Elevation Burger (9828 Great Hills Trail)

Where's the beef? If you are looking for 100% USDA certified organic, grass-fed, free-range beef, then drive on over to Elevation Burger in the Arboretum.  A simplistic menu with a build your own style burger, whether it be an all beef or veggie burger. I opted for the all beef cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, caramelized onions, and mustard with a side of french fries that are cooked in 100% olive oil (which is healthier for the heart than vegetable oil).

 As you can see, one order of french fries is enough to feed two.  Everything was delicious.  The one drawback about Elevation Burger is the Coke Dream Machine, which is one machine that provides up to 160 different drink combinations.  Tried a Cherry Coke and it was way to sweet.  You have to run the water option beforehand to wash out any residue from the previous drink dispensed.  The "Dream Machine" is more of a dream for kids who love to make the "suicide drinks".  Luckily, I personally would rather have a plain ol' iced tea, which they do offer.

Another cool fact about Elevation Burger besides the healthier food options, is that the building itself is good for the environment.  It's LEED certified by the United States Green Building Council.  Their philosophy is to be environmentally sustainable on as many levels as they can be from the food they serve, to the Energy Star appliances, to the bamboo floors, to donating their used olive oil to be converted to bio-diesel for auto fuel.


2 locations now in Austin: 9828 Great Hills Trail and 2525 W. Anderson Lane

Elevation Burger website
http://www.elevationburger.com/EB.php

Jalapeño Joes (4905 Airport Blvd)

When I was first discussing my Food Blog with my father-in-law and how it was originally going to be a blog about the quest for the best burger in Austin, we started sharing with each other different burger joints that each had been to in the past.  One of the fond burger memories I had was back when I was working as a retail salesman at Al's Formal Wear on Airport Blvd.  A coworker introduced to me a burger joint down the street.  It's been years since I had eaten there and could not remember what it was called.  So yesterday, I made a trip down to downtown east Austin to the Habitat Restore to look around.  Since it was about lunch time and I was downtown, I decided to go back to the "unknown named burger joint."  I drove down Airport Blvd. to the place where I remembered it being... and there it was, Jalapeno Joes.  The name did not ring a bell at all, so I first thought it was a new food joint.  I got out of the car and saw the banner that brought everything together..... "The Johnny Boy Special."  It was still the same joint.  What's cool about this place is that you walk up and order from a window... everything is to go.  They are only opened from 6am to 3pm and they serve breakfast all day, Mexican food, and burgers.  I placed my order for the same special I had years ago, The Johnny Boy Special, which is a 100% beef patty, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, fries, and a drink for $3.95.  I had to get the sweet tea because I'm an East Texas boy.

What I like about this burger is that they lightly toast the buns so they are a little greasy and the meat patty is on the thin side.  The fries are the McD style fries but with less salt.  Since the last time I went years ago, they have added a nice size wood deck on the side to sit down and enjoy your food. 


Jalapeno Joe's Website: http://www.jalapenojoes.com/location.html
  I menu on their website is not updated, as some of the prices have increased slightly

Hyde Park Bar and Grill (4206 Duval St. Austin, TX)

I have been dining at Hyde Park Bar and Grill for over a decade now.  The food, atmosphere, and service has always been stupendous, and it still was last Sunday night for dinner with my wife's family.  Having just returned from a trip to Fort Worth and eating a very late lunch, I wasn't particularly hungry, so I was going to get something small to eat.  As I was scanning over the menu, all of my favorites seemed to be whispering my name, like kids wanting to be chosen for your kickball team.  "Pick me, pick me." I kept telling myself that I wasn't that hungry, but my voice of reason kicked in and reminded me that I could always take the rest home for lunch the next day.  So now I had to make a choice on which of my favorites I wanted.   I kept going back and forth between the Asian Chicken Salad and the Blacken Yellow tail Tuna Sandwich, when suddenly the craving for a burger hit me.  Looking at the menu, I had four choices of burgers, the Texas Raised Kobe beef, ground chuck, ground turkey, sirloin, or the Garden burger.  I decided to go light with the turkey burger with the addition of smoked Gouda cheese and a side of their Austin Chronicle's consistently voted "Best French Fries in Austin."  ($5.95 + $1.95 to add fries)

