Cafe Canela (9070 Research Blvd. Ste 303) replaces the former Geaux Burger, formerly Mooyah Burger. When I learned Mooyah closed, I was devastated! But later, because of ACS's 7 Best Burgers of Central Texas Tour, I learned Cafe Canela is the same place but with a little extra on the menu.
Owner Alvaro Valencia managed Mooyah and Geaux. But this time, he's doing things the way he wants because he owns and manages Cafe Canela. Valencia put Tex Mex options on the menu, so customers aren't limited to just burgers or hot dogs. But we highly recommend getting a burger and loading it up with toppings, which come free!
Some burger joints offer the plain Jane burgers; others do theirs up a little more gourmet style. At Cafe Canela, you'll order a simple burger. You have the option of dressing it up how you like, but it doesn't come to the table overloaded. The burger is juicy and the bun is outstanding. Valencia told us he orders the bread from Sweetish Hill Bakery.
This concludes the ACS burger tour. Which burger joint on our list is your favorite? Tell us what we didn't try that you highly recommend.
Casino El Camino (517 E. 6th Street / (512) 469-9330) is a bar in the heart of Austin's infamous 6th Street District, but it's also a hot little lunch spot for people who know this part of 6th Street in the daylight rather than bar-hopping hours. I've heard how great Casino's burgers are but wanted to taste for myself.
I loaded up the car with two of my buddies and headed downtown, where parking can be limited but not impossible to find. Just remember to take your quarters. The new pay meters accept coins and credit but no paper money, which for me, sent me back out to the meter after changing in my dollars for quarters. All three of us attempted a different burger or variation of burger.
Adolfo got the Amarillo Burger with roasted serrano chiles, jalapeno jack cheese and cilantro mayo. The burger looked a little pink but according to my friend, the flavor couldn't be beat. In fact, he said it's the best burger he's ever eaten - and that includes a couple of Lubbock burger joints that he says puts several Austin burgers to shame. Check out all that green on there and it's all those chiles. "Now that's one spicy burger," Adolfo said.
Next up, my buddy John got the Chicago Burger with Romaine lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese. This is one of the more traditional style burgers on the menu, but definitely not one that is lacking. "You don't just get a tantalizing burger here, there's a whole story you may have never heard, it's a family unlike any I've ever seen and a place where the cooks can express however they feel while cooking and reading up on classwork all at the same time making an awesome burger.," John said.
That brings me to the portion of the story where I talk about the people. Our waitress, Ginger Stevens, is very much a party of the Casino family. For the last 16 years, she's been coming to this place. She began working at Casino about a year and a half ago. The other workers are, well, just like family - or at least they treat you that way, at times being downright rude, but it's all just a part of the charm. Stitch, one of the cooks, is studying for his Ph.D and had his notebook opened as he rolled up the thick hamburger patties. When I went to order at the window in the back, I'd asked him what I should get. He told me it was a bad time because he was busy with bookwork. But he did end up offering a suggestion: the Chicago burger (like John) but with the buffalo sauce! It was a perfect suggestion for me since I love spicy dishes and I wanted to get a more traditional burger. Put the two together and that became my Casino experience.
The fries were crunch and delicious and the burger came juicy. It's hard to get it all in your mouth but somehow, some way, people find it possible and eat these delicious burgers up. Casino was even featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives as a joint where customers dig the heat, employees mix up great burger recipes and the environment reminds you of being at home among family.
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Austin 360 is reporting very exciting hamburger news! According to the report, Hopdoddy Burger Bar will open up in early October and will fill the spot on South Congress vacated by Cissi's Wine Bar which closed down earlier in the year.
The brains behind the Hopdoddy burgers are Moonshine chef and Hopdoddy partner Larry Perdido. Austin 360 says Moonshine's Chuck Smith is also on board, along with Guy Villavaso and Larry Foles, the creators of the Roaring Fork, Eddie V's, and Z'Tejas.
The name mix of beer (hop) and the name given to the Aberdeen Angus cow of Scotland (doddy).
