Lot-A-Burger
928 W. 23rd St.
Sept. 5, 2024
I just know a burger hate to see me comin’.
Though not on the level of a George Motz, I consider myself a bit of a burger historian. I’ve been to the longhorn pastures of Meers’ Burger and the onion-fried mecca of Sid’s Diner in El Reno, and am very annoying on Facebook when In-N-Out is mentioned. In 2017 I ate at all six Lot-A-Burgers in Tulsa for an article in The Tulsa Voice, and subsequently won a journalism award for my efforts.
You can say I’m a self-styled burger authority, and if you don’t, I will. All “self-styled,” like.
But the last seven years have been unkind to the Tulsa Lot-A-Burgers, leaving only one of the landmarks standing: the oldest original Lot-A-Structure, on Charles Page. With Claud’s and JJ’s closing in the same span, Tulsa has been running at a burger deficit. And though Tulsa still has the likes of Ted’s, Hank’s, and Bill’s, I’m of the opinion you step away from possessive monosyllabism for Tulsa’s true GOAT.
And with the reopening of West 23rd Street’s Lot‑A, our GOAT count has re-upped to two.
I was originally informed of Lot-A-Burger by This Land’s Stuart Hetherwood, who also informed me the one on West 23rd shut down for “keeping it too real.” I later learned this meant it had burnt to the damn ground, but let’s not split hairs.