Burger the Hut

Of all the burger joints on our list, none have quite the reputation of Hut's Hamburgers. It's hard to have any conversation about Austin's Best Burgers without this sixth street legend coming up. Many burger lists have it near the top, while some claim it's overrated.

Just because everyone says it's great, don't make it so.

Let us be the judge!

My first disclaimer is that we went on Wednesday, which is 2 for 1. Hut's has specials for every day of the week, but understandably, the 2 for 1 is a big draw. College kids to suits make their way to the Whole Foods end of sixth street to fill the cramped and boisterous restaurant. Texas-chic lines the walls in a noisy conflagration that adds to the old-time-meets-good-times feel. We were lucky to have some of us arrive early and get a prime table, thus avoiding the line out front.

My partner and I on the 2 for 1 went for the double w/cheese. The waitress was friendly and nonplussed by the crowds. Didn't bat an eye when I remembered almost too late for no mayo.

In no time, my burger arrived. And it was good. Two not-too-thin-not-too-thick patties in a nice bun made for a full flavored, unpretentious experience. The fries and rings were an afterthought as this solid burger wouldn't let me put it down until done. Hut's delivered when it had every reason to disappoint--the rep, the milling masses, the mythos--none got in the way of what is a really good burger.

This time around, the crowds don't lie.

Huts Burger

At first I was little resistant about Huts because of all of the hype. But I have to say it was delicious. We had no problem finding a parking spot or getting a table.

The buy one get 1 free worked out great for me and my friend. We split the original with mustard and no pickles. The onion rings were perfect.

I give it a 9.2 only because we still have a long list ahead of us.

Nuts for Huts

I was advised by a fellow blogger that, not only shouldn’t I drink from my neighbors cup (which I inadvertently did; I do not recommend it unless you enjoy being chastised for an ENTIRE meal), but that I must always preface my review with a note stating that I only have my burgers naked. Because of a throat closing, lung collapsing, life-threatening wheat allergy, I can not eat bread. The details of my food allergy are long and boring (this is not an allergy blog after all), but it never prevents me from participating in the delight of devouring a bun-less cheeseburger... and so my review begins.

Be warned, HUTS is not your local McDonalds food chain, so you should expect to wait at least twenty minutes for a table, and another twenty minutes for your amazing burger experience. On every inch of every wall is a plethora of old baseball and football pennants, framed photos of stars gone by, and a mounted longhorn, or two, plus a neon HUTS sign over the full service bar. It, I assume, has the Austin charm that so many of the locals are desperately fighting to preserve. I love Austin, don’t go changing...

This review is probably the most biased because HUTS is my most favorite Austin burger, ever. I have had it a handful of times and have always reveled in the HUTS dining experience. This past Wednesday was no exception. Well there was the cola incident, which left someone scarred for life... Apparently, Wednesdays is a bonus day! Who knew the delicious patty morsels could deliver even more joy?! It is a two-for-one special! BAM! This actually brings their normal price down to within a reasonably priced burger, but I am not complaining.

Huts is a great college student hangout, which sadly none of us are any longer, and is family friendly too. With that said, we wisely split the two-for-one and ate for half the burger price. The beef selection is considerable. You can choose from angus beef to the longhorn beef all the way through to the buffalo beef. I chose the basic Dag burger, which is a double patty with all the fixins, minus the bread. I ordered a basket of fries, which I shared, and a coke, which incidentally looked exactly like my neighbors coke (that, I was not supposed to share). It was delicious. Not the coke that is, the burger.

While there we made friends with a young naïve pie entrepreneur, who will undoubtedly name his pie company “Pie Hole,” or “Pie-destrian,” or “In Your Pie” simply because we demanded he should, in our drunken burger euphoria... He tolerated our company in exchange for the gifted burger that one of my fellow reviewers bestowed upon him. And he liked it. His table mates coveted his burger. They envied his good fortune. They paid us no mind. They were too busy having their own good times. Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em... But like most of our excursions, this was yet another memorable adventure. Not to be confused with our uneventful Austin treasure hunt debacle that will never be discussed, ever again.

My Dag burger and fries was filling and extremely satisfying, until somebody decided we should split milkshakes, which took our dining experience over the gastric edge. This is obviously less of a review than it is my personal burger dining diary, revealing my true burger lusting nature, but if you ask whether you should try Huts or not, I exclaim and emphatic YES! Go now. Don’t turn back. Go on without me. (Ridiculous drama ends here). I am nuts for Huts. It gets a sloppy 10 on my scorecard of beef. And if you go on a Wednesday and have an extra burger lying around, help a good cause, remember that children are our future, find em and feed them, let them lead the way and feed a college student. You won’t regret it.
Timbo