Roadfood
Oklahoma/Route 66: The Onion Fried Burger
Episode 112 | 26m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
The onion-fried burger, a beloved staple of El Reno, tells the story of the Route 66 town.
Invented during the Great Depression as a way to offset the cost of beef, the onion fried burger has become a beloved staple of El Reno, Oklahoma. On Route 66 and known as the Crossroads of America, this small town has big personality, and the restaurants serving this iconic dish have served as the heartbeat of the community through all of the ups and downs.
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Roadfood
Oklahoma/Route 66: The Onion Fried Burger
Episode 112 | 26m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Invented during the Great Depression as a way to offset the cost of beef, the onion fried burger has become a beloved staple of El Reno, Oklahoma. On Route 66 and known as the Crossroads of America, this small town has big personality, and the restaurants serving this iconic dish have served as the heartbeat of the community through all of the ups and downs.
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>> MISHA COLLINS: What's important about Route 66?
Why is it a big deal?
>> Well, Route 66 is the most famous highway in the world.
>> Route 66 has its own flair about it.
>> It's a taste of America... >> It's a taste of America, that's exactly right.
>> There's lots of adventures.
Don't stay in bed.
(Collins yelping) >> Route 66 went right through the hearts of cities and small towns, so you really got a sense of the country in a way that you wouldn't if you were just driving the interstate.
>> Well, the interstate's about getting somewhere.
Route 66 is about going somewhere.
>> COLLINS: I like that.
The journey, not the destination.
>> That is correct.
>> COLLINS: Join me on a journey along Route 66 as I explore Oklahoma's onion burger with the man who started the Roadfood adventure more than 40 years ago.
Because I'm a professional eater.
>> (chuckles) ♪ ♪ In the 1970s, a young couple set out on the most epic road trip of all time.
Jane and Michael Stern were on a mission to discover every regional dish in America, and over four decades, they burned through 38 cars and published ten editions of their iconic guide, Road Food.
♪ ♪ Now I'm picking up where they left off, exploring what makes America's communities unique and what binds us all together.
And it's delicious.
>> Major funding for this program was provided by: ♪ ♪ >> Yours is a front-yard family.
Because out front... >> How you doing?
>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.
And your neighbors know you well.
>> Mario, what's up?
>> They've seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.
>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.
So you stay out front.
We'll stay real-brewed.
And the world just might get a little golder.
Gold Peak real-brewed tea.
♪ ♪ (shade rustles) (doorbell rings) ♪ ♪ >> (softly): Yes!
♪ ♪ >> Staying in?
Quick!
Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.
♪ ♪ Going out?
Quick!
Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: I'm nervous right now, because I am about to meet the one and only Michael Stern, who is one of the authors of the original Road Food books.
He is the, the father of this enterprise.
He's going to take me on a little road trip, and we're going to have an onion burger together.
Wish me luck.
>> Hey, Misha, how're you doing?
>> COLLINS: Hi, Michael, how are you?
>> I'm fine.
>> COLLINS: Good to see you.
You've already, you've already eaten a meal, haven't you?
>> No, no, just just eating an onion ring.
But these are two double onion burgers for us.
>> COLLINS: Okay.
>> That's the specialty of El Reno.
♪ ♪ These are double, which, they're kind of thin, these burgers.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: Wow.
I love caramelized onions.
>> Well, and you see the man who mashes the burger into them.
>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.
>> Which makes it different than a burger with onions on top.
The trick of the trade, if you're going to be eating road food all day long, as you know, is to just have a few bites and leave it.
Which is terrible to do.
>> COLLINS: It's also really challenging for me, because the minute I taste something that's good, I'm, like, "Well, I better eat this."
How did you and Jane start this, this adventure?
>> Playing hooky.
We were both in New Haven at school, and we didn't like school so much.
Get a book about long-haul truck drivers, and we kept thinking, "These guys know all the good places to eat, and we don't."
>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.
>> And we kept looking for a guidebook that would tell us.
We realized there wasn't one, so we said, "Let's write it."
So, that was the first Road Food in 1977.
Neither of us had any background in either writing or food, we just learned as we went.
>> COLLINS: But you were driven, it seems, from your writing by a burning curiosity.
>> Well, exactly.
I mean, and it goes beyond the food, obviously, because while we found these great things to eat, we also found great people that were serving them, cooking them, growing them.
It's a whole culture.
And obviously, what's on the plate is great, but what we do goes so far beyond the plate, as you know, I mean that's what you're doing.
