The Missouri Burger Joint That Introduced Peanut Butter As A Topping

I wasn't a believer in peanut butter as a topping on burgers until I had my very first one, in the form of a peanut butter and banana burger dubbed the "Fat Elvis," which was no doubt a throwback to Elvis' supposedly favorite sandwich, the peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich (though the bacon portion has been somewhat debated). At first, I thought the concept was, frankly, gross, but after I took my first bite, I became a believer. That's because once the peanut butter was exposed to the heat from the freshly grilled burger patty, it melted into a high-fat silky sauce that turned an otherwise typical burger into a luxurious one.

The Elvis burger wasn't exactly a pioneer, however. The practice of putting peanut butter on a hamburger surprisingly goes back all the way to the 1940s, and first hails from a place called The Wheel Inn, which was based in Sedalia, Missouri. Unfortunately, The Wheel Inn is no longer around, after having gone through a few changes, including an initial closure and a reopening, and the place ultimately closed its doors in 2013. At least its legacy still lives on; people still put peanut butter on their burgers to this day.

The peanut butter burger served at the Wheel Inn was called the Guberburger (which is likely a play on the word "goober," in reference to peanuts), but it didn't feature a combination of salty and sweet like the Fat Elvis I experienced. In fact, it was topped more like a traditional burger, and aside from the peanut butter, it featured mayonnaise, tomato, and lettuce. For those of you cringing over the combination of mayo and peanut butter, let me remind you that peanut butter and mayo sandwiches are indeed a real thing, and former staffers of our site tried the combination once and surprisingly loved it.

It really is too bad that The Wheel Inn is no longer around, for the sake of losing that bit of potential road trip fun. But since the Guberburger's original build is so easy to recreate, nothing's stopping any of us from giving it a shot at home. As I mentioned earlier, if the Elvis-style burger ended up being so good, there's no reason why the original peanut butter burger couldn't be, right? Hey — there's only one real way to find out.