BLOG #4 - Owen's Burger Mission - Third set of Four Reviews

Read the inspiration behind my blog before you start the reviews...http://limitedgourmet.blogspot.com/2009/11/who-is-limited-palate-gourmet.html


Owen: This week's reviews come from some pretty unique places. A bar, a place with a car on top of the restaurant, a place that is more like a diner than a burger stand, and a place with a weird name.

Dad: Well, let's get right into it.

Owen: Not yet, I want to tell everyone about a place we ate in Dallas called Twisted Root. It's voted the best burger stand in Dallas but we never went there when we lived in Dallas. It was a cool surprise to do an out of town Burger Mission. We can start with our list now though.

Dad: Wait a minute Mr Smooth - You can't bring up this place and not talk about it!

Owen: OK. The best part was the name calling system. Instead of getting a number when you order, they give you a movie character name. We got Buzz Light Year. I gave the waitress my Limited Palate Gourmet business card. You know how it goes. Stardom has its perks.

Dad: Whatever dude - how was the food?

Owen: Oh yeah, REALLY awesome burgers, all kinds of cool sides and great fries. Who in the world likes fried pickles and fried green beans though? YUCK. We all really liked the burgers and Mom and Dad liked the variety - buffalo burgers, venison, turkey, and all that.

Mom: Dad liked that. I liked the toppings - guacamole, green chile, onion rings, etc.

Owen: The place was really fun too. Crazy signs and decorations. Crazy looking tables. Really wild.

Malachi: The food was awesome but their milkshake machine was broken!

Dad: If not for the broken milkshake machine, this place ranks up there with the best of what we have found in Austin. Go there if you are looking for good, artery clogging eats while in Dallas.

Owen: But it was not in Austin so it doesn't rank in our Mission. OK peeps, let's get back to Austin...


Hill-Berts http://www.hill-bertsburgers.com/

Owen: This place was definitely not my favorite but the car pulling the burger on the roof was pretty cool. Wait until Mom's opinion. Wait for it...

Owen: Oh yeah, worst milkshake that we have had at any restaurant since moving to Austin.

Malachi: Let me step in here. Since I have been designated "The Milkshake Guy", I feel that a little background might be in order. Every year, we vacation in Ocean City Maryland and there, on the boardwalk, is a place called Dumser's Dairyland. This place is the gold standard of any and all milkshakes. Really. Nothing compares. So I think we keep looking for something that can match it and that simply does not exist. Everything else pales in comparison. So if we seem underwhelmed with milkshakes throughout our reviews, this might explain it.

Dad: That being said (and very, very true), the milkshakes at Hill-berts were just bad. Poor texture and no flavor.

Mom: Service? Bad. Seriously, does a staff member sneezing over your food when it is being presented to you seem appetizing? Not even an "oops!" was uttered. I just don't get it.

Dad: It's true, our experience was bad all the way around. The burgers were OK at best. I am sure this place holds some charm for some who frequent it on a regular basis but for us, it was just bad news. No effort, no results.

Hill-Bert's 6.2 out of 10


Casino el Camino http://www.casinoelcamino.net/

Owen: I went to a bar.

Dad: Yeah Owen, nothing like getting drunk on two bottles of sarsaparilla. Boy, you are going to make for a great Dorfman by the time you get to college.

Owen: The food was really really good but it took FOREVER. It took so long, I grew three whole shoe sizes while we waited.

Dad: It did take a long time but we knew this coming in. The Burgers were SPECTACULAR. Best tasting burger from all of our reviews. The variety in toppings were dynamite - the only review to receive ten on "toppings". I had the buffalo burger (hot sauce and bleu cheese) but the menu is studded with other gems as well.

Mom: I got the Blackjack - an eggplant sandwich - it was top of line - very fresh and very, very tasty.

Owen: The waitress was too cool for us and spent more time smoking and talking on her cell phone than filling our drinks. I had to go up to the bar to get a refill - for all of us.

Dad: It's this simple - if this place hadn't failed on service (it did) and could have shortened the wait time a tad (especially for the kids - not that a bar is where you take kids for a burger ), it would have scored the best in all of our reviews. The food was so good that is was (almost) worth the high price tag.

Casino El Camino 8.0 out of 10


The Frisco http://www.frisconighthawk.com/

Owen: Pretty cool place. Good food. I liked the woman who helped us. She was really nice. Malachi didn't come with us on this Mission and missed out on a really good milkshake.

Mom: We had a nice relaxing meal with great service and I swear that I was eating at Mel's Diner in the sitcom "Alice". The amount of Texas diner "hair" on the waitress staff was very entertaining. Look! There's Flo!

The Frisco 8.0 out of 10


EZ's http://www.ezsrestaurants.com/

Owen: Well, it was just OK. We like the atmosphere of this place but it was just sort of bland. I kept saying to myself "These are not the burgers you are looking for".

