Hudson's Hamburgers — Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene

I title this one, 
“The genius is the simplicity” 
I recently pulled in to Coeur D’Alene Idaho for a quick business trip. I got in to town around lunch time, armed with an appetite and a time zone change. As I was driving the main drag of CDA, I noticed an old looking awning on the left, with the words “Hudson’s: Hamburgers since 1907”. I was struck by two things: 1/ these folks have been making hamburgers for 113 years and 2/ they still call them hamburgers. I had to have one.
Upon walking inside I was greeted with a long old school counter, but not in a cheesy way. There were round diner stools fixed to the ground, and a sign that said “cash only”. I was immediately impressed. I sat down, accepted my cold glass of water, and waited a mere 15 seconds to be asked what I would like. I of course, ordered the “cheeseburger”, from the menu on the wall that included a hamburger, cheeseburger, or double of each option. No sides, no options, no fries. Just burgers, cokes and of course, a nice selection of pie for dessert. 
As I waited for my burger, I began to take notice of the lone cook working the griddle. He had a giant (and I mean giant like the size of a soccer ball) pile of ground beef on one end, and a pile of whole onions and huge pickles at the other end. As orders came in, he would break off a hunk of meat, flatten it out with his stainless steel spatula, and throw it on the heat. He had a steady stream of burgers working their way from right to left, uncooked to cooked. Meanwhile he was cutting a generous amount of pickles and onions on a regular basis to add to the finished product as they came up. 
In no less than 5 mins, I had presented to me a simple, but delicious looking cheese burger on a classic white plate with green boarders. The pickles were abundant, as was the sliced white onion. There were a variety of house “hot” sauces available to add at ones leisure, but I chose to go with the burger as served, and allow the meat, cheese, pickles and onions to speak for themselves. And speak they did! 
The burger was hot, as it was 15 seconds off the grill when I took my first bite. The bun was warm and soft, and the combination of american cheese, thick white onions and a liberal helping of pickles worked together like a finely choreographed dance. Each flavor was distinct, and neither over powered the other. Being able to enjoy both the parts, and the sum of the parts simultaneously was indeed a rare treat. Too often these days burgers can have so much going on, that all the flavors meld into one, robbing the patron of the opportunity to sit back, and appreciate the simplicity of well cooked meat, onions, pickles, cheese and bread. 
I remarked to the cook that he did a fine job, and that I appreciated the simplicity. He reminded me that the key ingredient was the grease. He was not wrong, and I thank him for his wise words.
This burger will unlikely be a contender for a foodie magazine “best burger of the year” award, but there’s a reason you can still get away with “cash only” after 113 years serving essentially one item, and I like the cash policy, I hope they...

As a life long customer of "Huddies" it really does hurt me to give this visit only a 3 star review. I LOVE Hudson's burgers but have to say that the service has gone way down hill. When I was there a week ago there were 3 people behind the counter but only one was doing anything useful. He was doing all the work on the grill to serve the many people (as is usual) at the counter & waiting for a seat or to order to go. The other two people behind the counter were basically chatting, passing out the burgers that the one guy on the grill was makingi on his own or doing nothing. The wait time to be served was 45 minutes to over an hour. It was really ridiculous & frustrating for customers as we tried to figure out what was going on. In the past there were always 2 people working the grill (1 grilling & 1 making burger patties, slicing pickles & onions & prepping the to go orders) which sped up the process & kept the burgers flowing to eager customers. This last time we had to finally ask the guy chatting & passing out the occasional burger from the grill if he could take a to go order. Once he said he could, it was an additional 50 minutes until our order was ready. In the meantime, he recognized & took the orders of 3 young girls that just walked in while the rest of us who'd been waiting for 30 minutes stood there & watched incredulously. It was a completely horrible experience for people who'd been coming to Huddies for YEARS! Once we got our burgers they were, as usual, incredibly good. The experience & service were, sadly, incredibly bad. I can only hope this was just an off day for this place I love. Please please please don't let this experience be what others find when they come...

Two Choices: Burger or Pie

It's really simple at Hudson's Burger and or Pie. That's about all they have which keeps things very simple! I was shocked at the menu and kept looking for the fries, onion rings or anything else, but no'p... Burger or Pie.

The grill is about 2' x 2' and can only fit one guy. So there's just one cook and a couple of guys taking orders. But don't let any of this detour you. This place is packed and the burgers are "All American" and as "Traditional" backyard BBQ as you can get. There's a stack of ground beef sitting next to the cook. He rips off a handful and flattens it once with the spatula an plops it onto the grill.

Even the fixins are simple. Mustard, onions and pickles.

LOCATION & AMBIANCE (Rating 3.5) You'll be sitting at the bar overlooking the grill and pie fridge. Not much else to say about this place.

SERVICE (Rating 5) The people were great! Extremely friendly and not rushing you out. Surprisingly, after the first burger they almost expect you to order another and I saw quite a few locals doing just that!

DOUBLE CHEESBURGER (Rating 4.25) A decent amount of meat with the double, but I would have liked more cheese on it. There really wasn't much, if any seasoning in the meat that I experienced, so this is a burger purist's dream.

COCONUT CREAM PIE (Rating 4) Not sure if these were home made or not, but they sure tasted like it. I'm not a "pie guy" so don't count on my rating on this pie, but it was...