Power’s Hamburgers

I first found out about Power’s Hamburgers in Fort Wayne on roadfood.com. I did some research and found a review that said, in essence, “It’s a lot like White Castle, but not as good.” I was pretty sure that wasn’t possible, so I thought I’d find out for myself.

Power’s used to be a local chain, but there’s only this one location left. The building dates from the 1940’s.

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We arrived mid-afternoon when the tiny place was almost empty. We took our seats at the counter and ordered a couple cheeseburgers each. We had a desultory conversation with the cook and the woman behind the counter. I asked how many burgers they’d ever seen eaten by a single person. The cook said a woman rode up on a motorcycle one time and ordered 17 burgers, a bowl of chili and a piece of pie.

On older Black gentleman wandered in a bought a couple burgers to go. On the way out, he grabbed my shoulder and told me to make sure the cook was behaving himself. I told him I’d do my best.

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The cook asked if we like onions because “that’s what we’re known for.” I told him we wanted the full experience. He piled a huge mess of onions on the grill, along with four tiny meat patties.

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The meat was so thin there were holes I could see through — once I found the meat under the onions.

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I’m not going to kid you. They weren’t amazing. I won’t be in a big hurry to go back, but it certainly wasn’t “not as good as White Castle.” And best of all, the buns weren’t moist.

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