Childish Humor Helped Name Serious Austin Burger Joint

Where do I begin this story?  There's the easy, ever popular and eternally funny your mom joke.  Yo Mama's so dumb that she tripped over a cordless phone.  Or, Yo mama's so old that when she was in school there was no history class!

I could begin this story on the importance of mothers.  Scientific studies point to the overwhelming value of a mother's love, hugs and support.

But maybe this story can simply start by saying how freaking awesome Your Mom's Burger Bar (1701 E. Cesar Chavez Ste. B) is!  After several weeks of hearing how much I needed to try Your Mom's, the word of mouth advertisement became too much to resist!

"We don't have [the] budget to have a marketing campaign," said owner Ryan Blackmore Thursday when he personally sat down with us to talk mano a mano about burgers.  "When we started out, Yelp hit us up and we started with I think five stars, and it just escalated to where we had nothing but five stars and we became number one on Yelp."

Although Your Mom's is a serious burger joint, it did begin with the infamous 'your mom' wise crack when Blackmore asked his wife where she wanted to go eat lunch one day.  She said with a grin, "Your mom's."  Blackmore just knew it was to be the perfect name for an up and coming restaurant later on when entering the restaurant biz became a reality.

Blackmore, a California native, moved to Austin from South Padre Island seven years ago with his wife, Gina.  He worked in several restaurants, where he says he had to conform to a certain style - one that wasn't his own.  But now, he gets to have his own creative outlet and does damn well what he pleases.  Mashed potatoes and corn stuffed burger?  No problem!  He just created it.  It's not even on the menu yet and already customers are asking for it because of a Thrillist review giving it lots of props and praise.  This is all part of Blackmore's plan to offer great food by great people.  "We've done no advertisement, it's just word of mouth and just getting great burgers out there," he said.

I had the Willie Nelson - a half pound beef patty wrapped with bacon and stuffed with American cheese, tossed in honey bar-b-q sauce, topped with a fried onion ring on Texas toast.  Man, oh man!  I know some people are purists and just like their patty without being stuffed, with only your average fixins', but geez Louise the Willie Nelson is fantastic.  You can see the cheese sort of escaping when the burger arrives at your table.  But the time you bite into the burger, the cheese is gushing and flavor is just singing like a fat lady at the opera inside your mouth.  It quite honestly is one of the best hamburgers I've ever eaten.  Writing this review is a little painful as I have to recall the burger without having another one of Your Mom's creations right in front of me.  Blackmore himself recommended the Willie Nelson when I ordered, despite my initial desire to have a plain and simple burger to test out this place.  But good thing he convinced me otherwise.

As for the fries: crisp and delicious!  I can't recall the spices on the regular fries, but I'm almost certain there was cinnamon on the sweet potato fries I'd gotten for my little boy.  (He loves sweet potato fries, and loved these twice as much!)  I previously heard the french fries weren't always up to par.  "That was a learning experience and getting the recipe just right," Blackmore said.  "We were basically working out kinks and fine tuning them.  Now they are tip top and I get compliments about the fries.  Fixed!"

Your Mom's has been at its East Cesar Chavez location for about six months.  It's a little tricky to find, but it's basically at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Chalmers behind the red and yellow painted Taqueria Las Cazuelas.  Before its permanent residence on the east side, Blackmore had a location downtown for about five months.  It was inevitable that he'd move to a spot where he could serve up burgers non-stop.

With so many burger joints out there, there's got to be a copycat. But Blackmore said the copycat he believes copied him is someone everyone knows - the Food Network's Guy Fieri!  "I started my stuffing process a little over a year and a half ago. My wife and I were researching some things and noticed that Guy Fieri had started stuffing his burger with chorizo.  But I had my chorizo stuffed burger first!  When we first thought of it we researched online and couldn't find anyone stuffing burgers with chorizo," Blackmore said.

If there's ever any doubt, just ask the man himself who lays claim to this delicious mouth-watering method. "Oh man, now Guy Fieri's got it, now he's going to coin it and it's going to be his. But make the record straight, I used chorizo first," said Blackmore with a laugh.

The only bad thing to say about this excellent burger joint is that who knows what the new generation of your mom jokes will be like with a place like this around.  They'll turn the old favorites to compliments.  But that might not be half bad.  Whose mother deserves to be put down?

You can give Your Mom's a call at 512-474-MOMS.  Blackmore also offers catering, which kind of makes me want to throw a party just to have it catered by Your Mom's.  Go check them out and then post your own comment below.  We definitely want to hear what you have to say.
  
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.

It's a Blue Monday, Indeed

The legendary Larry Monroe wrapped up a nearly 30 year career Monday night at the close of his long-running program, Blue Monday, which airs on KUT radio.  Monroe himself began the program in 1981.

Monroe spoke to ACS on Monday, just hours ahead of the start of his final show.  He said he'll miss the people he speaks to every week via a microphone and some 'oldies but goodies' blues albums.  "I guess what I'll miss most is doing the programs, because that's an art.  I'll also miss the audience and the feedback that I've gotten that the programs mean a lot to them."

Monroe is proud of his career, and says some of his favorite memories include other Austin legends like Willie Nelson appearing on his show.  "In the early 90's, I booked Willie Nelson in for a live set on Easter.  Willie Nelson and his band played Gospel songs live on the radio for an hour and a half on Easter night."

 For his last guest on Blue Monday, Monroe featured blues musician James Cotton.  The last broadcast is similar to a typical broadcast.  Only this time, he made mention of his 68th birthday.  He told ACS he felt the "timing seems good."

A station spokesperson told ACS Monroe only gave notice of his retirement several weeks ago.  The station is still looking for a replacement for Blue Monday.  As of yet, they do not know what will take its place.  But, judging by the relationship Monroe gained with his listeners over the past three decades, nothing short of a miracle will replace the void left by a man who made it a priority to spend time with listeners over the years.  Said of his departure Monday, "I tried to be there for them.  I worked on holidays because I know that Christmas and other holidays are hard for people, so I tried to keep that constant for my listeners.  If they didn't have anybody else on Christmas, they had me on the radio that night."  Monroe said he believes it made a difference in their lives.

Radio personalities just don't come like that anymore.

Willie Nelson Invites Friends to Fourth of July Picnic

Willie Nelson is bringing his Fourth of July Picnic back to Austin this year, and has just announced the first round of artists that will join him on stage at The Backyard at Bee Cave.

So far, the performers that will appear include Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Leon Russell, Paula Nelson, the Randy Rogers Band, Ray Price and Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Expect more artists to be announced as the Fourth of July Picnic draws closer.  Meanwhile, tickets are already on sale for $55 each.