Special burgers might include local cabrito or lamb, Perdido said, every burger using brioche-style buns baked in-house. Prices will start around $5 for a basic burger, he said, going to about $9 or $10 for specialty burgers.
The handmade approach will extend to fries made from Kennebec potatoes, ice cream for shakes, even special ketchup and mustard blends, Perdido said. Fountain sodas will use cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.
You'll be able to find Hopdoddy at 1400 S. Congress and is on the web here. Click this link to read the full Austin 360 article.
(Updated) The Horny Toad restaurant in Cranfills Gap, Texas is one heck of a place to grab a burger. The suggestion rolled into the Austin Citysphere on Facebook, when we announced our 7 Best Burgers of Central Texas tour. After all, if Horny Toad's burger was voted the best hamburger worth driving 50 miles for by Ride Texas Magazine, then the two and a half hours (100+ miles in the rain!) it took us to get there would make the burger extra awesome.
Aside from the burger being great, the people are even better. Dusty and Misty Glass, the proprietors, opened up the Horny Toad when the town went wet. Their original partners are no longer in business with them. That's when Misty's mom and dad, Sandi and Owen Carlson, joined the venture. Now it's completely a family affair! "I think in a lot of ways our family has grown because we have met so many just amazing people," Sandi said.
Misty says if you've never been to the Horny Toad, get the burger. On your subsequent visits, get the quesadilla. You'll also find the Danwich on the menu, and the Bitchwitch. Wonder what the difference is? You'll have to watch the video, or take a drive to Cranfills Gap to find out for yourself!
Owen wouldn't reveal his secret burger recipe. He told us, "We've worked over the years at trying to get our seasoning down right. We have a certain season that we put on it and a certain recipe and it gets all mixed together. It seems to be working very well."
We whole-heartedly agree! The burger=fantastic. The quesadilla=awesome! Biting into the burger, you'll taste the nicely buttered bun. The meat is cooked to perfection. You won't find yourself wondering what would make this burger juicier. It comes juicy. We like to try the burgers "house" style, meaning the burger that people come for. Nothing fancy, nothing with too much extra stuff. Horny Toad has that down home style burger. It's perfect for such a down home, family restaurant. Plus, the salsa that comes with the quesadilla is homemade and for the spice lover in you (or the one in your life), you need to get this.
Enjoy the video and your trip to the Horny Toad. You won't regret it.
Under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines, which require bloggers to disclose information regarding potential conflicts for items reviewed in their blogs, the writer of the Austin Citysphere received lunch free of charge from the Horny Toad.
MP's proprietor, Zarghun Dean, showed us the ins and outs of his food trailer, which features a pretty nice wood burning grill inside. Dean says it's commercial grade, and he likes to use pecan for flavor. Admittedly, the pecan burning in Dean's truck brings me back to spending the fall season in Missouri. It smells so awesome, and as people walk around the market the aroma seems to draws customers in.
"The big challenge for us was just figuring out where we're going to be set up, getting the word out because when you're mobile, you don't have that location where people are driving by every day and seeing you," Dean said. "Our big challenges were after we got started."
The burgers are tasty, although maybe priced a little high. Dean says the reason for that is because he uses quality ingredients and produce that comes straight from the farmers market where he's located.
One of ACS's reviewers, Adolfo Ibarra, noted the burger seemed a little small. "I wish it was bigger," he said. "I kind of scarfed it down in four bites. But it was good!"
The cheeseburger with jalapenos we ordered (toppings are extra) did seem a little small at first, but I'd have to say it's deceptive. Once you get going on the burger, it's larger than it looks. The flavor is pretty big, too. Ibarra liked how the burger came nice and "juicy."
The atmosphere is also nice. A picnic table is just outside of the trailer, and there is another 20 feet away. Dean has camping chairs set up outside of his trailer for customers to sit and relax while they enjoy their burger. Asked where the name Max Parfait comes from, "Max Parfait is from an old Duke Ellington song," said Dean.
