Austin Burger News

Updates from December, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Chris 9:32 am on December 17, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cheddar ( 27 )   

  Cheddar Pour First-Hand Report 

  A friend actually ordered and consumed a Cheddar Pour burger from J&J the other day.  Here is his photo (which settles the bun-or-no-bun confusion of my first Cheddar Pour post) and his assessment (emphasis mine):

  

  Wow. Bun nicely greased too!

  I think my colons may actually drop out of my body.

  Pretty good burger underneath it all – 1/2 lb flattened, irregular patty – maybe a spatula mash on a griddle? Fresh fixins – tomato, lettuce, pickle, onion. Toasted buns. Fresh diced jalapenos available at the salsa bar.

  It’s really something you have to try – words are inadequate to describe how much f*cking cheese is on this thing.

  Didn’t try any sides with the burger, but did get a couple of breakfast tacos, which were huge and good and cheap – buy 1 get 1 free. Probably 6 eggs on each, for under $2 total. Crazy. Place won’t be around long with the quantities they’re serving and low prices. (Burger was less than $7.50, which including a pound of cheddar is pretty cheap as well…)

  Burger was a good 7 inches across, with 1/2 lb patty, piles of veggies, and, as you can see, half of a cow’s daily output of cheese. Definitely not a fast food burger.

  
  

  J & J Barbeque & Burgers
  4005 W Parmer Ln
  http://www.jj-bbq.com/ (pretty horrendous website, warning: obnoxious music will play when you visit)

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  • Hamburglar 3:21 pm on December 17, 2009 Permalink | Reply

    that looks extremely unappetizing

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• Chris 9:48 am on November 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cheddar ( 27 ), griddle ( 19 ), thin-patty ( 12 )   

  J & J Barbeque & Burgers 

  This place replaced the Bear Rock Cafe, on Parmer.  Just learned that it is the second location of a Cedar Park outfit.  The main focus seems to be BBQ, but they do have “burgers” in their name, so had to give it a try.  I was intrigued to see some crazy signage re “the cheddar pour” as I pulled into the parking lot.

  

  Hmmmmmm

  I only just recently learned of this technique via a video I found online, wherein it is referred to as a “cheese skirt“.  The Squeeze Inn in Sacramento has been doing it for 30+ years.

  The Squeeze Inn cheese skirt looks a bit more appetizing than J & J’s, because it still has the bun and you can eat it like a normal burger, more or less (watch the video).  Also, the name “cheese skirt” just sounds a bit less raw than “cheddar pour”.  The guy at the counter at J & J explained how they make their version — pile tons of cheddar on the patty as it is cooking on the griddle, throw some ice on the griddle and cover, just like the Squeeze Inn does.  But they don’t serve it with a bun* (in spite of the signage on the truck above, which does show a bun), and it looks like theirs ends up with quite a bit more skirt to deal with.  He said he likes to fold the skirt up over the meat and eat it that way.  The J & J cheddar pour looks like too much cheese for me, so I opted for the regular cheeseburger.

  Burger was just ok, nothing special.  It was much heftier overall (with all the toppings and whatnot) than the 1/4 lb patty size would make you think, and I did get a bit of a cheese skirt on there, which was a definite bonus.  The flavor of the burger was pretty bland.  Fries were actually quite bad, covered with some kind of breading.  So all in all, not a great burger.  The cheese miniskirt was the most appealing part, and I will give them kudos for piling on the veggies, and for the whole cheddar pour idea, as well as the insane amount of signage at the place.  It’s certainly a unique place, and they do offer BBQ and breakfast, which might be worth a try.

  Vitals:

  J & J Barbeque & Burgers
  4005 W Parmer Ln
  http://www.jj-bbq.com/ (pretty horrendous website, warning: obnoxious music will play when you visit)

  * Cheddar Pour Update: have found a few references online to J&J’s cheddar pour, and they appear with a bun on the burger, so not sure if the counter guy was right.  This blog post includes a photo, and there’s a nice flickr photo of a cheddar pour burger here.

  

  Was not tempted to try this

  

  Note inverted burger, as delivered from kitchen

  

  Strangely Inverted burger

  

  Burger came with a cheese miniskirt!

  

  Cheese miniskirt detail

  

  Fry detail--not very tasty

  

  They are fond of signage

  

  I think they're open!

  

  Do you dare?

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  • Bill 9:01 am on November 14, 2009 Permalink | Reply

    I second that – burgers are quite ho-hum. Fries just terrible (how about a fry that tastes like oh, I don’t know – potato?) Took exactly 20 minutes to get my order during the noon hour.

  • Me 6:19 pm on November 20, 2009 Permalink | Reply

    I miss Bear Rock! OK that ssaid, they have the best bfast taco your gonna find. And the price is just awesome at $1.65 or something like that, and they are HUGE. I got 3 on a buy 2 get 1 free deal and gave the third away, and was stuffed til well beyond lunchtime. As far as the BBQ I’ll get back to that after today. I’m picking some up on the way home.

• Chris 8:48 am on October 8, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Bear Rock Replacement 

  Looks like a new venture is slated for the failed Bear Rock Cafe on Parmer.  “J & J B-B-Q”.  Judging from the ample signage, breakfast will be their specialty, followed by BBQ and then burgers.  Burgers are specifically called out, which is encouraging, however it looks like the burgers will play second fiddle to other offerings.  Whatever it is, it can only be an improvement over the mediocre Bear Rock Cafe.

  

  Good Bye Bear Rock