Wouldn’t it be nice if your license plate wasn’t just totally free, but you were essentially paid to run it? Well, thanks to some creative marketing by Austin, T.X.-based burger chain Mighty Fine Burgers, that’s been a reality for years. Everyone, say hello to the best license plate in the known universe.
Even for people who aren’t necessarily car enthusiasts, novelty license plates are fun. Sure, the personalized license plate has been enjoying a certain popularity for years, but over the past few decades we’ve also seen the gradual rise of graphic plates that deviate from standard government-issued designs in the name of style. From Victoria’s Holden Special Vehicles-themed plates to British Columbia’s incredibly pretty Purcell Mountains BC Parks plates, truly whimsical options exist around the globe, although none are quite as good a deal as Texas’ Mighty Fine Burgers license plates.
Yep, it’s a license plate with a cheeseburger on it, which feels about as gloriously American as a John Force podium interview, Copperhead Road, and original formula Four Loko. I love a good cheeseburger and you probably do too, unless you’re vegetarian or vegan or pescatarian or Hindu, in which case that’s also cool. For those who do eat beef though, the cheeseburger is the standard of fast food for a reason. It’s hard to screw up, but also hard to perfect.
Anyway, graphic license plates in Texas work on an application system, which means that everyone from charities to corporations can apply to have their branding on a license plate, which is how Texas also ends up with Remax, YMCA, and Ducks Unlimited license plates. Just like Remax, Mighty Fine Burgers is a corporation, although one known for peddling dinner rather than homes. However, these food-themed license plates come with one hell of a deal-sweetener. In the words of Mighty Fine Burgers:
Sign up for our Mighty Fine License Plate on MyPlates.com and get a $150 Burger Bucks card redeemable at any location. You can renew your plate each year and get another $150 Burger bucks card every time you do. You’re paying to renew your plate anyway; why not look good and get some free burgers out of it?
Wait a second. This license plate with a standard-issue number costs $50 a year to renew. If you get a $150 gift card every time you renew, that’s a free license plate and like $100 in free burgers, milkshakes, chicken sandwiches, what have you. Who the hell wouldn’t take this deal? Granted, Mighty Fine is an Austin-based chain, so only Austinites can take full advantage, but still. That’s nearly a million people who can partake of free burgers on the regular.
Yes, European license plates may have a neater form factor, and the cloud-shaped Matsuyama motorcycle license plate is gloriously bonkers, but a license plate that grants you free burgers is an absolute mic drop. Now, please excuse me for a second. I’m going to pine for a local license plate that pays me in food to run it.
(Photo credits: My Plates, Mighty Fine Burgers)
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It’s gonna take a lot to top the New Mexico chile plate. This isn’t it.
Yeah, the chile plate is truly goat-tier.
This is just meat-themed capitalist dystopian kitsch. “You can pay to advertise our product on YOUR CAR, good sir! Ah, we’ll throw you some burgers to make up for it, too.”
In addition to being the 2nd-largest state in the union, Texas has the 2nd-greatest variety of specialty plates, with 476 variations on offer. Number 1? Maryland, with 989, including four variations where there’s only one plate issued, including a National Speleological Society plate. This guy has all the numbers.
Just saw one of these the other day! It read “borger” and I found it way funnier than I should’ve. I had no idea about the incentive behind it.
I’d never get a vanity plate in a state where it costs extra to renew.
In Pennsylvania, they recently jacked the price up to over $100, but it’s just a one-time fee to apply for a vanity plate. Other than that, nothing changes.
I have the US plate in MA, which came out after 9/11 as a way to support everything public safety related after the attack. I still have it, actually my second set and to me it is worth the $45 upcharge, $90 total (assuming it hasn’t changed recently). The extra $45 is supposed to go towards supporting those folks, it looks better than the standard MA plate and hopefully adds a slim level of favor to me if I get pulled over. To me, all 3 make it worth it.
Jeepers!
Here we pay $200 for a set of regular aluminium ones, and $400 for a set of old style enamel plates for classic cars before 1976. PLUS the yearly taxes!
The latter comes with some possibility of getting your favourite letters and numbers withins some limitations, so kind of worth it anyway, here’s mine.
It’s a cool idea, but the space the burger takes up diminishes the usefulness of the plate for its actual purpose even further. American-sized plates are laughably short to begin with, which is why the typefaces chosen are so slender as to be almost unreadable from a distance. This burger makes the plates even worse as plates.
If you want plates that are actually good at their game, look at Euro-sized plates.
What kind of a bougie hipster eats a burger on a plate?
I ain’t gonna lie, that’s a pretty plate right there.
If this place was closer to me I would totally do this. We need more sponsored license plates.
Unfortunately KING, SACRED, and HILL seem blocked or taken, but HELPER is supposedly available.
HELPER
I seen whut you done there.
Shoot, I’m not eating burgers in Austin when I can get some tasty brisket instead.
To be fair, this (and the myriad other dining options here) is why I haven’t tried Mighty Fine. Also, I’m just not a huge burger person and there’s no Mighty Fines that are THAT close to me.
