Word History: The German word Hamburger, literally meaning "from the city of Hamburg," begins to appear on American menus in the late 1800s during a period of heavy German immigration. At first, it is found in the form of hamburger steak, a name for a ground beef patty served as an entrée. Such a dish was apparently thought typical of German cuisine. When placed between two slices of bread, the hamburger steak became the hamburger sandwich, sometimes called a hamburger for short. The classic hamburger with bun and traditional toppings emerged in the early 1900s. As the tide of German immigration receded and the hamburger's associations with the city of Hamburg were lost, the ham was occasionally dropped from the burger, probably because the ham here was mistakenly thought to refer to the meat. This permitted not only the simple form burger but also the creation of endless variations such as cheeseburger, veggie burger, and tofu burger.