Stephen Montoya
Ruth Hooker, owner and founder of Hooker’s Grill located at 213 W. Exchange Avenue.
Ruth Hooker, owner and founder of Hooker’s Grill, a casual made-to-order eatery located at 213 W. Exchange Avenue, is a self-proclaimed food historian. For over seven years, Ruth along with her mother Kathryn, have been at the forefront of introducing a centuries old cuisine to the patrons that frequent the Stockyards in the form of an Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger. Today, many foodies would call this style of food a smash burger, a term that has gained popularity over the last few years at many restaurants. However, instead of using a press to get her burgers to come out with a nice paper-thin char, Ruth uses a simple homemade trowel system she claims she learned from a series of cooks back home in Oklahoma.
“El Reno, Oklahoma is where the style of burger was birthed during the Great Depression,” Ruth says while cooking inside of a cloud of steam now coming off of a sizzling flattop. Never one to worry about someone stealing her somewhat proprietary recipe, Ruth is always willing to show off how she makes one of these traditional burgers. In fact, she is more than willing to pass on this tidbit of Oklahoman culture to anyone willing to watch her cook an order from start to finish. In this way, Ruth is passing on her traditions, one sandwich at a time.
“We just called it a fried onion burger where I grew up, even though the style is smashed,” she says while flipping three thin patties at once. “It’s funny, over time things are given names attached to whatever they are so that people can recognize whatever it is, but even though it was a smashed style burger, nobody called it that. A smash burger just recently came on to the scene, kind of like that old song, ‘I was country when country wasn't cool.’ I was a smash burger when smash burgers weren’t even heard of.”
Stephen Montoya
Ruth Hooker holds two custom trowels used to cook a classic Oklahoma Onion Burger.
To set the record straight, an Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger is made with a combination of ground beef and onions like the name suggests on a flattop stove. However, the art of making this style of burger is a bit more complicated than the two ingredients it derives its name from. Ruth emphatically testifies that there is no need for a press to make the patties thin. The meat and onion patty just need a quick smush from the trowel to give it, it’s girth or lack thereof. Once a section of the meat is browned, then Ruth quickly flips it over and lets the other side cook while placing a bun on top to lock the meat and onion flavor into the bread.
“In El Reno, people eat these burgers twice a day,” she says. “At some point you're going to have this burger two or three times a week if you live in that town. And there are three places, one block from each other. They all have the exact same menu. So, it would be like going to a place that had McDonald's on three corners and you just pick which one you like the best. That's kind of what this is.”
The reason why this cuisine was so available to the residents of El Reno, she explained, is because of the era this burger was invented in. According to Ruth, during the Great Depression circa 1924, cooks would add onions, which were very cheap, to their hamburger meat, which was pricier, in order to stretch their food inventory out over a longer period of time. Thus, the fried onion burger was born, which is still a dietary staple of the township of El Reno to this day. To add to this already historical burger’s legend are the people who created and ate them for a century and counting. Like many of the people who cooked and created Oklahoma fried onion burgers, Ruth and her mother Kathryn are members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
“It just kind of stuck there. And here we are a hundred years later still making these burgers, but now in the Stockyards instead of Oklahoma,” Ruth says.
But the onion burger isn’t the only traditional Native American cuisine people will find on the Hooker’s Grill menu. Ruth also offers Indian Tacos made out of traditional Native American fry-bread served either sweet or savory. And if you are a fan of green chile, a staple food served by our neighbors to the west in New Mexico, Ruth has you covered. Besides being able to drench your order in this authentic gravy, which hails from the town of Hatch in New Mexico, you can buy it by the pint to spread on whatever fare you please.
But the historical cuisine on this eatery’s menu is only part of the establishment’s story. The spot where this dining destination resides also has a backstory Ruth and her staff are proud to talk about given the Stockyard’s long-standing history.
“Before I came in, this corner was a food truck park for a few months. But prior to that, it used to be called the Hay Lot,” Ruth says. “There was a little lady that owned this lot way back in the forties and fifties, and she was a hay broker. That was very unusual for a woman to be in that business. A lot of the ranchers came and bought their hay from her here.” Ruth, being a woman business owner herself, is proud to continue that very legacy.
Another tie-in to Fort Worth’s history being upheld at this burger joint is one of an architectural nature. The front seating area, which was once open, was enclosed by the carpenters that worked on Taylor Sheridan’s “1883.” That’s right, Hooker’s Grill was given the old west Fort Worth Stockyards treatment for a few shots of the historical Exchange Avenue that appeared in several scenes on the “Yellowstone” prequel.
Stephen Montoya
The exterior of Hooker's Grill still has the it's "1883" facade from the days the show filmed in the Stockyards.
“During the filming of ‘1883,’ they actually had to talk to all of the business owners on our block,” Ruth opined. “We all had to agree that we were in for them to transform the whole street into the old west. What they did was they just dressed up the place. So, I had been wishing that I had enclosed our, at least this part of our outdoor area, but I could not have dreamt up what they made this look like. They went all the way up. And then I just tell everybody they put a dress on her.”
Although she liked the design, Ruth explained that she had to fill out a waiver that allowed the “1883” carpenters to take all of the walls down once shooting was over, which took almost three months. However, after putting in a request with the city’s permitting department, Ruth says she was able to keep the façade, thus adding to the tourism appeal of her restaurant.
“We're the only place in the Stockyards with any of the remaining structural set of ‘1883,’” she says. “I was happy because of what I got to keep when they were gone. I mean, like I said, I think the look actually fits in better now with the Stockyards than when it was open.”
Stephen Montoya
Besides the cuisine and it being the backdrop to a popular western series, Ruth says she might see a few more customers swing by her eatery located on the west side of Exchange Avenue due to some new signage. No, she isn’t creating anything new for Hooker’s Grill, however, Ruth, along with the Historical Landmarks Commission have been approved by the city to hang another iconic Fort Worth Stockyards sign right in front of her restaurant to help garner more foot traffic.
“It has been approved. I am currently waiting on the renderings for my architect who I spoke with this morning. And as soon as I get those, then I can start getting bids,” she said.
This is, in part Ruth’s mission; to get more people to the west side of the Stockyards.
“You have to become a part of the environment so that you can help promote change and growth,” she says. “Because growth isn't meant for one area of the Stockyards. It's meant to encompass the whole Stockyards. And so, my goal is to help make it seamless.”
As for her continuation of a classic Oklahoman cuisine, Ruth says she’s proud of what she, her mother, and staff have built over the last seven years. So much so, she doesn’t ever tell her customers goodbye.
“Native Americans don't have a word for goodbye or an end to something,” Ruth says.”So, in Choctaw, that's what you say, ‘Si Pisa La Chi Ke,’ I'll see you later. I'll see you next time. I'll see you down the road. And so, I like that for our customers. We hope to see them back here again. We never say goodbye to them.”
