Florida's Best Hole-In-The-Wall Burger Joint Has The Funkiest Combos — Think Krispy Kreme Buns

Food can be odd in many ways. Some dishes and drinks are weird in a way that most really, really don't want to try them. The fried tarantulas from Cambodia fall into this category, as does Kopi Luwak, the Indonesian coffee made from Civet poop. Then there are food combinations famous for being controversial. When it comes to pineapple on pizza, there will be very few people who don't have a strong opinion. Finally, there's food that sounds wrong to the point of being a joke, but also extremely appetizing. Think Deep Fried Mars Bars, or Elvis Presley's favorite Fool's Gold Loaf (a sandwich featuring peanut butter, banana, and bacon).

Florida's best hole-in-the-wall burger joint, which made our list of the best hole-in-the-wall burger joints in every state, thrives in the third category. We're talking about "Thee Burger Spot" in Tampa, a decade-old burger joint with a menu featuring some really funky combinations. We're not talking about using sliced apples as a crunchy topping for your burger, but some really out-there ideas.

For example, one of their best-selling burgers is Thee Glazed One, which is described as a Bacon Cheese Burger on a Krispy Kreme Glazed Donut Bun. Thee Crazy One is topped not just with mayo, lettuce, tomato and onions, but also with bologna, salami, and ham. And then there's Thee Creamy One, which is a quarter-pounder topped with creamy peanut butter, bacon and cheese. In 2020, in the middle of the lockdown, they even offered free home delivery of Green Doughnut Burgers to mark St. Patrick's Day. But Thee Burger Spot is more than just a spot for oddball sandwiches. It's a place that brings a community together.

Thee Burger Spot is a family-owned restaurant located on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Tampa Street. Their mission, as stated on their website, is to serve people in the neighborhood. A short note their signs off with: "On our corner there is love. On our corner there is hope. On our corner there is community".

Vanessa Oatman, marketing director at Thee Burger Spot, says their origins were linked to providing healthy food to Black families around them. "What we were seeing in our community was African American people going to McDonalds, going to Burger King, not eating the healthiest food," Oatman said to WFLA TV. In 2016, husband and wife duo Joe and Tivona Hill started Thee Burger Spot to sell good quality, affordable burgers. Their classic burgers start at under $8 today. Their gourmet burgers are all priced under $10, despite the fact they could slide easily into this list of the most original burgers you can find in the U.S. And the most expensive burger on their menu is Thee Big Boy, which is a $14 Triple Cheeseburger.

According to WFLA, it also routinely serves Tampa's homeless community, while hosting events to bring the entire neighborhood together. "Everyone who works in the restaurant is a part of the family," Oatman told WTSP, adding that everyone's in the kitchen at 3AM shaping beef patties and hand-cutting 150 pounds of onions for their famous Onion Thangs, or batter-fried onion crisps. These crisps are an integral part of most of their burgers, including the funky ones that pass the test of what the best gourmet burgers are all about.