>> COLLINS: Yeah, that's been the most fascinating part for me, is getting to know the people behind the food, associated with the food, employed by the greater umbrella economy that provides the food.
>> Exactly, yeah.
>> COLLINS: And... And kind of learning...
I guess I've been learning about myself along the way.
And for, and for us to pretend that painting America with, with broad brushstrokes and saying, "We're all the, the same," that actually takes away from the value of the country.
>> Exactly, it's more, I mean, you don't think it's more a crazy quilt than a melting pot?
What you eat tells who you are, where you come from, what your values are, what's important in your community-- all of that stuff is right there beyond the plate.
>> COLLINS: Yeah.
>> So, you want to hit the road?
>> COLLINS: Sure.
>> Let's go.
(laughs) >> COLLINS: I'm gonna have-- see?
I can't do it.
>> Ah, you can do it, you can do it.
Put that onion ring down!
>> COLLINS: No!
>> (laughs) All right.
I got my camera.
♪ ♪ Take a left.
(chuckling) >> COLLINS: So, are we taking a left on Route 66?
>> This is Route 66.
>> COLLINS: That's so exciting.
>> We're arriving at the Route 66 sign.
>> COLLINS: Oh, I guess... Is that it?
There it is.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> COLLINS: El Reno.
>> That's no messing around.
♪ ♪ This sign makes me think of, of air quotes, it's like, "Route 66."
(both laughing) All right.
>> COLLINS: Yeah, I fit.
>> I fit, but I don't know if I'm getting out.
>> COLLINS: Are you regretting having come out and joined us on this?
>> Not yet.
>> COLLINS: No?
So... >> Not yet, it's coming!
(laughs) >> COLLINS: Watch your head, watch your head.
>> Thank you.
You need it... Yeah, it does look like quotes.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: On a lark, you started your adventure into food exploration.
How did you end up turning that into a career?
>> I think what happened is, the food and the experiences finding the food seduced us.
And the more we traveled, the more we realized there was this whole world out there that you could experience through the food that we found.
♪ ♪ This is Sid's.
>> COLLINS: This is Sid's, and this is a place that you have been to before?
>> Many times, yes.
Long, long ago, we wrote a story about it in Gourmet magazine.
>> COLLINS: Oh, Gourmet magazine?
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> COLLINS: Oh, you're just namedropping now, aren't you?
>> Exactly.
Speaking of namedropping, here's the mayor.
>> Hey, Michael, how are you doing?
Good to see you again.
>> How are you, sir?
>> How are you doing?
>> Good to see you.
>> COLLINS: Misha, hi.
>> Misha, Matt White, mayor of El Reno-- good to meet you guys.
>> COLLINS: Thanks for, thanks for coming... >> Come on in, guys, I'll show you around.
Sid's Diner.
>> COLLINS: Wow, thank you.
>> Yeah, go ahead.
>> Thank you.
>> COLLINS: So, how long have you been mayor?
>> I've been mayor 15 years.
I'm born and raised here, lived here all my life, fourth generation.
Kind of one of those things, when I graduated high school, I went to work at the burger joint.
>> COLLINS: Do you have a lot of tourists come here who are just coming on their onion burger tourism?
And is this man a significant driver of that business?
>> Absolutely.
>> COLLINS: And should he be getting some sort of cut?
>> Under the table, please!
(laughing) >> Yeah, we're going to give him a free coney when he leaves.
>> COLLINS: Wow, that's... >> Now, I'm gonna tell you... >> Now, that's beautiful.
>> These got, look at this.
>> That's...
Okay, all right.
>> You're not going to get a better presentation than this.
>> No, that's, that's...
I need to take a close photo of that.
Pardon me.
>> The original way to eat it is with mustard.
>> All right.
>> You put the pickles on.
>> Okay.
>> And then you're ready to roll.
Isn't it great?
How they flatten that down, they take a spatula, and the spatula's not, like, a normal spatula.
It's a heavy trowel that you lay concrete bricks with.
You got an extra spatula back there?
But see how it is?
So, what you do is, you... (slaps table) >> They really slam it down.
>> Slam it down.
Feel that.
>> Yeah, that's, that's a serious implement.
>> COLLINS: That's got some heft to it.
So you can actually get a workout while you're, while you're cooking your burgers.
>> You can!
>> You look at a professional burger chef and they'll tell you the worst thing you can do to a burger is to smash it down while it's on the grill.
