kind of pushed us out of our comfort zone. God closes some windows and opens others,” adds Tracy.

When talking about Oldies, often one sister will start a thought and the other will finish it.

135 degrees

The biggest change will be the new kitchen. The old kitchen was crowded and stifling. Liz says one day it got up to 135 degrees. The old grill wasn’t adequate. The exhaust fan worked — “occasionally.” “A friend told us that we were putting that kitchen through something that it wasn’t ready for,” says Liz.

The new $30,000, 8 1/2-foot by 20-foot kitchen/trailer is state of the art with air conditioning, plenty of elbow room, an efficient exhaust system and a gleaming stainless steel interior. “We were lucky to get it,” says Liz, who spotted it online and immediately contacted the manufacturer in New Braunfels. Liz was told that someone else was interested in the rig and “the first one who gets here gets it.”

She was down there lickety-split. The wait for a new trailer is now about six months.

The new kitchen is about twice the size of her old one.

Oldies opened November of 2019. When your webpage lists your hours as 11 a.m. until sold out, you know you are doing something right. One of the things the sisters want to do is lengthen and stabilize the hours. “The community adapted to our hours,” says Liz. “They supported our hours,” says Tracy.

Thanks to the Germans

The hamburger traces it roots to Hamburg, Germany, which was a busy trading hub in the mid-1800’s and known for its beef. Political upheaval in the region led to a mass migration of Germans to the United States. They brought beer halls and a “Hamburg-style” chopped steak with them, according to the website History.com.

When the Hamburg steak made the leap from plate to bun is unclear. The Texas town of Athens claims the title “Original Home of the Hamburger.” It seems Uncle Fletcher Davis started serving chopped beef on bread in the 1880’s at his restaurant southeast of Dallas.

The burger gained widespread popularity when it was served during the 1904 World’s Fair In St. Louis. The White Castle burger chain was founded in Wichita, Kan., in 1921. In the late 1940’s McDonald’s emerged. Today they figure McDonald’s sells 75 burgers a second. Over the years the chain is estimated to have sold more than 300 billion burgers. McDonald’s stopped counting in the 1990’s.

People who keep track of such things say about 50 billion hamburgers are sold each year worldwide.

The sisters are doing their part to add to that total.

Liz figures she “smashed” and served about 35,000 hamburger patties last year. Tracy works the front of the house, greeting customers and taking orders.

The food at Oldies is fresh. The sauces and dressings are all made in house, including their signature tomatillo-based “Awesome” sauce.

Liz figures she puts in 60 hours a week at Oldies; Tracy about 50 hours.

Never frozen

Each 4.8-ounce patty is formed by hand and weighed. Says Tracy: “We never freeze our meat.” Says Liz: “If you get a perfectly round patty it is most likely frozen meat.”

A customer once complained that the patties were not perfectly shaped. Another customer set him straight, pointing out “there’s a girl back there smashing hundreds of those patties with her hands every day.”

Tracy, who is a Realtor, comes in early each day and rolls about 50 pounds of ground beef into balls. More are made as the need arises. On a typical day, Oldies will serve up 200 burgers in the 3-4 hours it’s open. Oldies’ supply of Black Angus beef is locked in.

Liz, who has a background in accounting, easily transitioned into the restaurant business. “It’s my calling,” she says.

Actually, the business is in their genes. The sisters’ father, James Barfield, ran the Old-Fashioned Barbecue on RR12 for 14 years. In fact, the name Oldies is a nod to their dad’s place.

As Oldies settles into its new location, the hours and the menu will be expanding with brisket, turkey and all-you-can-eat catfish night a possibility.

Parking should no longer be an issue. There will be an entrance on Rhodes Lane and an exit on FM 2325. There’s another trailer on the premises where orders will be taken and drinks served. The sisters hope to get a wine and beer license before long. They’ll pass out buzzers so customers will know when their order is ready and won’t have to crowd around the service window waiting.

Their old location didn’t remain vacant for long. Already Tacos El Tizon — which used to be at Odie’s Food Court — has moved in.

For updates on progress, special events, hours and new menu items, visit oldies78676.com or the Oldies Burgers & More Facebook page.

“We’re looking to make this the burger destination in town,” says Liz.