Denton County Independent Hamburger Company’s customers keep coming back

by Minnie Payne

DENTON — Carrollton resident Efrain Sain, a criminal defense attorney whose offices are in Farmers Branch and Denton, has been eating at Denton County Independent Hamburger Company on Denton’s downtown square since it opened 30 years ago.

“When I come to the Denton County Courthouse for court appearances or visit clients in jail, I always visit Denton County Independent Hamburger Company and enjoy an old fashioned hickory-smoked hamburger,” Sain said. “I’m glad they furnish paper towels instead of napkins because even though they’re [hamburgers] delicious, they’re messy.”

Don’t expect a fancy décor. Customers will find wooden tables/booths and chairs with red and white checkered oilcloth table cloths, tiled floors and an abundance of antiques hanging on the walls.

“My restaurants are kind of hodgepodge,” said 58-year-old owner Kim Kitchens. “I like old things and some of them [antiques] are quite valuable.

“It’s stuff that I like that I call ‘eye candy’.”

Kitchens earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Texas A&M in 1971 and worked in the corporate world for about eight years. He said that he purchased the downtown square location in 1978 from two men who wanted to get out of the restaurant business.

“I was out of a job and thought I would give it a try,” he said. “I opened another restaurant in Tyler, where I was born and raised, in 1983 and had it for about four years until I got tired of driving 200 miles a day.

“I opened my third restaurant in Denton at 715 Sunset Center near UNT in 1988.”

He describes the Sunset Center location as being similar to the downtown square location, only half the size with a drive-through window.

The delicious one-third pound burgers (I can attest to this) get their hickory smoked flavor from being marinated in Figaro Smoke Sauce after being grilled by cook Tom Thompson. Customers can choose from four different types of burgers, in addition to a steak and charbroiled chicken breast sandwich that are loaded with all the trimmings. Hot dogs, as well as a diverse salad bar, are also on the menu. A dinner, which includes all-you-can-eat french fries, beans and unlimited drinks, costs $8. All-you-can-eat salad bar costs $4.50.

Clarence Roberts, 25-year-old manager, has worked at the downtown square location nine years and according to owner Kim Kitchens plays an important role in the success of the business.

“I get to the restaurant about 7:30 a.m. and put on the beans, because they take about three hours to cook,” Roberts said. “Then I grind the meat, which we get from Ben E. Keith or Sysco, and use an ice cream scoop to get the correctly proportioned size patty.

“Then I flatten the patty with an iron skillet.”

Roberts also makes the mouth-watering hamburgers and serves them to the steady stream of people waiting to satiate their hunger pains.

The french fries, with skins on, are cut daily by using a machine and produce is purchased through North Texas Produce of Denton.

The restaurant is rated by the Food Service Establishment Inspectors every four to six months and presently maintains a rating of 97.

The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday and hours at the 113 W. Hickory location are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the 715 Sunset Center location. Four employees work on a regular basis at the Hickory Street address and four employees work the morning and evening shift, each, at the Sunset Center address.

Leyla Smith has worked as a cashier for Denton County Independent Hamburger Company for four years and said that she enjoys seeing the regular customers come in.

“We also have people who are making their first trip to Denton and patronize us because customers have told them about our hamburgers,” Smith said. “I love the people I work with and like the atmosphere.”