This, this, it's hamburger abuse.
But it's really good, right?
(laughing) >> The smash burgers basically have gotten famous.
We were the very first smash burger.
>> COLLINS: So, Marty, how long have you been working here?
>> I built this.
>> COLLINS: Built it?
>> 32 years ago.
>> COLLINS: Oh!
>> Will you sign my book before you leave?
(laughing) And I wrote a book, and I want you to have it.
>> Really!
Will you sign it for me?
>> Yes, sir.
(laughing) When I was building this diner, I wanted the people traveling Route 66 to know something about our town.
That's why I put all these pictures on this table.
I put that map up, okay?
>> COLLINS: Where's your article, Michael?
>> Uh, that one in Saveur and that one in Gourmet.
>> COLLINS: Oh, you have multiple.
>> "Oh, What a Beautiful Burger" is the title of that one.
>> COLLINS: Wow, you can't pay for that kind of advertising.
>> No.
>> COLLINS: No.
I mean, actually, maybe, maybe you did.
(crosstalk) I don't know what kind of deal went into this.
♪ ♪ >> You would come home with a car full of souvenirs and various postcards, menus, and not to mention literally thousands of photographs, I mean, slides, you know, before digital.
>> COLLINS: That you had taken.
>> That I had taken, yeah, yeah.
>> And every kind of souv...
I mean, silly, you know, cuss box souvenirs, and some really beautiful folk art that we found along the way, so it's... >> COLLINS: Where is all of that stuff now?
>> It's, it's actually at the Smithsonian Institution.
>> COLLINS: Really?
>> Yeah, because they, I mean, what are we going to do with it, you know?
>> COLLINS: I have to say, when the Smithsonian comes to you and says, "Can we have your, your life's work?
", that's got to feel some, somewhat satisfying.
>> It was cool, you know, it was great.
>> COLLINS: Even if they only put it in deep storage.
>> I would like, you know, that they have Julia Child's kitchen exactly as it was?
I would like Jane and Michael Stern's junk room exactly as it was.
(laughing) But I don't think that's going to happen.
No, it is great, I mean, 'cause, in fact, it does document a lot of stuff that doesn't exist anymore.
>> COLLINS: Oh, that's quite pretty.
Are you Rhys?
>> I am-- pleasure.
>> COLLINS: Nice to meet you.
>> Thank you all for coming out to Oklahoma.
>> COLLINS: Thanks for having us.
>> Route 66 has had a place in pop culture pretty much since it started.
It was one of the first paved roads west.
It was the way to the Grand Canyon, the way to experience the country.
It was in songs, it had its own TV show.
It's the subject of books, and now that you have the interstate and everything else, Route 66 represents an era in American history that you can't really get anywhere else, at least in that kind of condensed fashion.
I'm going to take you to John Hargrove's place.
>> COLLINS: Okay.
>> It's this great little roadside attraction just up the road here in Arcadia.
>> COLLINS: Okay.
>> All right, let's go.
>> COLLINS: Great.
♪ ♪ >> John!
>> Hi.
>> Good to see you.
>> Good seeing you.
>> I'd like to introduce my friends here.
>> Hi, I'm Michael.
How are you?
>> Pleased to meet you.
>> COLLINS: Misha.
Nice to meet you-- you're John?
>> Yes.
>> COLLINS: How did this come to be?
>> I just follow what I want to do.
I mean, I've got, I got dreams, and I make them come true.
Why don't you come in the shop and I'll show you around?
>> Okay.
All right, not averse to that idea.
>> These are all marathons.
(medals clanging) There's Route 66 Marathon, that's 24-Hour Footrace.
I've done that about 15 times.
>> COLLINS: 24-Hour Footrace?
What does that mean?
>> In other words, it's, it's on a closed course and it's how far you can go in 24 hours.
>> (whistles) >> COLLINS: How far do you go in 24 hours?
>> I used to do over 100.
The last one I did, I did 57.7 miles in 24 hours.
>> COLLINS: When was that?
>> A year ago.
>> COLLINS: Just a year ago you ran 57 miles?
>> Yeah.
>> COLLINS: I do some pretty physically challenging things, too, like, I ate an entire hamburger today.
>> And the french fries.
>> COLLINS: And the fries.
>> (laughing) >> COLLINS: So, I understand these kind of endurance sports.
♪ ♪ >> I imagine, over the years, you've collected all these various things?
