Burgers
From Super-wiki
Dean eating his burger upside down in 8.01 We Need to Talk About Kevin
History
Whether eaten in the Impala or at a diner, burgers are the ideal food for the hunter on the go. Many burgers are consumed throughout Supernatural, primarily by Dean. Sam partakes as well, when he isn't eating salad. Dean famously makes burgers for Sam and himself after they move into the Bunker in 8.14 Trial and Error.
Castiel rarely eats, but under the effect of Famine in 5.14 My Bloody Valentine, Castiel's vessel, Jimmy Novak, gets hungry for burgers and consumes hundreds.
Dean most often orders a bacon cheeseburger. In 11.12 Don't You Forget About Me, he has an Elvis burger—a bacon cheeseburger where the buns are each replaced with a glazed donut.
According to Zachariah in 4.22 Lucifer Rising, Dean's favorite burger is one he had "From that seaside shack in Delaware" when he was 11. Dean considers the burgers from Conner's Diner to be the best in St. Louis. However, in 14.11 Damaged Goods, Donna Hanscum takes him to get the "best burger in Minnesota." After tasting this, Dean calls it "the best burger in the world".
Burger Sightings - InvertaBurger Study
Dean Winchester loves burgers. But, he doesn’t eat them in a consistent manner. Out of the 27 times Dean’s eaten a burger (or tangentially related sandwich), he sometimes eats them the conventional way (top bun right side up) or upside down (bottom bun on top). This unofficial Invertaburger Study has determined that Dean has eaten his burgers the conventional way 11 times (41%) and upside down 16 times (59%). ~ study by Sandra from the Idling in the Impala podcast
| Season x Episode | Episode Name | Burger Sighting Approximate Time Stamp (hh:mm:ss) | Scene Description | Burger Sighting Surveillance | Burger Position Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2x18 | Hollywood Babylon | 00:09:18 | Dean eats a miniature Philly cheesesteak slider beside the craft services table. | Dean eats slider upside down. | Upside Down (tangential relation to a burger since it has a definitive top and bottom bun) |
| 3x1 | The Magnificent Seven | 00:06:50 | Dean eats a bacon cheeseburger (in wrapper) as he exits Baby; Bobby confirms it’s a burger. | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 3x15 | Time is on My Side | 00:08:50 | Dean is eating a burger at a motel table while discussing the case with Sam. | Dean starts eating a burger right side up (visible/obvious Sesame seeds on top bun); puts burger down and picks up in a manner that indicates he will eat it upside down (Sesame seeds on bun are not as visible/obvious) | Upside Down (with continuity error) |
| 4x15 | Death Takes A Holiday | 00:02:00 | Dean is eating a burger in a diner with Sam while discussing a case. | Dean eats the burger upside down throughout the entire scene. | Upside Down |
| 4x18 | The Monster at the End of This Book | 00:17:00 | Dean is looking over the menu at “Kripke’s Hollywood Diner” while seated at a table discussing Chuck Shurley’s writings with Sam. To avoid doing what Chuck prophesizes, he orders a veggie tofu burger, but the waitress mistakenly gives him the bacon cheeseburger, which he eats. | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 5x7 | The Curious Case of Dean Winchester | 00:38:40 | Dean walks into the motel room holding a partially eaten burger and chewing. | Dean is holding the burger with lettuce and toppings closer to him. The burger appears to be upside down in his hand. | Upside Down (inferred, but not eaten on screen) |
| 5x8 | Changing Channels | 00:02:12 | Dean and Sam are eating burgers at a motel table during the opening theme song in the Trickster’s AU. | Dean is holding the burger right side up. | Right Side Up (inferred, but not eaten on screen) |
| 5x12 | Swap Meat | 00:04:08 | Dean picks up a Bacon Burger Turbo for himself at “Patriot Burger Diner”. (Gary serves him at the counter). Sam ordered a HealthQuake Salad Shake. | Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up |
