For a few weeks in October, the greatest homage to pop culture burgerdom happens in East Austin. Since 2018, “upscale” dive bar Nickel City has transformed into Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons—Homer’s preferred watering hole. As part of the 7-year tradition, on-site Detroit-style slider truck Delray Cafe starts preparing their interpretation of a Krusty Burger, as well as other Simpsons-inspired dishes, such as a deep-fried cod sandwich named after Blinky, the three-eyed fish that derailed Montgomery Burns’ political aspirations. There is also the Side Show Bob Dog, a take on a Coney Island-style chili dog, as well as a Flamin’ Moe cocktail with amaro, bitters, and several different kinds of rum.
Veteran Simpsons writer Bill Oakley, who worked on the show for 10 seasons, says the cartoon version of the Krusty Burger was actually envisioned as something “gross” and “low-rent.” A burger aficionado who has attracted hundreds of foodie fans on his Patreon channel, The Steamed Hams Society, Oakley has become a regular at the Nickel City pop-up. That’s mainly because owner Travis Tober’s version of the dish is the exact opposite of Oakley’s fast-food parody.
This new Austin tradition might never have happened without some Halloween inspiration provided by another downtown bar, Midnight Cowboy, who had a Reservoir Dogs-themed party several years ago. After attending, one of Tober’s employees suggested that they embrace their own annual pop culture holiday concept. Jed Taylor, a set designer for the SXSW festival, was brought in to bring the vision to life. First, the outside of Nickel City gets anointed with a purple and black sign that says “Moe’s,” along with purple wood accents to further mimic the Springfield source material. Inside, you will find nods to popular episodes like a neon fixture of Homer as Mr. Sparkle, as well as several character cut-outs.
“From the very first year, we were busy right off the bat,” says Tober. “In 2018, it immediately became the No. 1 topic on Reddit. I actually thought we were going to get hit with a cease and desist because of the national exposure.” Fortunately, that didn’t happen. And what started as a fun, whimsical idea would be further built upon in the coming years.
The key to the entire endeavor though was the burger. Tober knew he had to make a statement—even with the limitations of tight cooking quarters. The patty would need to be beefier than Delray’s typical Detroit-style sliders. The first iteration of Nickel’s Krusty Burger featured a 5-ounce patty. In the second year, that became two 2.5-ounce patties, mainly for the sake of brevity (the kitchen could churn out the burgers much faster).
But by 2022, they’d found the right formula: a double smash burger with American cheese on a Martin’s Potato roll with shrettuce, chopped raw white onion, Best Maid pickles and a “Boom Boom sauce”. The latter—a mixture of Duke’s mayo, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, cayenne, and crushed red chili peppers—was Tober’s effort to stand out amongst a crowded smash burger field.
Assessing the overall construction, it’s clear that McDonald’s Big Mac flavor profile was a key source of inspiration at Nickel City. “Ronald is a clown, Krusty is a clown, it just made sense to go in the McDonald’s direction,” Tober explains. Sampling a preview of the dish, I was struck by how much it hits those Big Mac notes without the cumbersome slab of bun in the middle.
Yet to really appreciate the Krusty Burger, you have to enter Nickel City’s Springfield transformation starting on Oct. 14. Lasting until the end of the month, you’ll see employees “really committing to the bit,” as Tober likes to boast. This includes bartenders donning Moe Szyslak’s signature bow tie and apron, throwing on Otto’s the bus driver’s headphones and long locks, or coiffing their hair into Marge’s towering blue bouffant.
Kitchen manager Jon Carpenter, the man who first made the Krusty Burger a reality, even got a tattoo of Itchy and Scratchy two years ago. Maybe frying and flipping all those Krusty Burgers influenced his decision. And it’s a lot of burgers. Tober calculates that the Moe’s Tavern pop-up doubles his bar’s revenue every year now. It’s easy to see why too, with genuinely great burgers and cocktails, and appearances by Simpsons royalty like Oakley who make the annual pilgrimage to experience 3-D version of something he helped create.