The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
Texas gets a whole lot of attention for its barbecue and its tacos – but what about its burgers? Photographer Jeremy Sharp wanted to investigate homegrown cheeseburger culture so he and an assistant traveled 11,000 miles around the state.
“When I saw Texas cheeseburger culture, I mean the heritage of cheeseburgers in Texas and the people who have handed down that heritage and tradition from generation to generation, primarily through mom and pop family-run cheeseburger joints across the state,” he says.
In total, they visited 65 cheeseburger joints and took over 12,000 photos. The result is an exhibit called “The Burger Belt” that’s now on display at a Texas A&M University-Commerce in Dallas. Sharp says Texas cheeseburgers are unique.
“In Texas, mustard on a cheeseburger is automatic,” he says. “If you order a cheeseburger and they don’t ask you – it’s gonna come with mustard – and if it doesn’t come with mustard you’re not in a real cheeseburger restaurant. The pickles are different, it seems like every little component of the burger is just a little bit different and when you add them up it makes a big difference.”
Sharp and his assistant ate over 300 cheeseburgers. The standout?
“There’s a lot of great cheeseburgers across the state, and I would hate to say one is better than all of them, but if I had to pick a personal favorite it might be Herd’s in Jacksboro, Texas which is the oldest cheeseburger restaurant in Texas that’s still in existence,” Sharp says.
You can see The Burger Belt Exhibition through Feb. 27.
Hosting the Super Bowl this weekend holds a lot of glory for Houston – but it also comes at a cost to the city’s police, fire, and other municipal services. Mayor Sylvester Turner says not to worry, Houston will recoup the expenses.
“We estimate that that cost would total $5.5 million, which we have already received,… we’ve gotten that back, you know before the game is played,” he says.
Turner says that money is from the Super Bowl Host Committee which, in turn, will be reimbursed by the state of Texas.
Herds of people traveled to Fort Worth last year. According to the Fort Worth Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, a total of 8.8 million people visited Cowtown last year. More than 400,000 had traveled from outside the country.
