The Trump Burger: rich Iowa delicacy comes with plenty of ham | Donald Trump

Taste test of new burger reveals that while it contains far more meat than many of Trumps policy proposals, like its namesake it has proven deeply divisive To quote its namesake, the Trump Burger is huge. Its also a little bit salty.

This article is more than 7 years old

The Trump Burger: rich Iowa delicacy comes with plenty of ham

This article is more than 7 years old

Taste test of new burger reveals that while it contains far more meat than many of Trump’s policy proposals, like its namesake it has proven deeply divisive

To quote its namesake, the Trump Burger is “huge”. It’s also a little bit salty.

In order to attract some business when the Republican frontrunner was in town, the owners of the Northside Diner in Winterset, Iowa, created the Trump Burger last week. It featured a third of a pound of beef, a half pound of ham, shredded cheese, grilled onions and a healthy smattering of shredded lettuce to simulate Trump’s famous hairstyle. Even though it was off the menu on Tuesday, they cooked one up special for the Guardian.

As the cafe described it:

Presidential candidate Donald Trump rolled into town this week, so in honor of the occasion the historic Northside Cafe is serving The Trump Burger! Like Trump – this burger is all business. For the man who likes to ham it up for the cameras it’s stacked with half a pound of ham, but don’t worry – it’s piled on top of our famous no nonsense all beef all American monument third pound burger. We’ve added shredded cheese as Trump continues to shred the competition in the polls. Grilled onions for all the tears from political pundits who can’t figure Trump out. And it’s served on our incredible Northside bread, right here in the heart of America at the Northside cafe. We’re making the hamburger great again with the Trump burger.

Just as Trump attracts a media frenzy, the $14.99 burger drew quite a bit of attention to the quaint 139-year-old cafe on the town square. However, like Trump, it deeply divided people as well.

Scott Valencia, one of the owners of the Northside Cafe, said having the menu item “has got us a lot of negative support. People have called up said ‘I’ll never come back here again’ and it’s actually affected the business quite a bit.” He added that those threatening a boycott had included some regulars.

Walter Jahnke, his co-owner, said the burger was simply meant to drum up business. “When you’re a small town in Iowa, there are only so many things you can do to get people to come into your business,” he said.

Ben Jacobs samples the Trumpburger on Tuesday at the Northside Cafe in Winterset, Iowa. Photograph: Ryan Donnell/The Guardian

Jahnke said Trump was exceptional – “not because we necessarily think he’s the best thing in the world, but a lot of people do. And if people are following him, there’s some expectation that there are a lot of people in town and how can we get them to think about stopping in our place to eat.”

He took pains to note that the cafe was politically neutral and was willing to name a burger after anyone who came to town. “We’d have something ready for any candidate who came in,” Jahnke said, adding that he had already pondered what a Hillary Clinton burger might look like. But the Trump Burger, he said, “wasn’t calculated, it was inspirational”.The burger itself made for good eating. (Full disclosure: the owners provided it to the Guardian gratis despite earnest protestations).

With a third of a pound beef patty resting on half a pound of ham layered with grilled onions and melted cheese, it was as rich as its namesake and contained far more meat than Trump’s policy proposals. In fact, the “yuge” burger was so big, it needed two hands to consume, and this reporter is forced to admit he left it unfinished, dropping out of the race early much as many skeptics once predicted the Donald would.

Yet despite the burger, Trump hadn’t won any votes in the Northside Cafe. Both Valencia and Jahnke were fiscal conservatives who were wary of voicing support for any candidate. But Abby Emmons, a waitress there who supports Marco Rubio, had a far clearer opinion of Trump: “I think he’s a bit of a jackass.”

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