Carson City has had its share of little burger shacks over the years. One of the most long-lived ones was the Penguin Burger at Carson and Sophia Streets, which was open until the 1990s. That one was the subject of a previous Then and Now. But there have been several other burger shacks that didn’t last as long. One of these was the Hunger Hut.
I don’t have dates for when the Hunger Hut opened or closed, but it was around in the 1960s and 70s. It was on Carson Street, across from the Carson Mall and right next door to the Carson Wedding Chapel that we looked at a couple of weeks ago.
Old aerial photos show the Hunger Hut being demolished by 1980. Also by that time the era of independent burger shacks was fading, and chain fast food restaurants were taking root. This was demonstrated perfectly by the Hunger Hut’s replacement. Around the time it was demolished, a shiny new Burger King was built right next door to the south. There’s no better representation of the old being swept away to make room for the new.
Nowadays the site of the Hunger Hut is still vacant. It has been used as a parking lot for the last 45 years.
The Burger King to the south has its own long history. We detailed that in a Ghosts of Carson article a couple of years ago. It is now a Carls Jr.
The Hunger Hut is visible in the background of these photos, taken during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Carson Mall in the 1960s.