"One of his band mates, Max Roach, he dedicated the song, it's called The Little Max and at the end he calls it Parfait. So it was a perfect reference to his band mate." Listen closely to the video and you'll be able to hear the jazz number that became the namesake for Dean's little hamburger place that could.
"Music's a part of what we do here," said Dean. "I love that old era jazz. It's a CD I absolutely love. One day I was listening to it and I looked on the cover and saw what the name was. I said 'man that would be a cool name for a burger joint.'"
Dean is happy regulations against food trailers haven't gone to the extreme yet in Austin. City council members have been looking at regulations that would limit how and where operators could legally set up their business. Having a food trailer, Dean said, has allowed him to start his business.
"Food carts right now, food trucks and food trailers, are the one kind of relatively easy food business to get off the ground here in Austin," said Dean. "If you want to do a restaurant, it takes you a year, year and a half to get through all the bureaucratic hurdles. But doing a food truck is relatively easy, even though they're trying to make it a little tougher for us."
Check out the Max Parfait Twitter page to see where you can find Dean next, and you might even find an internet coupon to make your burger a little bit more affordable. (Photo above from Austin Burger News)
Under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines, which require bloggers to disclose information regarding potential conflicts for items reviewed in their blogs, the Austin Citysphere was not compensated for this story.
How fun would it be to review burgers? Chris Stromberger does just that for his site, Austin Burger News. Stromberger let us in on some of his secrets, including his Burger Statement, where he only likes a certain kind of cheese on his burger (and if that option isn't available, just forget it!) He also doesn't like bacon!
ACS got the chance to talk to Stromberger in this special audio podcast as our 7 best burgers of central Texas series rolls on. And stay tuned for our next stop at Max Parfait, which will be posted Sunday. Also stay tuned Sept. 12 for a special video podcast on Horny Toad in Cranfills Gap. You won't want to miss it.
As we here at The Austin Citysphere begin the mission to find the best burger in central Texas, we stopped at an old favorite. Old is, well, relative. Cafe Canela, formerly Geaux Burger, formerly Mooyah Burger, is a fantastic burger place in north Austin. We learned today Cafe Canela is managed and owned by Alvaro Valencia, who used to manage (but not own) Geaux and Mooyah Burger. Valencia has kept up the "old" style burger that kept us coming back for more. Thankfully, the burger is still around. Following Mooyah's closure, we were devastated! Only this time with Cafe Canela, he's added burritos and fajitas as well for a Mexican flair.
It's only fitting the journey begins here as we talk to Beatriz Tavera, an employee who told us quite frankly, she avoids eating at home so she can eat when she gets to work. That's a compliment from a cashier who says her past places of employment weren't always up to par with the food, and she'd bring her own lunch to work!
On a related note, ACS received word from a good friend, Carol Pfeiffer, who recommended the Horny Toad in Cranfills Gap as one of the best burgers around! Their title is apparently verified because they were nominated by Ride Texas magazine for the honor! Looks like ACS has a little road trip ahead... boy, it's gonna be tough eating so many delicious burgers for this contest.
If you have a burger suggestion, send it byclicking here.
What do Five Guys, Moonies, Jackalope, and (Bastrop's) Roadhouse all have in common? They're all places I've eaten a great, scratch that, an amazing burger. Granted, Five Guys is a national chain and the rest are local. That's why I want to set out to find the best burger in central Texas.
And I need you to be the guide!
Let me know which places you love to eat a great burger. Is it Your Mom's, or one of my personal favorite's Cafe Canela, formerly Geaux Burger, formerly Mooyah? Whatever it is, I need to know!
Over the next seven weeks, The Austin Citysphere turns into The Austin Burgersphere! Reviews from other customers are greatly appreciated, and you can send them to me here.
ACS is a multi-platform web blog in Austin. Here, we celebrate the people and stories of a well-rounded city. ACS welcomes content creation by its readers and hopes to be a place where virtual community members can take part in open, intelligent dialogue.
