A Few Spots In Texas

If any of you are in Dallas, the burgers at Snuffer's on Lower Greenville are quite outstanding, not to mention their cheese fries. It's right next door to the Granada Theater. If you are in the mood for a hole-in-the-wall experience then Adair's on Commerce Street in Deep Ellum is the place for you. Their burgers are huge 3/4 lb. babies, with a big ol' jalapeno on the side. It's a bar and grill that's an institution in Dallas. They also have music seven nights a week.
I'm sure that Bushie can attest to the fact, that when in Austin, you have to go to Dirty's Kumbak at least once. They've got the old fashioned burgers that a long neck goes great with. But then food always seems to taste better in Austin for some reason.

Yep, Roy, Dirty's is still the best place in Austin for a burger and fries, I think!

Other notable burger places around here:

Dale's Essenhaus, Walburg
Jerry's, Granger
Snuffy's, Hutto
G/M Steakhouse, Austin (this is the "luncheonette" on Lamar, not the one on Guadalupe that closed years ago)

Yacht Club, Bastrop
Rocky Hill Ranch, Smithville (they also have the BEST fries in Central Texas; fresh-cut and super thin)

And my current favorite burger is at Monument Cafe in Georgetown. There's a Stern's review of the Monument on this site.

Yeh those burgers at Dirty Kumback are great. They also have good malted milkshakes and fries. Old school.

Yeh those burgers at Dirty Kumback are great. They also have good malted milkshakes and fries. Old school.

Is Kincaid's in Fort Worth still open. I rank their burgers near the top of any list.

quote:

Originally posted by signman

Is Kincaid's in Fort Worth still open. I rank their burgers near the top of any list.

Oh yeah, signman, Kincaid's is still open! And they're still great!

Tommy's hamburger joint on Lackland Road in west Fort Worth is worth giving a try. Their trashburger is my husband's favorite.

Few spots in Houston for a burger:

Bellaire Broiler
Otto's Barbecue and Burgers
Lankford Grocery

The first 2 are in "Eat your way across the USA", but the third has become my favorite.

Sterling Cafe, Hwy 87 in Sterling City, Texas, across from the town square. I ordered the double bacon cheeseburger and the waitress said "Are you sure, hon? That's a full pound of meat."

Actually, including the bacon, it's more like a pound and a quarter. Best hamburger I've had in years.

Dirty's on the Drag is my favorite burger place in the world; unpretentious, greasy and delicious. The OT Special triple with grilled onions and bacon is the best! Huts on 6th St. was also pretty good when I lived in Austin; not sure how it is now. Even though I didn't spend a lot of time in Houston, I've been to Lankford Grocery and agree with Bulldozer that the burgers are excellent. The absolute best burger I have ever had, though, didn't come from a restaurant, but it was in Texas. When I lived in Austin I had a friend who ran a couple of head near Wimberly, where he lived. This was sort of free range beef, I guess, and he ground his own burger meat. These burgers were unlike anything I've ever had before or since; sort of like a cross between beef and elk, very slightly gamey and incredibly good.

quote:

Originally posted by dbear

...The absolute best burger I have ever had, though, didn't come from a restaurant, but it was in Texas. When I lived in Austin I had a friend who ran a couple of head near Wimberly, where he lived. This was sort of free range beef, I guess, and he ground his own burger meat. These burgers were unlike anything I've ever had before or since; sort of like a cross between beef and elk, very slightly gamey and incredibly good.

dbear, I had a similar experience a number of years ago. A friend of a friend butchered one of his cattle and decided to have the WHOLE steer ground into hamburger; every last cut of meat. At first we thought he was crazy, but I don't believe I've ever tasted anything so good. He parceled some out to a few of us, and I literally saved it for special occasions. Great memory. Thanks.

Bulldozer -

Have you ever tried Guys Meat Market on Old Spanish Trail? He makes a mean burger, and other entrees that vary from day to day.

One place that was worth a little bit of a drive for me was the Ranchman's Cafe in Ponder, TX. Ponder is this one stop sign town outside of Denton, TX (University of North Texas), but this place makes one of THE great burgers...also with fresh-cut fries that come mighty plentiful on the plate.

Though I have never been, I also understand that the place has killer steaks, and packs the house on weekend nights. I was encouraged to make reservations if I was going to go for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night. Wasn't my bag, though...

