Our Mission Statement
We a are family business that has been entrusted to keep the legacy of the original burger recipe alive. Started in 1885 By Frank and Charles Menches at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. We still use today in our restaurants the same all natural ingredients just like the original burger first served in 1885 and our mission continues to serve our communities with a quality product, held to high standards, with excellent service, that will have our customers wanting to tell their friends and family about their amazing experience.
“Birth of the Hamburger in Hamburg” Canton, Ohio natives Frank and Charles Menches were food vendors at the 1885 Erie County Fair, also known as the Hamburg Fair. Legend has it that during the course of the Fair, the Menches ran out of their signature menu item of pork sausage sandwiches. Their local supplier, Hamburg butcher Andrew Klein, was reluctant to butcher more hogs during a period of unseasonable late summer heat and suggested to substitute the use of ground beef. The brothers fried some up, but both found it dry and bland. They added coffee, brown sugar and other ingredients to create a unique taste. The original sandwiches were sold with just ketchup and sliced onions. With new found success with their beef sandwich, they christened it the “hamburger” sandwich after the Erie County Fair’s home town of Hamburg, New York.
Why the Erie County Fair Menches Hamburger Story “Cuts the Mustard”
The Menches Brothers 1885 claim is the oldest “birth of the burger” sandwich story in the United States.
No other invention story can stake a claim to why their sandwich is called a “hamburger,” our story can!
Descendants of the Menches Brothers have an original, handwritten burger recipe.
The Menches family is still in the burger business today. No other claim still has an operating restaurant serving the original recipe.
In the 1920s, carnival historian John C. Kunzog interviewed Frank Menches about his experience at the Erie County Fair. His detailed hamburger story was published in the 1970 book, “Tanbark & Tinsel.”
Successful entrepreneurs, the Menches not only claim hamburger history, but are also credited for pioneering the production of ice cream cones and creating “Gee-Whiz,” a caramel coated peanut and popcorn snack now known as Cracker Jacks.