>> It's more, more I made most of them.
>> Well, you, you turned one thing into another, like this kind of unusual vehicle.
I asked if it was a motorcycle... >> 2007 Chevrolet Malibu, every part.
>> COLLINS: This is a Chevy Malibu?
>> Yeah.
I just rearranged it.
The body's made out of Styrofoam.
>> It's a three-wheeler, right?
>> Yeah.
Yeah, you don't need four wheels.
2007, it's got heat, air, tilt, cruise, power steering, power brakes, delayed wipers, and three wheels.
>> Not a lot of storage, huh?
>> COLLINS: I would let you drive our Toyota Sienna if you let me take this for a spin.
>> I'll let you take it for a spin if you want.
>> COLLINS: Yeah?
Really?
>> Yeah.
>> COLLINS: You want to go for a ride?
>> I think there's only room for one.
>> COLLINS: No, it's a two-seat, it's a big vehicle.
>> He's too tall to get in the back.
>> COLLINS: Oh, no, no.
>> Yeah, I'm telling you, I know about it!
Just pull it.
>> COLLINS: It is actually like an airplane.
All right, here we go.
>> All right, I don't know if there's room for my camera.
>> COLLINS: And you said there wasn't room.
>> (laughing) >> (grunts) >> COLLINS: This is great.
Michael's, like, "Why did I leave the comfort of my home?"
>> All right, I got both feet in, that's good.
We ready to go?
(engine humming) >> This way?
>> Yeah.
>> COLLINS: Alex is running alongside of us.
Let's see if we can give him some exercise.
>> All right.
>> COLLINS: Make him work for it.
♪ ♪ How does it handle?
>> Beautifully.
Actually, it's not, I mean, it's not bad.
It's just, I'm just afraid that if I step on the gas, we're going to run over this... >> COLLINS: Your knee is hitting the steering wheel?
♪ ♪ >> (talking softly) (both laughing) >> COLLINS: As long as you can't reach the brake, I feel confident that we're going to be fine.
>> I can go forward.
I don't, whether we can stop or not, I don't know.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: So, going back to the Dust Bowl, and maybe when onion burgers were first invented, there's been... Food insecurity has been a huge issue in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma's still one of the states that have the biggest problem with food insecurity.
There's a lot of hunger here.
And I'm going to talk to two activists who have started a phenomenal nonprofit and grocery store here to ameliorate a food desert, but you wanted to... >> I'm going to El Reno to check out that Mexican restaurant across from Sid's.
>> COLLINS: Great.
>> So, we'll meet up later.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: Can you tell me exactly what this place is, this grocery store that we're in and how it came to be?
>> So, we're sitting in the Market at East Point, which is a grocery store here on the northeast side of Oklahoma City.
And back in 2019, the last full-service grocery store closed down, which left this community void of access to grocery shopping.
>> COLLINS: So, how far do people who live in this community have to go at that point to get fresh produce if this place wasn't here?
>> It would take a three-hour round-trip bus ride just to go grocery shopping.
>> COLLINS: Wow, that's prohibitive.
>> Yes.
>> COLLINS: Nobody's going to be able to spend three hours on a bus to get groceries.
There are these terms that we all hear all the time, like food insecurity, food desert, SNAP.
So, what are some of the big issues that you've come up against in trying to combat food insecurity and food deserts?
>> So, in Oklahoma, I mean, generally, our numbers are some of the worst in the nation.
So, we're 47th in food insecurity rates, 49th in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption, compared to the rest of the country.
Just right now, 16% of our folks are in food scarcity.
The most effective programs at fighting food insecurity are the federal nutrition programs.
So, that's SNAP, which is food stamps, commonly referred to, WIC, and the child nutrition programs you see at school, after school, and for summer.
Um, that makes up about 93% of our total food safety net.
And I think one of the challenges we have in a place like Oklahoma is, we have a lot of stigma around that federal side, right?
So, here, at the Market at East Point, 60% of their sales are SNAP revenue sales.
I think transportation is another huge barrier.
We're in an urban setting here, and you've heard about the challenges, but in rural settings across the state, I mean, it's a 30-, 40-, 50-mile trip to your nearest grocery store, that may or may not have fresh produce, that's a challenge.
And so figuring out ways to then bring in resources that these communities don't have, right?
>> COLLINS: These programs are huge, and they impact millions of Americans and they're operating constantly, I think, below a lot of Americans' radar.