| 5x14 | My Bloody Valentine | 00:11:15 | Dean orders a burger at a restaurant with Sam and Cas at the table with him. | Dean picks up the burger upside down and is about to eat but decides not to and places it back on his plate. | Upside Down (inferred, but not eaten on screen) |
| 6x4 | Weekend at Bobby’s | 00:07:40 | Dean is eating a burger at a motel table and talking to Bobby on the phone. | Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up |
| 7x6 | Slash Fiction | 00:19:40 | Leviathan!Dean is eating a burger at the counter of “Connor’s Diner.” | Leviathan!Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up (but does it count since it’s not Dean?) |
| 7x9 | How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters | 00:09:10 00:18:10 |
Dean orders and eats a Turducken Slammer at “Biggerson’s” in two separate scenes. | Dean eats the slammer upside down in the first scene. Dean eats slammer right side up in second scene. Slammer has definitive top and bottom buns. |
Upside Down (first scene) Right Side Up (second scene) |
| 8x1 | We Need to Talk About Kevin | 00:25:30 | Dean is sitting with Sam outside a restaurant patio with Sam eating a burger. | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 8x2 | What’s Up, Tiger Mommy? | 00:03:00 | Dean is sitting outside in a food truck patio with Sam and Kevin. | Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up |
| 8x4 | Bitten | 00:24:20 | Dean and Sam are sitting inside a restaurant discussing a possible werewolf case. | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 8x12 | As Time Goes By | 00:11:40 | Dean and Sam sit at a table in “Charlie C’s” with Henry Winchester. | Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up |
| 8x14 | Trial and Error | 00:04:20 | Dean is "nesting" in the Men of Letters bunker and makes burgers for himself and Sam. | Dean picks up the burger and is about to eat it upside down when he’s interrupted by a call from Kevin. | Upside Down (inferred, but not eaten on screen) |
| 8x19 | Taxi Driver | 00:10:10 | Dean brings burgers to Kevin on Garth’s houseboat, “Mr. Fizzles.” | Dean is holding the burger upside down in the scene. | Upside Down (inferred, but not eaten on screen) |
| 10x9 | The Things We Left Behind | 00:14:30 | Dean has finished eating a burger at Sharkey’s while sitting with Cas. He then takes the burger in front of Cas and eats it. | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 10x15 | The Things They Carried | 00:13:20 | Dean is eating outside with Sam and Cole at “Sammy’s Highway Cafe” | Dean eats the burger upside down. | Upside Down |
| 10x21 | Dark Dynasty | 00:20:20 | Dean drives Baby at night and eats burgers with Sam. | Dean eats the burger right side up. | Right Side Up |
| 11x13 | Love Hurts | 00:22:30 | Dean is eating a burger in a motel room. | Dean appears to eat a burger right side up, but the beer bottle is in the way of the shot. | Right Side Up |
| 12x18 | The Memory Remains | 00:18:20 | Dean is eating a burger at a diner counter. | Dean eats the burger upside down in the first shot. | Upside Down |
| 13x2 | The Rising Son | 00:09:50 | Dean eats burgers with Jack in a Black Hat Hotel room. | Dean eats the burger right side up | Right Side Up |
| 14x7 | Unhuman Nature | 00:23:50 | Dean is eating burgers outside (sitting on Baby’s hood) on a back road with Jack. | Dean is holding the burger upside down in the first shot. Cut back to Dean, and the burger is right side up. | Upside Down (with continuity error) |
| 14x11 | Damaged Goods | 00:06:00 | Dean is eating burgers outside the “Hungry Beaver Burger Stop” on a picnic bench with Sheriff Donna Hanscum. | Unable to confirm in the first shot if it’s even a burger bun; if indeed a burger bun, it does not appear to be eaten upside down in other shots. | Right Side Up |
External Links
- Jensen answers the burger-eating question at Salute to Supernatural Washington DC 2022 (audio clip from Idling in the Impala podcast)
- Article from Tasting Table: “You’ve Likely Been Eating Burgers Wrong All Along” (Aug. 29, 2023); archive link
