Photo: WimpyWimpy
The burger with the chain’s name on it, and a very particular taste. A beef patty with grilled onions, gherkins, lettuce and Famous Wimpy Relish, the chain’s own sauce and its signature flavour. There is no cheese and no mayo, so the relish and soft onions do all the work. If you only try one burger here, make it this one.
The story
The Wimpy name has outlived its own country. Edward Gold’s American chain peaked at about two dozen restaurants and vanished after his death in 1977, because nobody bought the rights from his estate. By then the licensed Wimpy Bars abroad had grown far larger, which is why a burger named after a 1930s American cartoon character is now best known in Johannesburg and London.
What’s inside
- beef patty
- grilled onions
- gherkins
- lettuce
- Famous Wimpy Relish
- bun
Make it at home
There is no copycat of the Wimpy yet. Until there is, these recipes on the site come closest to it, judged by what goes into the bun.
- Shares beef and cooked onions
Fat Mimolette Bacon & Fried Onion Burger - Shares beef
Big Mac Taco - Shares beef
Big Mac Hot Dog - Shares beef
McDonald's Big Mac (Copycat)
Similar burgers at other chains
Built around the same things as the Wimpy.- White Castle · beef and cooked onions
SignatureOriginal Slider - Habit Burger & Grill · beef and cooked onions
SignatureCharburger - Roadster Diner · beef and cooked onions
Classic - Epic Burger · beef and cooked onions
SignatureDouble Epic
More from Wimpy
About Wimpy
Edward Gold opened the first Wimpy Grills in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1934, naming it after J. Wellington Wimpy, the Popeye character who would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. In 1954 the British caterer J. Lyons licensed the name, and Wimpy Bars spread across the UK, giving many Britons an early taste of the American hamburger, served at the table.
More than 450 restaurants in South Africa, around 60 in the United Kingdom, and a few across Africa and the Middle East.
Not affiliated with Wimpy. Trademarks belong to their owners. The photo is credited under it and is used to illustrate this menu item; it comes down on request.