“I’ll have the great big one,” the barrel-chested behemoth behind me chortled. One of his companions, a bookish nerd followed up with “I’ll have the big one.” Not to be outdone, several male Arizona State University (ASU) students took turns ordering either the “great big one” or the “big one.” Each order was followed by raucous laughter as if they were the first students ever to place their orders for burgers named for their respective sizes (the burgers, not the students’ manhood). Not one of them dared ask for “the little one” for fear of being humiliated or even ostracized by their fellows. “What a brilliant marketing strategy!,” I thought as I, too, ordered a “great big one” even though I wasn’t that hungry
The great big one, as you may have surmised, is the biggest burger available at The Chuckbox, an ASU area institution and one of the oldest businesses in Downtown Tempe. Now in operation for nearly half a century, it’s been continuously owned by Frank, formerly an executive for a now defunct burger chain. When the chain wanted him to move, Frank decide to remain in Phoenix to focus on his family, and create a new, and completely different, family hamburger restaurant. His creation, The Chuckbox, helped pioneer the concept of having customers watch as their food cooks over a mesquite grill. Chuckbox was also probably one of the very first restaurants in the Valley to introduce the idea of an open condiment table, where you can put anything you want on your burger, as long as you “play it fair.”
If photos of The Chuckbox’s interior are conspicuous by their absence, it’s because the restaurant is perpetually so crowded that you’re bound to photograph someone’s nostrils instead of the dining room. As soon as you enter the restaurant, you’ll find yourself in line. Don’t have cash on hand? There’s an ATM on the premises; it’s on the way to the “exhibition kitchen” where you can watch your burgers being prepared on a unique grill contraption that sits above a charcoal pit. The grill rises and lowers with the turn of a wheel. By the way, you’ll be asked for your order while you’re still in line, as much as ten-deep in line. As you place your order, the “order taker” will begin the process of somehow managing dozens of orders. He won’t imbibe nearly as much smoke as the guy who’s actually flipping the burgers, but it’s likely both of them smell like burgers when they get home.
While The Chuckbox may be thought of as a college hang-out, its many accolades and “best of” awards festoon the walls. Serious burgerphiles will find something to love, too. In the First We Feast site, George Motz, one of the country’s most respected and admired burger experts compiled a list celebrating “the best burgers from each of the 50 states.” His favorite burger from Arizona comes from The Chuckbox. Here’s some sage advice from George: “On the search for great burgers you should always consider the joints close to large colleges. The Chuckbox sits in the bosom of ASU and cranks out a ton of burgers for hungry students, all of them cooked on an open pit fire fed by charcoal and mesquite. Avoid the copious burger options and get the smoky Tijuana Torpedo with pepper jack cheese and mild green chiles.”
Locals, such as Phoenix Magazine, love The Chuckbox, too. Here’s their assessment of just one of the Box’s burgers: “The Big One” is the way to go. The 1/3-pound patty barely fits the big, puffy, Aunt Hattie’s brand bun. I requested medium-rare beef, and considering the large circumference and resulting thinness of the patty, it came very close. Infused with the distinct taste of char-grilling, it achieves the burger ideal: extremely juicy meat, the perfect mesh of toppings, and softly draping cheese.”
It’s no exaggeration that I’ve driven past The Chuckbox fifty times before finally deciding to stop. It helped that Arizona State was on a winter break and a parking spot could be found within half a mile of the restaurant. Both the line and the spoken volume (the equivalent of four F-16s reving their engines) almost dissuaded me from staying, but community service often comes with a price. Unlike collegiate diners and their friends, I ordered the Really Big One (1/2-pound of specially ground beef) and onion rings without chuckling. Adorned with American cheese draped over the beef like a molten blanket, the beef did indeed have a terrific flavor compounded by the char-broiling process. My only additives were onions and mustard. Nothing more was needed.
My Kim’s choice was the hot dog which surprisingly didn’t have any descriptive adjectives attached to it. Otherwise sophomoric sophomores and jaunty juniors would probably be ordering “the really long one” to the raucous tone of more laughter. As with the burgers, the hot dogs are charcoal broiled and are imbued with a smoky char. There’s nothing like charcoal broiled hot dogs as The Chuckbox and Ted’s Hot Dogs have proven. Hot dogs are served in the Aunt Hattie’s bun used on burgers. It’s topped with sesame seeds and has a designer bread sheen and flavor.
There are many really big reasons The Chuckbox is so popular among ASU students and denizens of the Valley of the Sun. We discovered only two of them.
The Chuckbox
202 E University Drive
Tempe, Arizona
(480) 968-4712
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MOST RECENT VISIT: 28 December 2023
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $
BEST BET: The Big One, Hot Dog, Onion Rings
REVIEW #1369