The historic plaque in front of the closet-wide hamburger restaurant states that John and Hilda Rutledge started selling hamburgers on the sidewalk in 1922 and it wasn't until two year later that they bought the small space between two buildings for $65 and established a wall-to-wall eatery there.
For generations now, locals and visitors have made the pilgrimage to the little space between the two whitewashed walls to chow down on the burgers dished out by the hundreds daily.
They're not Whopper-sized, Big Macs, or the like, but local have been endeared to the cozy locale and the bite-sized morsels dished out by the dozens by the waitresses and the owners.In 1995, the Rutledges sold the property to Gloria Perez, a former employee.
At 91 years, it has outlived Panchita's, Fisher's Cafe, Higgie's, the Texas Cafe, and countless others. Things have a way of hanging around this city, and Rutledge, unless we have missed some cafe we don't know about, is still considered the oldest greasy spoon in town.Yet, even Rutledge's culinary seniority doesn't make it exempt from the mean wit of Brownsville wags referring to the tiny size of their hamburgers.
"They still have two pounds of hamburger meat left over form the 10 pounds they bought in 1922," said one.
9 comments:
Tel me, how do Browntown's fatsos get in there? Ha ha ha
Wow maybe you can get a free burger for this great story!
Juan you forgot pappa joes that was located at close to osuthmose and international and then the glass kitchen on international blvd and dan street, batman
Wow Wees
Estan con Maaadre, esos hamburgers....Uuuuyyyy!!!
Vermillion has been around since 1934? Rutledge is in violation of ADA codes isn't it? What about fire code safety regulations? Or is it "grandfathered" in the district and therefore exempt?
Back in the 50's there was a pool hall one the second floor of the building next to the hamburger joint. From there we could spit into the veggies left in open boxes in the space behind the kitchen. Great fun and I would never eat there after that.
My dad's barbershop was right next door ...for many years i use to love it....burger, chitos, and coke the burgers were .30 cents back then and Mrs. Rutledge was the nicest lady ever and her son too. My dad was "Mr Chuy" and on the other side was Zepeda hardware. #memories
Does anyone remember fishers cafe French fries covered in gravy?
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