The Durham Filling Station

I’m pretty sure I have mentioned how easy it is to eat unhealthy here. I can’t begin to count the number of meals I have had where everything was some shade of deep fried brown or bready white. Thing is I am not talking true chain fast food here, it is all the mom and pop, hole in the wall, local spots offering up these kinds of eats. And what makes it so hard to resist is the pure and simple fact—-it tastes real good. I mean, how am I supposed to resist something which is both affordable and tasty. That is rhetorical because my true self will not. I think I have proven over the years just how much I am drawn to these “locals only know” places for the reasons stated above. I know I could never really get around to all of them wherever I am (my time here in Durham is limited as you will soon see) thus when I cross paths with a spot, I will be chowing down on the eats.

One such spot here is The Durham Filling Station, a small building in the Wall Town neighborhood which is pretty much a walk up window for ordering and some picnic tables next to it for eating. Weirdly, I remember this building from when I was growing up here. It was a burger and hot dog spot called Wimpy’s. And while they have added an addition which encloses the order window, the essence of the building has remained the same. I remember this spot so well as it is just a stones throw or two from where my grandparents lived in a house my father was raised in and which was built by the textile mill company they worked for. The mill lined what is now a quaint shopping area known as Ninth Street. Every now and then when staying at their house we would venture down the block to grab a burger or dog as a treat because grandparents always spoil grand children.

These days the old mills have been turned into fancy apartments and the businesses along Ninth cater as much to the students of Duke University which is a few blocks away as they do to locals. Even with all the so-called gentrification of the area, many of the houses in the surrounding neighborhood are still there as they were before, including most surprisingly, my grandparents house. Which these days, seems to be a rental for said students. I just hope whoever owns it but in another bathroom because the one originally in it was kind of a tiny hodgepodge of a half bath and then a tub in a room next to it. Plus with three bedrooms, I can’t imagine everyone sharing it, though who knows. I mean, my dad was one of five kids and two adults who lived there, so anything is possible.

I had driven by the place a number of times and was like, “I can’t believe that place is still here!” But in essence, it was just the building and the Filling Station was the new occupant as of just a few years ago. I finally checked out their menu online and they are still serving burgers and dogs but have kicked it up some with burger variations and biscuit additions. All in all, it look appealing and since their hours seem to be somewhat limited for those of us who don’t work nearby, I pulled myself out of bed early enough on a Saturday(!) a few times to swing buy and try the eats.

**bacon egg and pimento cheese biscuit**

What better way to see what they got than to dive right in with a Southern staple—the biscuit. More specifically, a bacon, egg and pimento cheese (another Southern staple) biscuit. Outside of the biscuit, everything is made to oder so you get fresh fried egg and bacon which is nice as it helped melt the pimento cheese, something I have previously said I prefer. And it is quite a big ‘un at that. The biscuit was slightly dense but fluffy on the inside and a nice light crust on the outside. And considering all the abundance of filling here, it held together pretty well as I ate it. Though toward the end it did crumble a bit but overall I will give it a pass for such a thing. They also did not skimp on the bacon or pimento cheese. Plenty of each with the egg to get a little bit of them all in every bite. All for the princely sum of $5.50.

Cheese, eggy, bacony, it kind of has it all, and while I won’t say it was necessary, a little butter like you’d do on toast would have been nice. Though we all know me, I like butter on most everything. I will say all this richness together is a lot and the size makes this very filling (you know, like their name!) and after scarfing this down, it seemed like a good time to plop on the couch and chill nap with the tv on. A true American hobby.

I ordered the Junkyard Dog ($9.25) not really knowing so much what was on it but kind of guessing what it was going to be. Normally I don’t like to do this with food lest I get something like furikake, bonito flakes or coconut on it. And yes, those things have happened and it becomes a real shame to waste or throw food away because of it. Here I figured I might not have to worry too much and ended up with a spicy beef hot dog topped with melted cheese, chili, slaw, onions, mustard and bacon.

It’s a decent sized dog and one bite in you can really get the full kick of the spice and some hearty beef flavor from the dog which was thick and juicy even after they split cooked it. The chili was all fine ground hamburger and the slaw was slightly sweet adding some nice contrast to the spicy dog. Surprisingly the two things I wasn’t really a fan of here were the melted cheese and bacon. The cheese I thought just made it too wet and allowed the bun to just get sloppier and softer than it already was. Plus, not sure it really added much for me besides gooeyness I did not feel was needed. The bacon they put on was more like jerky than crispy bacon. Not sure if that was intended or accidental but it was too tough and hard to chew, I had to take it off and toss it. Seriously, when have I ever thrown away bacon! But this had to go.

Beyond those two things, I thought this was a really tasty dog and would just recommend going with the standard spicy dog and get it Carolina style—chili, onions, slaw, mustard—and you will have a satisfying and filling dog that will also cost you about half of what the Junkyard does.

This is a bacon and pimento cheese burger on buttered Texas toast ($8.50). Point of note, this comes as is but I found out after the fact I could have added lettuce, tomato, pickle and mayo at no extra charge which in essence would have been a nice addition as this is a lot of greasy, buttery meat and rich cheesiness going on here and the addition of something crisp, fresh and crunchy could have helped break it all up. I mean, it was still good and I ate it all, but I did slap some lettuce on it had at home since this was a takeaway. Again, it is a lot of burger and you do get your money and bellys worth here. Seems for any of the burgers you can add the basics so just be aware when ordering.

I do so love me some onion rings and a side for $4 needs to be all that for me, yet I think let me down slightly. The breading on these was way too much and the slices of onion inside weren’t nearly big enough to counteract it thus the deep fry grease got soaked up into the coating and these were super greasy and not super crispy crunchy. Bummer, they initially looked good and I wanted to like them so unless you are okay with lots of outer coating I would take a pass.

Now their serving of curly fries for $3 was more on point. While they could use some serious salt that is a mere quibble easily rectified. But you do get another large portion fresh out of the fryer and they are all crisped up on the outside and soft inside, a really good side dish you get so many of you could probably make a whole meal out of them if you were so inclined to that kind of thing.

While there were one or two small things I could pass on, overall, The Durham Filling Station kind of does what they are called, gives you some big portions that will fill you up and it was all pretty tasty too. The prices also aren’t so terribly high either that you will feel a dent in your wallet. Though prices have gone up a bit from what is listed on their website but nothing exorbitant like so many other things around today. Sure, it is a lot of deep fried stuff and brown things but man cannot live by green leafy things alone! Okay, maybe they can, but it would be totally boring ALL THE TIME! Every now and then it is good to just not think about calories and carbs and whatever and just chow down on something temptingly unhealthy and then let the laziness of a filling meal wash over you.