Top Notch Hamburgers
7525 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78757
(512) 452-2181
Top Notch Hamburgers came highly recommended, and I finally got a chance to try it out. The location on Burnet Road has a well worn 50s feel to it. I look back to a time just before I was born, and I imagine a lot of places that looked just like Top Notch Hamburgers. Some of them became the big chains of today, McDonalds, A&W, Whataburger. Others either didn't expand into chains, or they may have for a time and then collapsed back into one location. I imagine this as the history of Top Notch Hamburgers.
Top Notch Hamburgers has old style order screens, and you park under an awning. I should have taken a picture. I don't think the style of the menus has been updated since the 60s, though the prices certainly have. Now, don't take that to mean that Top Notch Hamburgers are over priced...well, at least not by much. Then again, I am old enough to think everyone's burgers are overpriced.
I ordered a Cheeseburger (#3) and Fries. Because they are not a big chain and really aren't trying to compete with the big chains, Top Notch doesn't do combos. You order everything a la carte. They offer tomatoes, onions, pickles and lettuce on their burgers, standard, so of course, I asked them to leave off the tomatoes, onions and pickles. It seemed to take rather a long time, but still not as long as Whataburger.
Oddly enough, I am going to start with the Fries. The person who spoke so highly of the burgers did not have good things to say about the fries. In fact, he orders Onion Rings with his burger. The fries were forgettable. They weren't bad, but after trying them, I doubt I would ever order them again. They do not add to the experience. They were dry, and slightly overcooked. They had a little bit of crunch to them, but it was not a snappy, smart crunch, more like a tired crunch, if that makes any sense. I cannot recommend them.
On the other hand, the burger was quite good. My one complaint was that it wasn't very big, but knowing about the fries, next time I will skip the fries and get a double cheeseburger. The bun wasn't anything special, but it was fresh and slightly toasted. The meat is charbroiled and quite tasty. If you like Burger King, then you should try Top Notch, it has the same charbroiled flavor, but at Top Notch it tastes like it was just cooked, not pre-cooked. The lettuce was shredded and crunchy.
Of course, lettuce can be a problem on a burger, because it wilts so fast. When ordering a burger for my reviews, I am careful if I order it to go. I try to pull the burger out immediately, so that I can experience the lettuce before it wilts.
So, the Top Notch burger is a good burger. It wasn't the biggest burger I have ever had, and it left me a little hungry. The price is on a par with Fast Food chain big burgers, and what it lacks in size, it makes up for in taste. I can definitely recommend Top Notch Hamburgers.
No comments:
Post a Comment