OK, so when’s the Casa Bonita plate coming out in Colorado?
I normally won’t advertise on my car – dealers take note – but in this case they’re paying for the space so it’s okay.
Mr. Hundal, i could not agree less with this, and for the following reason.
I would go on a limb calling this one of the WORST plates in Texas, a state with many good, and bad plates.
Also, Texas sucks.
Assembly should have the burger on the BOTTOM bun and the condiments applied to the top bun. I reject burgers with the patty on top-first bite and the cheese/patty slides out. You need the friction of the patty on the bottom bun and the cheese to melt and hold the condiments so you can actually eat it. I don’t know who started the trend of putting the patty on top, but it HAS to stop!
Mighty Fine is trash. Beaten by every other Austin chain by a mile
I’ll soon be able to get the new Colorado Stegosaurus plate https://dinoridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/stegosaurus_license_plate.jpg
My inner 5-year-old is begging me to move to Colorado just so I can get that license plate!
My inner 5 year old keeps saying, “Are we there yet?”
OH MY GOSH I NOW KNOW WHERE I NEED TO MOVE
Nebraska needs a Runza plate, stat
I feel like NWT and their polar bear shaped plates are really the best out there.
https://spectacularnwt-online-store.myshopify.com/products/northwest-territories-license-plates
That is kind of cool.
I love these so much.
… brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
F*** you I’m eating!
You are an unfit mother.
Maybe this is a hot take, but the burger on that plate looks like shit. It may taste great, but I feel like they could have picked a better picture of a burger.
not hot at all, this is the correct take.
The Red Grapefruit plates are a good one too, which is a the state fruit. I think there was even a Dr. Pepper plate for a while.
I still think the Alice Cooper plate is the best, and supports a good cause
https://azdot.gov/license-plates/alice-coopers-solid-rock
Thanks. Alice is a national treasure. And apparently a real good guy.
His stage presence is totally different than he is off stage. True nice guy that cares. Met him in a bar in Cave Creek way back when I lived in AZ. I was doing a bungee jump for my 21st b-day and he happened to be there.
That rules, TBH.
Tennessee has a Dolly Parton plate and that beats burger.
Pretty sure a Dolly plate beats everything. Pack it up y’all, we’re done here.
In close second, another Tennessee plate
The best Tennessee plates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtwtATK5X0Y
And, there’s a retro 50s drive-in at Dollywood, so she even does burgers, too
There is simply nothing that Dolly can’t do. That woman is a national treasure who must be protected at all costs.
Oh my gosh, this is my new favorite.
If I’m gonna have some kind of food-related license plate, it’s gonna be the New Mexico chili license plate. If only they gave out free Hatch Chilies every time you renewed.
Man does Texas really their burgers seriously. I haven’t had one of these or a Whataburger so I certainly can’t weigh in (my Texas experience consists of a long weekend in Dallas over a decade ago), but people sure do seem passionate about burgies down there…and frankly I have no choice but to respect it because there really is no substitute for a truly good burger.
The Whataburger green chili burger brings back the memories growing up
Oh yeah, that one’s solid.
Whataburger is worth it from my limited experience in Texas for a wedding. Also had the wife bring one back from an airport in TX. Whataburgers may even be better cold.
Whenever I wind up back in Texas the two things I’m going to go out of my way for are Whataburger and driving on one of their highways that has a ridiculous speed limit. Aren’t there stretches of road there that have a speed limit of 85 or 90? That’s certainly not a treat that I get to experience here in the DC area…
When going to whataburger, go with any of the limited time specials or all-time favorites, especially if you’ve never been before. the basic ones you aren’t personalizing aren’t where it’s really at.
also yes, there is a stretch of toll road on SH 130 has a 85mph speed limit, and other highways have 75/80
Currently chili cheeseburger. Of course, Texas chili, no damn beans. The honey butter chicken biscuit with the jalapeno biscuit is one of the best fast food breakfast things in existence.
https://whataburger.com/home
NO DAMN BEANS! As it should be.
The out-of-state private-equity owners really aren’t doing Whataburger any favors, though. The quality seems like it’s dropped lately and I got some really bad jalapeno cheddar biscuits in its latest comeback round. Someone from in the state that isn’t a PE vulture desperately needs to buy it back.
“the basic ones you aren’t personalizing aren’t where it’s really at.”
True. Always add grilled onions and jalepenos!
Also, the Dr. Pepper shakes are freaking awesome! And yes, shake, not float. DP syrup is added to vanilla ice cream, no soda water.
There are Whataburgers in VA!
Unrelated company though, like those other Woolworths in Australia and South Africa. Closest Texan Whataburger to Virginia is in North Carolina
Ohhhhhh okay
You’re right! Outside of Richmond. My wife and I go through that area all the time…in fact we will be on Friday
I’m not ashamed to admit I first learned about Whataburger via its Arlen, TX location, I tell you what.
Arlen is darlin!
I guess they stuck it to Whataburger with this as I have no idea who would do this. I didn’t find the burgers any better than Whataburger though either.