RUDLEDGE HAMBURGERS

The Rutledge Hamburger Stand story has been told a thousand times, but if you've eaten a thousand of its incomparable hamburgers, you know that there's room for one more. Opened by Hilda Rutledge in 1924 on Washington Street between 11th and 12th, the restaurant is so narrow that a fat person  can only enter sideways.

Will Esparza, the lead singer for the heavy-metal group The Dominicans, brought his band to the Half Moon Saloon for Thursday and Friday night gigs. He has been spending his sober hours wandering downtown's streets.

"Tony Gray, my uncle, told me when I left Austin that I needed to stay at the Cameron Hotel," said Esparza. "He said that downtown Brownsville wasn't 6th Street, but it had its own uniqueness. He told me that I needed to visit three places. He said that the Immaculate Conception Cathedral was the most beautiful Catholic church in Texas. He said that the Sportsman was the most authentic cantina in Texas. And he said that Rutledge served the most delicious hamburgers in Texas. He has been correct on all three counts."

Esparza has returned from a California tour. He says that he and his fellow musicians lived on a steady diet of hamburgers for more than a month. He claims to have eaten at some of the most famous dives along the Pacific Coast.

"I don't presume to know many things, but I am an expert on hamburgers," asserted the New Orleans native. "I have never savored a tastier burger at this little stand. I asked the waitress if Rutledge was the home of the original stackers because of their diminutive size. She looked at me with this bewildered expression on her face.

"I went back a second day. I thought I was starving and the burger wasn't that good the previous day, but the burgers were better the second time around. That's love. Talk about cheap! My girlfriend and I had cheeseburgers and sodas for less than six dollars. There can't be a better lunch deal in the United States."

Esparza's critique raises this question among the locals: Are Rutledge hamburgers the best in Brownsville? There is no doubt. They are the best. They may be the best hamburgers in the country. Don't take the words coming from our mouths as the truth. Bite into a Rutledge hamburger and savor the truth for yourself.