Steve

Lone Star -

Haven't tried Guy's Meat Market. I'll put it on my list.

Just tried Roznovsky's, on TC Jester this past Saturday. Apparently it is Alison Cook's (Chronicle Reviewer) favorite burger spot. I was unimpressed. The burgers are skillet cooked, not grilled, and the burger was tiny. Price was really low, so maybe to compare apples to apples I should have gone with the double meat cheeseburger. Horrible onion rings.

I'll try Guy's Meat, and Lockwood Malt Shop is on my list.

Where is the Lockwood Malt Shop? I've never heard of it, but it sounds interesting..

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Where is the Lockwood Malt Shop? I've never heard of it, but it sounds interesting..

5410 Mulvey St

From Downtown, take I-10 east to Lockwood, go north on Lockwood to Mulvey St.

And yes, that is not the best part of town. Part of why I want to really try it out.

I heard about it in "A Guide to the Best Inexpensive Restaurants in Houston." It was listed as one of the top 10 burgers in h-town, along with Lankford, Bellaire Broiler, etc... That book is an interesting read; I don't agree with it on many occasions, but it does offer a comprehensive list, many of which I have never visited or even hear of!

Thanks Dozer! that doesn't look too far from our office in the Heights, and we are always looking for a new and intersting place for lunch.

I need to recommend the Yale street Grill and Pharmacy to you (19th & Yale in the Heights). It is the original drug store soda counter and grill built there. The pharmacy part is a gift shop now, but the grill is original. It is popular with the local residents and office workers. The waitresses know many people by name, and call everyone "hun" and "dear".

You have to get the patty melt and a 1/2&1/2 order of fries and onion rings.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldozer Rectangle

Lone Star -

Haven't tried Guy's Meat Market. I'll put it on my list.

Just tried Roznovsky's, on TC Jester this past Saturday. Apparently it is Alison Cook's (Chronicle Reviewer) favorite burger spot. I was unimpressed. The burgers are skillet cooked, not grilled, and the burger was tiny. Price was really low, so maybe to compare apples to apples I should have gone with the double meat cheeseburger. Horrible onion rings.

I'll try Guy's Meat, and Lockwood Malt Shop is on my list.

Get there early. Guy's only smokes 200 burgers a day, Tues thru Fri; starts serving them at 11am, usually runs out by 1pm. Because they're smoked in advance (along with the days bbq production) they lack that 'fresh and hot off the grill' appeal, but still one of the better burgers in the Houston area.

Cue is good too, especially the sausage, which they make on premises. Ribs are okay; brisket tends to be a little too dry (they trim too much fat).

I agree with your comments on Roznovsky's; I've never been impressed, going back to the 70s when they were located in that former church and all the rage. Cook's other recs in the Houston area: Bellaire Broiler Burger, Tookie's in Seabrook (currently 2 stars) and Jax Grill on N. Shepherd, 2 blocks south of I-10. The only one I agree with is Jax.

I don't know if it's still open (went only once and haven't been in 3 years or so) but Bear's in Alvin does a burger in line with the Lankford/Guy's/Kincaid's oversized meat patty genre (Clara Peller would be so happy). That's not really my style of burger.

Best burger I've had in years was at Timbo's in Spring Branch. Unfortunately, this is the Spring Branch north of San Antonio on US 281, not the one on the west side of Houston. Former employees of Little Hipps in San Antonio opened the place earlier this year after Little Hipps closed.

Has anyone tried Adrians, the place raved about in the Press about 4 months ago?

Here in Beaumont, we have the Novrozsky's chain with locations in Nederland and in Bridge City as well. Great burgers with other stuff, good CFS, shrimp poboys, chicken strips, catfish, onion rings, fried mushrooms, boudain balls, sweet potato fries, tuna steak, mahimahi, and turkey and buffalo burgers.

Hermit - I agree with you about Jax grill. We usually go there at least once a week for lunch. It always amazes me how they can have such an extensive menu and still move the hordes of people so fast!

I like to get the Bellaire basket, chicken fried chicken strips with fries and gravy

Their crab bisque is also delicious along with a baked potato or a salad.

If y'all ever make it to Plano there's a great little hamburger place called JC's Burger House. It's been around for years. They make great jalapeno cheeseburgers.

