HUTS HAMBURGERS

GOD BLESS HUTS!

It is a dreary, rainy day in Austin, Texas today. Perfect time for a burger!  A burger and fries sounds simple enough, right? Well, I beg to differ! Simple maybe, but am I alone in thinking it has become more and more difficult to find a decent burger and fries? We decided to take it upon ourselves to find the best burgers in Austin, Texas! We will be doing research and of course taste testing burgers AND fries all over the Austin area over the next few weeks to find the  best in town and we will share the information of course, but finding a truly good burger has proved challenging.

Place was full right when it opened.

this was awesome!

Our first (notable) burger during our research thus far has been Hut’s Hamburgers! We took the kids, aka the critics, and headed downtown Austin. We were there when they opened, along with many of their other loyal customers. Loyal for a reason! Hut’s is a happy place, you immediately feel welcome and in the mood to just sit back and spend some time with your family or friends. Our server, Morgan, was quick to drop by and take our drink order (try the sweet tea!) and make some recommendations. We started with the fried pickles and French fries appetizer ($3.95). Our daughter started with a vanilla milkshake ($3.50) complete with whipped cream of course. Yes, when given the opportunity to start with dessert she will do so every time. She is a connoisseur of all things ice cream related, and she gave it a big thumbs up. The rest of us started in on the pickles. Donnie and I LOVE fried pickles. He makes them at home for us every Friday night, and he makes delicious ones, but he preferred Hut’s. Their appetizer consists of 12 HUGE slices of pickles, perfectly battered, and fried golden brown, they are fabulous! I could have eaten the entire order myself. They serve them with ranch, but there is hot sauce on the table, and that is how I prefer mine! Gotta respect a place that has Tobasco on the table!

I mentioned the appetizer came with fries. REAL fries. They straight cut their potatoes daily, and they are never frozen. This is one of the VERY few places we will even order fries these days. They are simple, hand cut, perfectly fried, and they go quickly. We ordered another basket to go along with our burgers, and we finished both! I should note that our server, Morgan, brought some of their hickory sauce, and I highly recommend you try some with your fries instead of ketchup. It is sweet, tangy, and a nice change of pace.

Great fries, great pickles, great shakes, but we were there for the burgers! After a few recommendations from Morgan, and the manager of the day, Angel we were ready to order. The most popular burgers at Hut’s are the All American Buddy Holly and Hut’s favorite, but a notable third is the Ritchie Valen’s. After placing our order, we enjoyed chatting with the kids about all the photos. You will not lack conversation starters here. From name the person in that photo, to how old is that Austin sign? There will be plenty to talk about! Fear not, Google will help you, twice Donnie broke our “no phones at the table” rule to look up things. We could not help but talk about how much Austin has changed, but Hut’s has not, and that is refreshing!

I could have eaten two.

I went for spicy, as always, and ordered the Fats Domino($6.95). This burger is coated in New Orlean’s seasoning, topped with grated cheddar cheese, and jalapenos! I also order my burgers *gasp* well done. I know, I know, BLASPHEMY, but that is what I like, and they did it PERFECTLY. This was a truly superb burger, layers of flavor, and admittedly I ate every bite! I would love to tell you I will try the others, but I would be lying, I will probably order this one exclusively, it was THAT good.

Donnie wanted to try the Longhorn Beef, raised in Texas from the Bandera Grasslands.  Since it was his first time, he opted to get the Dag Burger, which is a double burger ($8.75) without any toppings so he could see if there was a notable difference in the meat. He assures me there was, and I tried it and agree, it was a much juicier burger! He found it to be excellent, and moved on to finish our second basket of fries.

He ate every bite!

Joseph is on a chicken kick lately, so he skipped a burger altogether and had the Southern Fried Po-Boy ($6.50). He ordered with chicken breast, but this sandwich can also be ordered with the Chicken Fried Steak. He promises us “That chicken was GOOD” The GOOD emphasized with his big brown eyes, but he did not offer to share a bite, so you will have to take his word for it not mine! He was putting away his fair share of fries too!

Felda went for her usual: Chicken Strip Plate ($8.95). This comes with a very generous serving of chicken strips, that were perfectly cooked, Texas Toast, and two sides. However, after having tried the appetizer, she did not choose two sides, she went for double fries. That girl knows her fries. She loved the chicken strips, especially the “peppery batter” and despite having started the meal with a super thick milkshake, she put away a good amount of her lunch.

There is no way I could order dessert after the burger, pickles, and fries but the kids went for it. Joseph wanted the Brownie Blitz ($4.25) which is essentially a vanilla milkshake with an entire homemade brownie blended in. He exclaimed, “God that is good” a couple of times, and made special note of the large straw to accommodate the brownie bits. I did try this, and it was very good. How he finished the entire thing I will never understand, but finish it he did. Felda had the mud pie ($3.25) a coffee ice cream dessert with a chocolate crust, topped with hot fudge. She liked it too and spent the remainder of lunch trying to decide which ice cream concoction she liked best, the mud pie or her milkshake appetizer. Her advice was skip the sodas and have the shakes.

Keep in mind, Hut’s have a huge menu. They have blue plate specials, salads, diet plates, and veggie burgers. You do not have to be a carnivore or even a burger lover to have a good experience at Hut’s Hamburgers, but you do have to be HUNGRY! The portions are large, the selection is great, and it is a budget friendly place.  We had a great family dining experience, but it is a great date spot as well. If you have never been or have not been in awhile you simply must stop by! I have been assured the onion rings, which are homemade, are the best anywhere. I cannot tell you how many people have said we missed out by not trying them, sadly none of us are fans of the onion, but they did look great, and judging by the steady stream of them being delivered to tables that day, they are popular for good reason. Need extra incentive to give them a shot? Wednesday nights are buy one burger, get on free! Skip cooking one day this week, grab the family and spend some time at Hut’s. In the word’s of Joseph, You will leave “so full you could roll over and die happy”. Or you could eat a little less, drive home happy, and not have any dishes to do!

This is the kind of place you never find any more! “God Bless Hut’s”

Hi everybody this is Donnie and I would like to add a couple of things.  I love food, and I love to eat.  The upside to that, is most things usually taste good to me.  The downside?  I am rarely able to find anything I can truthfully say impresses me.  So far the list goes like this:  Neiman marcus bars, Philly cheese steaks (from philadelphia), The pizza I ate from the shop under the Empire State Building, Chicken from Nando's in Washington D.C., and The Dag burger from Huts. I am  hoping  that I can expand on this list, but if I can't that's alright because Hut's isn't that far away.