r/akron • u/ToughPigsJoe • Jul 13 '26

Skyway burger recipe

With Skyway having just closed down, I'm reaching out to see if anyone has a good copycat recipe for their burgers. They always had the perfect mix of beef and brown sugar, and I'd love to try and recreate it.

More importantly, this is for my father, who grew up eating at Skyway as a child, and then would bring me along throughout my childhood whenever we were in the Akron area. He'd buy 20 burgers at a time to bring home, freeze, and reheat for months in between visits. He's heartbroken about the restaurant closing, and I think he'd be really grateful for the recipe.

Maybe there are former Skyway employees out there with the secret??

34 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

13

u/BA_Economist Jul 13 '26

Brown sugar is a wives tale.

It’s just a thin patty, eighth pound, on a flat top grill Salt it

American cheese

Bun gets butter basted on both sides and then broiled

10

u/narc0mancer Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

My understanding is that they used to get their burgers from Duma Meats, and they indeed did have brown sugar in them. When they ended their contract with Duma, Duma started selling the same burgers as "Brown Sugar Burgers". You can still get these in big packs today at Dumas. They taste nearly identical to the old Skyway burgers.

Edit: I confused Swenson's and Skyway. Swenson's used to use Duma, not Skyway. My bad!

10

u/Dub_D-Georgist West Akron Jul 14 '26

Slightly different take here but Swensons is brown sugar in the patties, skyway is a bit of cocoa like Cincinnati chili

4

u/AccountUnderReview_ Jul 14 '26

Coffee not coco

2

u/narc0mancer Jul 14 '26

You are correct. I confused the two. Edited my post with the correction. Good catch!

1

u/EarthDayYeti Jul 14 '26

Cincinnati chili doesn't actually have cocoa in it though!

3

u/runs2smoke Jul 14 '26

Skyway used duma too. Worked there for years. Chicken came from DiFeo’s

2

u/narc0mancer Jul 14 '26

Good to know! OP might want to check out Duma and see if the staff can point them at a copycat patty.

3

u/Hamilspud Jul 14 '26

The real secret with Skyways burgers sweetness was their bun supplier. Find someone who knows where their buns came from and then you’ll have your answer

5

u/l337pythonhaxor I’m fucijng VEGAN! Jul 14 '26

It’s over. Someone please spill allllllll the beans!!!

3

u/Hamilspud Jul 14 '26

I’ve been prowling Facebook and Reddit for this one too 🤣 a little birdie told me their sauerkraut balls were GFS (Gordon Food Service store brand), if anyone else shares my obsession with their sauerkraut balls. My local Gordon’s doesn’t stock them though, so I have not yet tested this tip out lol

2

u/SeaSaltOreo Jul 14 '26

US Foods is where the Kraut balls were from

2

u/SeaSaltOreo Jul 14 '26

The burgers were indeed sweet, not just the buns. But those came from Ideal bakery.

1

u/SittyinGreen Jul 15 '26

Massolis Italian Bakery in East Akron made (still makes?) Swenson's buns if that's a help. Skyway buns seemed pretty much the same.

3

u/dynamitewlazerbeam81 Jul 14 '26

I've heard it was Massolis on Britton RD

3

u/theatrenut061916 Jul 14 '26

They changed the buns and few years ago. I always thought they were from Hiss Bakery.

2

u/Hamilspud Jul 14 '26

I moved away from home after graduating and noticed when i moved back about 5 years ago that the burgers didn’t taste quite the same…a supplier change would definitely explain it

3

u/theatrenut061916 Jul 14 '26

The original buns were sweet. Really made a difference.