A Great Burger Returns: Midway Point is Back

A great burger has returned.

A few weeks ago, in the final hours before Midway Point closed down, the feeling inside the unpretentious sports bar just off LBJ Freeway was intensely bittersweet. Next door, In-N-Out Burger’s line swelled with cars. Midway’s menu, a sheet of Xeroxed paper, had items blacked out. The burger was still available.  I had the mammoth-sized three-quarter pounder — a juicy slab of Angus — and cottage fries. They closed later that day and began the process of moving.

Midway Point is back, in a new location in Addison, and Dallas should rejoice. This is the kind of place where Frito pie is listed under soups. It’s where Texas flags are framed under the TVs, where myriad sport franchise logos are bolted to the ceiling and where a server will pat you on the back warmly and say “Did you want to order?” like you’ve wandered into some out-of-time diner.

Midway Point isn’t interested in embellishment.  Inside, there’s as much space as a casino floor — tables scattered around TVs, the walls loaded with everything sports. Lights are at a hide-from-life dimness. I’m planted at a long stretch of granite countertops facing the main floor. A couple in front of me orders a burger well done before I can shout “NO” like Kurt Russell in Tombstone.

The hamburgers haven’t compromised in the down time. They’re good-old flat top-sizzled Angus beef topped with lettuce, tomato and pickle, griddled onions (if you want, which you do), cheddar and a nudge of mustard. The burger’s still wrapped in paper and cut in half, which warms my heart for reasons that I can’t understand. No artisanal aioli and no brioche.

Fresh-cut fries, which needed a hit of salt, will make you fist pump with crispy happiness. And it’s OK to rejoice: One of Dallas’ most beautifully simple, under-$10 burgers has returned. 

Midway Point, 14831 Midway Road, Addison