I have driven past a lot of burger joints in Indiana, but nothing made me stop and double back quite like Hinkle’s Hamburgers on South Adams Street in Bloomington. There is something about the smell of beef sizzling on a flat top grill that reaches you before you even open the door.
This little lunch counter has been pulling in locals, Indiana University students, and road-trippers for decades, and once you have had your first smashburger here, you completely understand why. Hinkle’s is not trying to impress anyone with fancy decor or a long menu.
It just makes honest, made-to-order food at prices that feel almost too good to be true, and that simplicity is exactly what keeps people coming back from every corner of the state.
The Smashburger That Started It All
Some burgers are built to impress on paper. The smashburger at Hinkle’s Hamburgers is built to impress on the first bite…