The turkey had some flavor, but was a little on the dry side.  But after spreading some deli mustard and some the secret fry sauce on it, it was very tasty.  So tasty in fact that before I knew it, my plate was clean.  There goes saving half of it for lunch tomorrow.   My father-in-law had ordered the ground chuck burger with mushrooms added and my brother-in-law had the Garden burger, which both said were delicious.  My brother once had the Texas Raised Kobe style beef burger, but said that he could not tell much of a difference from a regular burger... I guess I will just have to try it out for myself in the future.  It's hard to compare a turkey burger with a beef burger with bison burger, so you really have to keep them in separate categories.  I haven't had many turkey burgers before, but this one wasn't that bad.  I will be on the lookout now for other restaurants who serve them to really get a good comparison scale going.



Hyde Park website:  http://hpbng.com/menu

Hoover's Cooking

   I am no stranger to Hoover's Cooking (13376 Research Blvd, #400, NW Austin) and have never been disappointed with the food or service.  This time I decided to try something that I had never had there before..... a burger.  It took a lot of restraint to not get some of the BBQ, catfish, or chicken fried steak, but I did and I am quite pleased with my decision.  With only two burger choices to choose from, the classic and the Red, White, and Bleu,  I decided to be patriotic and get the latter. 

Red, White, & Bleu Burger . . . $8.99
8 oz. smoked hamburger patty topped with our Aus-Tex wing sauce, Monterrey jack & bleu cheeses, lettuce and tomato and served on a sweet kolache bun. OR try it with our “Amos” marinated chicken breast.

    If you are a fan of smoked meats, then you want to try this burger.  The smoky flavor was heavenly and with the combination of the spicy Aus-Tex wing sauce, Monterrey jack and bleu cheeses, and the sweetness of the kolache bun made each bite difficult to swallow due to the fantastic flavors soaking into each and every crevice of my palette.  
   The entree is served open faced, with I believe to be fresh veggies from Hoover's own Soular Food Garden in South Austin, and a handful of fries served straight on some paper on a tray.  A little off putting that it wasn't served on a plate, but after the first bite, all was forgotten.  Funny because when we made the suggestion to my father-in-law, he said no at first because he said they don't use plates.  I thought it was funny because I had never experienced that before myself. 
    To cap off an exquisite burger, my wife and I decided to split some bread putting for dessert.  It was a pretty nice portion for two to share.  Covered with a warm rum sauce, the bread pudding was soft and moist.  It ended up taking half of it home to enjoy later.



http://hooverscooking.com/

in the [BUNS] burger joint

After reading an article about this new burger joint in northwest Austin in the Community Impact Newspaper, I was had to give it a try.  Why not, it's close to wear I live and it serves burgers...just another candidate for my search for Austin's best burger for under $10 (excluding chain restaurants).

Had to take a bite b/c it looked to good

Located in the shopping center in the HEB parking lot at Hwy 183 and Lake Creek Pkwy, facing the 24hr Fitness, I will say that this is a great burger joint.  They serve burgers, dogs, chicken sandwiches, and salads.  The best thing is that they have some great options for all eaters.  With the burgers, you can choose from beef, veggie, turkey, portabello mushroom, tilapia, or chicken breast.  They even over options on the buns (white, whole wheat, gluten free, or no bun).  I ordered the "classic cheese" which is served with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, cheddar or Swiss, mayo, and mustard.  I opted for the gluten free bun, because I have some friends who can't eat wheat.  They cook the burger with the cheese melted inside the beef patty.  At first look, the burger seemed small in diameter, but it was a decent size burger.  You will want to grab a few napkins because it was juicy and delicious.  I was licking my fingers between bites, it was that good.  My only disappointment was that I didn't order their sweet potato fries or a Maine Root organic fountain drink.  The atmosphere was OK, but the manager was friendly and the food was delicious.  Will definitely be going back to this burger joint again.



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In-The-Buns-Burger-Joint