George Motz‘s Travel Channel experiment Burger Land was apparently well-received enough to generate more shows. First one is tonight! Should be some good burger TV watching. First episode focuses on L.A. Set the DVR.
“Plans for the first In-N-Out Burger in Central Texas remain on track, with the restaurant scheduled to open by the end of the year, company officials say.”
http://www.statesman.com/news/business/in-n-out-burger-on-track-for-2013-opening-in-round/nXKFm/
Just had dinner at the new Épicerie Cafe & Grocery on Hancock this evening. Delicious burger. Thick patty, beefy flavor, juicy, well-cooked, “Vermont cheddar”, nice crust on the patty. Overall, just a very tasty and satisfying burger. Fries good. This is by far the best burger I have had in Austin in quite some time.
I also like the setup here–no wait staff. You order at the counter. You grab some silverware (and cloth napkin) from a shelf. You fill you own water. It’s very simple and pleasant. The place is small so it feels like you are eating at home almost.
Unfortunately was too dark for any good pix, but I’ll be back 
Made it out to the hoppin’ Hoppdoddy’s new north location. We got there early enough to avoid the crowd. When we left, there was a line out front. Burger was good, but nothing great. All fresh in-house made stuff (bun, beef, even ketchup). Maine Root on tap. Hipster vibe. Burger was good, but did not cross over into greatness territory. Bun was too sweet. Burger was too perfectly round (handled by machine?). Lacked sufficient crust and beefy flavor. Fries good!
Agree with A Hamburger Today’s assessment for the most part. Everything looks and sounds great, but it just doesn’t come together as one would expect to produce a stellar burger.
Fries Good
Burger not bad…but should be “great”
Under the hood–patty too perfectly round, lack of crust
Cross section, decently cooked (sign of pink remaining)
New series by Hamburger America guy George Motz. It’s called Burger Land and it’s on the Travel Channel. Watched the first two episodes–good stuff. First featured New Jersey sliders, second focused on Wisconsin regional burger varieties–the Butter Burger, and burgers cooked in lard in one place (WEDL’s), and kind of poached in grease and water on a waterlogged griddle in another place (Pete’s). All burgers were quite tantalizing. He focuses on mom-and-pop joints that have been operating forever. Should be a great series to keep up with.
First trip back to In the Buns since they were sold. A few cosmetic changes have been made, all positive in my view. The interior is much more inviting –no more chain link fence around the kitchen area, tables are larger, most of the flower sculptures are gone (I guess they left a few as a nod to the original decor), and there are booths along one wall. All in all, they have softened the place up a bit. Much more appealing than before.
One other difference is that the cheeseburger comes with the cheese on top, instead of embedded in the patty. I kind of liked the unique embedded cheese method, but the current burger incarnation is still good.
Burger still generously sized and tasty.
In the Buns Cheeseburger & Fresh Cut Fries
In the Buns Interior
In the Buns Interior
Finally had a burger at this new spot up on Far West. It’s the sibling of the NeWorlDeli on Guadalupe.
Burger was tasty–real cheddar available, lots of fresh veggies, a mound of thinly sliced red onion, and a homemade-tasting bun (did not confirm homemade-ness) .
Fries bland, typical frozen afterthought fries. Skip those in favor of a soup or something.
Won’t hesitate to order the burger again, but will skip the fries next time.
South Austin fancy-pants burger bar Hopdoddy is opening at Anderson/Burnet this month! Looking forward to trying them out, since I never get south. Home-baked buns + in-house ground beef.
Saw the sign for this place a few weeks ago, and found out it was open from some positive reviews on Urbanspoon. The phrase “tater tots are made from scratch” had my interest piqued, not to mention in-house ground beef.
The place is way up north at 183 and 1431 in Cedar Park.
Got the combo meal. The menu lists fresh made-in-house everything pretty much. Burger was thin patty, griddled; cheddar available and procured.
The purported Tater Tots® (registered trademark of Ore-Ida, inventors of the Tater Tot®) are tots in name only. They were more like “battered home fries” to me–small chunks of potato with some breading/crust. So not even close to what I know as the Tater Tot®–cylindrical potato composites, à la Sonic. So tot-lovers don’t be fooled, I wouldn’t call these tater tots. They were tasty nonetheless, however I would definitely try the fries next time.
Dublin Dr. Pepper on tap, as well as Maine Root Cola.
All in all, a good burger with quality accessories. It’s a bit far afield for me, so unlikely to visit again soon. But if it were more convenient, I could see making it a regular stop. Definitely need to get back and try the fries and onion rings.
Cheeseburger and "tots"
"Tots" detail -- tasty, but not "tots"!
Edge Detail
Lacking crust, plus Dry Bun Syndrome (but very nicely toasted bun)
Salt/pepper burger
Check it out
In The Buns posted this on their Facebook page today (copied here since the fb page will disappear soon):
My name is David Sahagun and am the proud founder of In The Buns!! I started In The Buns with big hopes and dreams. As of September 1st I started the process of selling my wonderful concept. Why you ask? Well I just started a family and needed to spend more time with them. We did close the doors here and there do to the process of transfer. We do apologize for that. Jake and his wife are the new owners and kept the whole original staff. I am proud to hand over the reins to them and know they will do a wonderful job. I would like to thank Rick, Ralfa, Rylan, Joan, Alma, Bobby and former employees that made this a great experience. I would also like to thank all of our wonderful customers for loyalty and helping us promote. I will miss you all and if you all want to find me I am managing at Qdoba on Great hills 😉 I will be shutting down this page soon so if you have any questions please email me or contact the store. Thanks again!!!
David Sahagun
So the good news is that it will stay open. Hopefully the burgers will remain as good. Perhaps they will work on making the interior a bit more appealing. And they need more signage.
Alex 3:33 pm on February 28, 2013 Permalink |
You should review Wholly Cow Burgers! Best grass-fed burger in Austin!