An Ames favorite since 1970, local eatery Hickory Park Restaurant Co., 1404 S. Duff Ave., has recently received national attention from Food Network Magazine.

The magazine’s June/July issue contains a feature on the nation’s top burgers, singling out one unrivaled burger from each state. Featured from Iowa is Hickory Park’s famous garbage burger, originally concocted by the restaurant’s founder.

Stephanie Brecht, Hickory Park front manager, said the burger’s name is appropriate considering everything that’s on it — Swiss and American cheese, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, sauerkraut, ham and bacon.

But a burger is more than just its fixings, which is why Hickory Park starts with a solid homemade base.

“We fresh grind our own [beef] every day,” said Matt Olson, kitchen manager.

The result is a burger that’s popular with patrons.

“I’d say one out of every five burgers we do is a garbage burger,” Olson said.

At $6.50 for a quarter-pounder or $7.75 for a half-pounder, the garbage burger is a steal compared with the competition on Food Network’s top burgers list. The burger fielded by Iowa’s northern neighbor, Minnesota, is priced at $13.50.

According to the Food Network Magazine’s Web site, the publication has about 1.6 million subscribers, which means a lot of new eyes are focused on the Ames eatery. Although the issue featuring Hickory Park published only a few weeks ago, Brecht said the restaurant’s patrons have taken notice.

“We’ve had a few people ask about it,” Brecht said. “We’ve definitely sold a few more garbage burgers since then.”

Origins

Hickory Park was founded in 1970 when David Wheelock purchased a shuttered barbecue joint on East Lincoln Way.

Wheelock kept the name, but transformed the business. After outgrowing the original location and a building on South 16th Street, Hickory Park moved into its present location in 1997.

With a seating capacity of about 450, the restaurant serves about 15,000 people and more than 20,000 pounds of meat in an average week.