History of the hamburger in the United States History of the hamburger in the United States A hamburger (or burger) is a sandwich that consists of a cooked ground meat patty, usually beef, placed between halves of a sliced bun or between slices of bread or toast. Hamburgers are often served with various condiments, such as mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup, and other options including lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese. The Texas historian Frank X. Tolbert attributes the invention of the hamburger to Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas. Davis is believed to have sold hamburgers at his café at 115 Tyler Street in Athens, Texas, in the late
Hamburger or "fortified refuge" and is a widespread component of place names. The first element of the name is perhaps from Old High German "hamma", referring to a bend in a river, or Middle High German "hamme", referring to an enclosed area of pastureland. "Hamburger" in German is the demonym of Hamburg, similar to "frankfurter" and "wiener", names for other meat-based foods and demonyms of the cities of Frankfurt and Vienna (Wien), respectively. The term "burger", a back-formation, is associated with many different types of sandwiches, similar to a (ground meat) hamburger, but made of different meats such as buffalo in