A lot of people aren't even conscious that these programs are operating and having an incredible impact on the poorest Americans' lives.
It wasn't called SNAP when I was a kid.
>> Yeah.
>> COLLINS: But we had food stamps when I was a kid, and we went to a soup kitchen every Wednesday.
We'd have a hot meal and a bag of groceries.
I was on, you know, assisted school lunch and breakfast, so I would, I got a free breakfast and I got a free lunch.
If you don't provide these baseline minimal things, if you don't provide food-- and shelter, frankly-- a kid is not going to be able to perform in school.
A kid is not going to be able to thrive.
I would not have gone to college if I, if it weren't for food stamps, ultimately.
>> Yeah, we talk about it as, it's an education issue, it's a workforce issue, it's a healthcare issue.
All these things are impacted by food insecurity.
>> I'm not originally from Oklahoma, originally from Texas, Houston, and I grew up in a community similar to this.
And so bringing that history and background to this community to say, "How can I leverage my privilege for the privilege of others?
", is my motivation.
>> COLLINS: I like that phrase, "leverage my privilege for the privilege of others."
That's a nice reminder... >> So we all, we all have a level of privilege, but are we using it for ourselves or for the other person's privilege who is in our proximity?
>> COLLINS: This is just something that we all have to do in order to move forward as a country and be economically successful, and also be compassionate with one another.
>> Exactly.
>> COLLINS: I think it's exciting work you're doing-- good luck.
Please fix all these problems.
(laughing) >> With your help, we can.
>> Thank you-- that's right.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: So, this is Nic's, which you haven't been to.
>> I haven't.
>> COLLINS: Which is very exciting, so I can show you something, except I haven't been here, either, so it's not... >> Okay.
>> COLLINS: It's not an authentic... >> Well, it's famous for burgers, so... >> COLLINS: That's right.
>> Thank you.
>> COLLINS: Please.
>> Hello.
>> Hello.
How y'all doing today, guys?
>> Doing fine-- you're Nic?
>> Yes, sir.
>> How are you?
>> Wonderful, how about yourself?
>> I'm fine.
>> COLLINS: All right, I'm going to place an order.
>> Yes, sir.
>> COLLINS: I would like... >> Well, let me...
Both burgers?
>> COLLINS: Yeah.
>> Well, yeah!
>> Okay, so why don't I...
I'll get them started.
I'll get them started, and then when I go to make them, I'll holler back at you and ask what you want on it.
>> COLLINS: Sounds good.
>> Awesome.
>> That's a beautiful grill-- I have to say, those onions frying on that grill look great to me.
>> Well, that's my baby.
I figured I've dang near cooked a million burgers off of her, we started in... >> COLLINS: You think you've cooked a million burgers?
>> Almost, almost.
>> COLLINS: How long you been doing this?
>> I've been doing this since '97.
>> Now, we've been eating really skinny, thin, pressed-down hamburgers over in El Reno.
>> Uh-huh.
>> Onion burgers.
Is that what you make here?
>> No.
I like more the café-type burger, which you get up to about a half a pound.
So, I still got the grilled onions, which, in the flavor and stuff, but you can have on it, I cook with... >> Oh, you don't mash them into the burger, the way they do there.
>> No, sir, no, I'm a bigger burger, so it takes longer to cook.
>> COLLINS: I'm actually intimidated.
>> I know!
(laughs) >> The key to eating a Nic's burger, I'm going to cut it in half.
>> COLLINS: Okay.
>> Once you get that big dip, hold on to her.
Get half of it up into your left, do not set it back down, especially if you got lettuce on it.
She just going to... (makes explosion sound) >> And you keep it in your left hand until you're done with it.
>> I personally would, because that's about three bites for me.
What, what, and then we shovel the fries.
There you go, young man.
>> COLLINS: Thank you, sir.
>> Yes, sir.
I want to see that first bite now.
See, see how I got, she's got just a little bit of... She's glistening in the juice.
There he goes, going for the money shot.
>> Do you happen to have a napkin?
>> Absolutely.
(laughing) >> I need a bib, is what I need here.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Natural.
>> What you thinking?
>> COLLINS: I mean... >> Why can't you talk?
>> COLLINS: I... >> See how when you're eating it, see how the buns turn up?
>> COLLINS: Mm-hmm.
>> If you set her down, you'll never... >> COLLINS: Oh, I'm not gonna make that mistake.
I also noticed that you just violated your one-bite rule.