Here's a few in Texas I like in addition to what has been mentioned:

Holiday House in Austin. Cooked over open flame.The #2 with grated cheddar cheese and mayo is fantastic. Best onion rings me thinks (thin and crisp). Go there soon. Only 2 locations left and one is in a shopping center owned by a rabid vegetarian that has closed other businesses that sold meat products.

Update: I just saw a report on Fox news last night about the shopping center owned by the vegetarian. The Shopping center has an ant problem. But the owner won't let the tennants kill the ants, she wants the ants to be diverted around the shopping center! This location is destined to close soon. A shame. Been in that location for over 30 years.

Rose's in Dallas. Good luck finding this place. Took me 2 years. Wasn't sure if this place even existed. Phone number not listed. Open for lunch only Monday-Saturday. I had read that several local chefs thought these were the best burgers in Dallas. It's on Greenville Ave. just north of Yale in a dark red building that looks like an abandoned house. You enter from the back. You get a choice of hamburger or cheeseburger and mustard or mayo.(comes with veggies) That's it. Suggest you try not to order anything fancy! No fries, just grab a bag of chips and a cola from the fridge. Pay as you leave. This place is small, dark, has low ceilings and mismatched furniture. It's a trip!

Night Hawk on Burnet road in Austin.The same Nigh Hawk that sells frozen food entrees in the supermarket. Really a small steak house, but has a diner feel. Used to be part of a local chain of steak houses. It is known for it's "Frisco" burger.Has a big neon sign of a burger out front.

Maynerd, yes the Holiday House in Tarrytown is planning to close.

To give you people an idea of what PETA is really about: the owner of the shopping center (the aforementioned veggie who lives in Houston, btw), refused to let a tenent exterminate the ants that had infested her shop. She insisted that the owner RELOCATE the ants. And y'all wonder why we right-wingers don't take you left-wingers seriously.

The shop on Burnet, Maynerd, is still called "The Frisco". It's still one of the best places for breakfast in Austin.

Funny, this left-winger doesn't take right-wingers seriously because you equate anyone who doesn't agree with you with fringe idiots like PETA. But that's another topic.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushie

Maynerd, yes the Holiday House in Tarrytown is planning to close.


The shop on Burnet, Maynerd, is still called "The Frisco". It's still one of the best places for breakfast in Austin.

Holiday House - there's a name I haven't heard in years, and I used to live just a few blocks from the one in Tarrytown. Where's the other one that's still open? I'll have to visit on my next trip to Austin.

I try to get out to the Frisco shop on Burnet every now and then also; I still like the Frisco burger.

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Funny, this left-winger doesn't take right-wingers seriously because you equate anyone who doesn't agree with you with fringe idiots like PETA.

Actually, I don't, but I did make a generalization in my post above that I shouldn't have. Forgive me.

quote:

Originally posted by hermitt4d

Holiday House - there's a name I haven't heard in years, and I used to live just a few blocks from the one in Tarrytown. Where's the other one that's still open? I'll have to visit on my next trip to Austin.

Hermitt, the one on Airport is still open.

quote:

Originally posted by hermitt4d

Holiday House - there's a name I haven't heard in years, and I used to live just a few blocks from the one in Tarrytown. Where's the other one that's still open? I'll have to visit on my next trip to Austin.

Hermitt, I gave you some bad information about the Holiday House Airport location. It's closed, and apparently has been for quite awhile (guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I drove that section of Airport ) It's now a convenience store.

After seeing it closed this weekend, I called the Tarrytown one this morning. It's still open until May or June of next year, and they're opening a new one on Bee Caves near Walsh Tarlton. That is supposed to open in a week or two.

Thanks, Bushie. I probably won't get up to Central Texas until next spring. I sure am getting a long list of places to try; usually have just hit the bbq joints in the past . I'm having fond memories of Holiday House.

I don't know for a fact, but I thought the one on Airport moved down the road a bit.I hope so. Good to hear they are going to have a HH in Bee Caves.

Bushie,

I didn't realize that the Monument Cafe had such quality burgers. I live less than a mile from the Monument and enjoy their breakfast from time to time, but I have yet to try their burgers. Anything unusual that makes them good or are they your standard, greasy but quality fare? Thanks for the info....