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Ron’s special
As it prepares for its 45th anniversary in 2020, Tulsa original Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili still serves classics done right. By Jacob Threadgill
Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili 4723 N. May Ave. ronsburgersandchili.com | 286-9172 WHAT WORKS: The hand-cut fries are a treat while the classic chili is a meat-lover’s paradise. WHAT NEEDS WORK: The texture on the sausage burger is more lean than a regular burger. TIP: Root beer is served in a frosted mug.
In a state rich in hamburger history, Tulsa native Ron Baber established a name and legacy for himself when he founded Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili in 1975 at a small, 10-seat restaurant on E. 15th Street in Tulsa. Baber died at the age of 82 in 2018, but he lived to see his hamburger empire expand to 19 total locations across Oklahoma and into Texas and Arkansas. “I had built up $10,000 in a retirement plan, and it was enough to put a down payment on this little place,” Baber told Tulsa World about Ron’s original location. “I always loved to cook and always wanted my own place. When other guys were buying Playboy, I was buying Gourmet.” Ron’s signature burger, Ron’s Special, is one of its huge beef patties cooked with fried onions into the meat and then topped with bacon bits, Cure 81 ham and pepper jack and American cheese while the bottom bun is dressed with mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes. A “Did you know?” section on the 12
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back of the menu points out the irony of food history, like how hamburgers (which originate from Hamburg, Germany) have no ham at all. Ron’s Special goes out of its way to introduce ham to the burger and is similar — and totally different at the same time — to the Geronimo burger at Geronimo’s Bakery, 1817 N. Martin Luther King Ave., in Oklahoma City. As for the other part in the name of Ron’s restaurants, chili is made fresh daily in huge pots as two parts ground beef and one part ground pork simmer away in spices before being added to its brown-and-red sauce. Chili can be ordered with beans, onions or jalapeños and more of that melted pepper jack cheese. The chili can be applied to burgers and hot dogs or ordered as Frito Pie; it can be eaten on its own in a bowl or pilled on top of spaghetti with cheese and beans. While Ron’s chili is as comforting as a weighted blanket, there are more innovative options on the menu, like the sausage burger, which combines pork country breakfast sausage with ground beef. Fresh chicken is battered and fried and can be paired with housemade honey mustard, ranch, barbecue or gravy for dipping, but add some battered and fried jalapeños for an extra treat. The fried jalapeños also appear elsewhere on the menu like in Ron’s famous Spanish Fries, which also add some fried onions for good measure. The