You've had... You're into your second or third.
>> I might eat this whole thing.
(laughs) I'm a professional eater.
>> (laughing) >> If I'm going to eat, like, five or six meals a day, I can't eat all of them.
>> This is what you end up with.
>> COLLINS: You're, like, "I want in."
I want that right now.
>> 100 percent.
>> COLLINS: The crew is actually getting surly.
(laughing) ♪ ♪ Before we knew that you were going to be able to make it out on this trip, they asked me if I could ride horses, and I said, "Absolutely, I will ride horses.
Can I ride horses?
I don't know."
But I will ride horses.
>> But you will.
>> COLLINS: All right.
♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: You... Steve-- who's Steve?
>> I'm Steve.
>> COLLINS: Hi, Steve-- Misha.
>> Hey, Misha, nice to meet you.
>> COLLINS: Nice to meet you.
>> Welcome out to our ranch.
This is my oldest son, Carson.
>> Carson.
>> COLLINS: Hi, Carson.
>> Good to meet you.
>> My grandad's grandad actually loaded his wife and three little kids on a train in David City, Nebraska, shipped them to El Reno, and then he hitched up two mules and a wagon and drove it 550 miles south to El Reno.
>> COLLINS: Wow.
>> And we've been here ever since, so... >> COLLINS: Your family made it through the Dust Bowl and, and all that.
How did they weather that storm?
>> Just, you know, just true grit.
>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.
>> True grit.
(laughs) >> Just got it, you know.
Just, just tough it out.
>> COLLINS: So, you and your brother both run this ranch?
>> Yeah, Peter's my brother.
He and I were working with my dad, and Peter and I both went to Oklahoma City University and got MBAs at night while we were working out here.
The donkey likes you.
>> COLLINS: I know.
>> You can take him, you can take him with you when you leave.
>> COLLINS: He seems a little bit emotionally needy to me.
>> He is.
(laughs) >> COLLINS: I'm going to need some space, because I have my own life to live.
(laughing) Shall we get on some horses?
>> Misha, why don't you ride this horse here?
>> COLLINS: I'm just kidding.
Come on, don't take it so hard.
♪ ♪ >> I need a mounting block over here, seriously.
>> COLLINS: Well, I rode once this summer, and that was the first time in ten years.
>> Was it a real horse, or...?
>> COLLINS: It was a real horse.
>> Okay.
>> COLLINS: I mean, it was coin-operated.
>> Yeah, that's what, that's what I was getting at.
♪ ♪ Misha, you had asked where a lot of the meat went.
We've always kind of sold meat directly to people that want to do, you know, custom slaughter and families.
>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.
>> And we've seen a big increase on the farm-to-table.
People want to know where their food's coming from, who's raising it, how it's handled, how it's treated, and all of that, and we've, you know, that's one aspect that our business, that's on the increase.
>> COLLINS: Well, these look like happy cows.
>> Yeah, they're happy.
>> COLLINS: I have one question for you out here on our horses.
>> Yeah, right?
>> COLLINS: First of all, did you ever think, when you started writing Road Food, that you'd wind up shooting a TV show about road food... >> On a cattle ranch in Oklahoma?
>> COLLINS: ...45 years later on a cattle ranch?
(chuckling) >> Yeah, I just thought I'd be eating cheeseburgers.
(laughing) >> COLLINS: Well, some things haven't changed.
>> Right.
>> COLLINS: Do you have any hopes for this show?
Is there a message that you hope gets out there with it?
>> I hope it encourages people to do what we've been doing, you know, which is to hit the road and explore.
And, you know, maybe follow in our tracks and find some of the great stuff we did, but then, you know, go beyond that, and find things that they can then tell us about, and go out and try them ourselves.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> COLLINS: If you want to see extended footage of these conversations or of me spilling food on my shirt, or if you want to know more about the restaurants and recipes from this episode, go to roadfood.com.
>> Major funding for this program was provided by: ♪ ♪ >> Yours is a front-yard family.
Because out front... >> How you doing?
>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.
And your neighbors know you well.
>> Mario, what's up?
>> They've seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.
>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.
So you stay out front.
We'll stay real-brewed.
And the world just might get a little golder.
Gold Peak real-brewed tea.
♪ ♪ (shade rustles) (doorbell rings) ♪ ♪ >> (softly): Yes!
♪ ♪ >> Staying in?
Quick!
Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.
♪ ♪ Going out?
Quick!
Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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