Dad: We've been to other EZ's and I keep wanting to like them but the food is always just OK, just as Obi-Wan states. The Foccacia bread is always built to please though. The menu and the intention is dead on but the food just doesn't cut it. I have been to this Austin version a few times and it's always a little bit unkempt. Decent place for an in and out meal that's a step above fast food.

Mom: Poor rating on the milkshakes. Ice crystals in the milkshake shows a lack of attention to detail.

EZ's 7.4 out of 10


Owen: I am digging writing all of these reviews. Thank you for reading them. Next week, we will review Fran's, Burger Tex, Andice General Store and Terra Burger. Until then, try bathing in a chocolate milkshake; it sooths the soul.

BLOG #3 - Owen's Burger Mission - Second Four Reviews

Read the inspiration behind my Blog before you start with the reviews... http://limitedgourmet.blogspot.com/2009/11/who-is-limited-palate-gourmet.html

Owen: Dad, did you notice that six people have said that their favorite Austin Burger stand is "I know something better"? What do you think they know that we don't?

Dad: Well, we only listed ten or so restaurants there but we've visited more than that - about twenty, right? Maybe their favorite is one that we didn't list there. Or maybe, their favorite burger is not from a Burger "stand", which was part of our criteria for the project. Or maybe they DO know something better...

Owen: Yeah, if there is a better Burger stand out there, I NEED to know about it! Tell me your favorite everyone!

Owen: So, let's hit the show.

Dad: Absolutely, who's up for this round of reviews?

Owen: Mighty Fine, Ski Shores, P Terrys, and Moonies.


Mighty Fine http://www.mightyfineburgers.com/

Owen: Check out the Crinkle Cut fries - I like to steal everyone else's fries and shove them in my mouth before anyone notices. I love this place - the burgers rock.

Malachi: I was disappointed with the milkshake but we really haven't found very many good shakes on any of these burger missions.

Dad: Using Barry Corbin to voice over the commercials is genius I say, GENIUS. It would be difficult to not have a good time and a good meal at Mighty Fine. The assembly line of staff behind the counter is quite impressive (so says the operations geek), the one-way windows in the restrooms are plain fun and of course the "pimp my hand washer" device is a blast. "Give them something unique to remember you by" was not lost on this group when they designed their concept. How could a kid not love this place? And this is a review written by a kid, right?

Owen: I may be a kid but I am a Global Food Critic. I am known all the way from Pflugerville to Italy.

Dad: Nice shout out to Aunt Lint and Uncle Timmy. Hi guys! We are coming over for hummus as long as you keep all of your sharp utensils in a safe place.

Mom: I don't like Mighty Fine...

Dad: Uh-oh -- Can open, worms everywhere...

Mom: My burger was OK but I bit into some serious gristle. Not my idea of a good meal.

Mighty Fine: 8.4 out of 10


Ski Shores http://www.skishores.com/

Owen: I hate the atmosphere here. PS. I don't like lakes. Burger was good. Fries were not.

Dad: All location and nothing else. While Owen has always had an aversion to standing on a dock, the setting here is just fantastic. That is not based on any effort by Ski Shores but simply its spectacular location. Unfortunately, everything else about Ski Shores is average or worse. Food was OK, service was disinterested, price was inappropriate for the quality, tables and restaurant were dirty, etc. This property could be so much more based solely on the location.

Ski Shores: 6.3 out of 10


Moonies http://www.dining512.com/moonies.html

Owen: I thought the burgers were good (and BIG) and the fries were good too. NO SHAKES!?

Mom: No shakes but snow cones for the kids is a great idea.

Dad: Nice neighborhood place. Burgers were quite good. The stand out here is the bun - fantastic. Service was blah, decor is cheap and silly, and it's a little expensive for the product served.

Moonies: 7.5 out of 10


P Terrys http://www.pterrys.com/

Owen: The best fries ever (well, not including Thrahsers in Ocean City Maryland). I love the burgers. Mom likes this place too as she gets some sort of chicken thingy and says things like "yump,-yump" when she chews.

Mom: The chicken burger really is that good. They also scored the only "10" on our reviews for cleanliness.

Dad: No way around it - great concept and well executed (well except for the turnaround drive-thru fiasco at South Lamar - I guess you work with what you have). Sure, it's much like an In-N-Out Burger but again, the execution is there, the quality is there and they manage to produce an Austin vibe through local philanthropy and such.

Malachi: Looks like I have become the default milkshake commenter on each of these. I guess there are worse things. Shakes looked better than they tasted. I was hoping the strawberry shake would be out of this world but it was quite ordinary.

P Terrys: 8.1 out of 10


Owen: I hope you like our reviews. Next week I will review Hill-Bert's, Casino El Camino, The Frisco, and EZ. Until then, take my advice - Keep a burger with you at all times.