Austin Burger Tour #4

Last week I asked y’all to pick the place for me. You’ll all be mad as heck to learn that Deb’s cheating actually won. She listed P. Terry’s four times in a row, thus garnering PT’s the most votes. (To be honest, I’d nearly made up my mind to go there next anyway…)

Before you actually try a P. Terry burger you first must acquire one. You have two choices: 1) command some underling of yours go get it. (This is a great way for your toddler to get some real world experience.) Or 2) get it yourself. I chose the latter.

If you’re coming to P. Terry’s from the south west, I highly recommend this easy parking plan, cuz that’s exactly what I tried and it worked. It only takes about ten minutes to run this circuit in heavy traffic:

Ignore the McSign in the background. This is a great sign.

You know what’s another good sign? Cheap food. Two bucks for the basic hamburger? Even a miser like me can live with that. Not to mention it’s refreshing to find a place that doesn’t charge an entire dollar for a single slice of American cheese:

Here’s a nice shot of the stand itself:

If burgers and fries weren’t enough for you, free dog bones for the kids!

(I wish I had a better shot of Rachel. Her shirt says FREAK.) Between us, we ordered one combo and one extra cheeseburger. Saved thirty-five cents too!

Ah… now those look like good fries!

And here’s the burger itself. That patty looks pretty thin. Maybe that’s not a good sign. Plus, I’ve never seen the meat on top and the condiments below. Interesting…

Along with a closeup, for the discerning readers:

Austin Burger Tour #4
Location:	P. Terry’s
Burger:	Better than average
Fries:	Just the way I like ’em
Parking:	Disconcerting
Rating:

I will admit up front I made two mistakes. (Or, a single two-part mistake.) I got onions and jalapenos on it, something I rarely do. I like onions a lot, but primarily when they’re cooked in some way (preferably caramelized: I can eat caramelized onions out of the pan the way I eat popcorn out of a tub). I also like hot and spicy foods quite a bit. But today, it really just overwhelmed the burger, and I regretted it after a couple bites. I didn’t regret the meal. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But when the purpose was to actually test drive the burger itself, it was a bad choice.

The patty was thinner than I expected, although now I know why the prices are low. These weren’t monster, half-pound burgers. That said, the patties were still thicker than the very thin top bun. And the taste? Well, like I said. They tasted a LOT like onions and jalapenos. I think I’ll have to pay them another visit (or four) to do this right. For now, I’m giving it a 3.5, only because I did enjoy the Mighty Fine burger that much more.

Next week? It’s time to pay Hut’s a visit. (Though I have kept all your fine suggestions from prior weeks in a handy file. Keep ’em comin’!)