Search for the Best Burger Joint in Austin: Your Mom’s Burger Bar

First Impression of Your Mom’s Burger Bar in Austin

First of all, it’s fun to say. When a friend asks, “Hey where you wanna go for lunch?” you can reply with “Your Mom’s!” and actually mean it! Second of all, it’s really cool when you learn that Your Mom’s Burger Bar was formed from a dream and originally funded by taking music equipment to a pawn shop.

Ryan Blackmore, owner of Your Mom’s Burger Bar

Once upon a time, Your Mom’s had a location on Caesar Chavez, but they shut it down. According to company’s website, the Chavez location was shut down due to “poor choice of accounting services coupled with a few employees who stole over the years and straight up bad management.”

Unfortunate story, but this is one of the things I like about the folks behind Your Mom’s Burger Bar. They are straightforward, transparent and not afraid of mistakes they’ve made along the way. Since the Chavez location was shut down, attention has been focused on Your Mom’s sole location at 5001 Airport Blvd.

I’m thankful they didn’t shut down everything because Your Mom’s Burger Bar serves up a burger worthy of admiration.

For those who have been following the series, you may know that Austinot guest blogger and friend Kat Mandelstein has a companion series to mine, on the best veggie burger in Austin. She joined me for lunch at Your Mom’s (and her veggie burger review will be coming soon).

We placed our order and sat down in a comfortable open space. while classic rock tunes poured out over the speakers.

Your Mom’s Burger Bar is located at 5001 Airport Blvd. – slightly north of the I-35 exit

Austinot Eric’s Burger Review Criteria

If you’ve read my other articles in this series, you’ll know that I rate burger joints using a 1-10 scale, with 5 being Average. (Don’t be a hater. If I rate you a 5, that means you were average.)

Roughly speaking, a score of 1 translates to “worst ever,” while 10 translates to “God handcrafted this himself.” Remember, you are free to disagree with me. This is just my honest take.

When reviewing a burger joint, these are my categories:

1. Burger Patties
2. Bun
3. Cheese
4. Messiness
5. Garnish
6. Burger Taste
7. Fries
8. Atmosphere
9. Cleanliness
10. Other Factors

Burger Joint Review: Your Mom’s Burger Bar

Look at the thickness of that bacon

1. Burger Patties = 8. Thick and juicy burger patty that left little to be desired.
2. Bun = 9. The bun was nearly perfect, slightly toasted. Just look at the photo. It didn’t fall apart during the meal and was ample enough to cover the sizable patty. You won’t be disappointed here.
3. Cheese = 6. Real cheese that accompanied the burger well. Nothing outstanding here, but nothing wrong.
4. Messiness = 7. The sizable bun didn’t stop the shredded lettuce and juicy burger from leaving a drip of a mess. That’s a plus in my book. Bravo, Your Mom’s! Keep ’em messy!
5. Garnish = 10. Take a look at the photo again. That is the thickest cut bacon I’ve ever had on a burger. Fresh shredded lettuce is always a plus, and thickly sliced tomatoes made the garnish perfect.
6. Taste = 9. This burger was melt-in-your-mouth kind of good. Arguably among the very best I’ve had.
7. Fries = 9. Okay, can these guys do anything wrong? Their fries are fantastic. Not the thin and crispy fast food style fries. Not the overly thick steak fries, but a fresh and nearly perfect meeting in the middle. Well seasoned.
8. Atmosphere = 7. It’s a cool joint. Your Mom’s has artwork on the walls from various local artists, including the talented William K. Stidham. Aluminum siding, great music, and random fun. They lose a little for the TV cord which was draped haphazardly and shamelessly down the wall. But hey, if you don’t go to Your Mom’s Burger Bar because of a TV cord, you’re a fool.
9. Cleanliness = 8. Far above average in cleanliness, though there were a few discrepancies (like crumbs on tables) that I noticed here and there.
10. Other Factors = 7. Your Mom’s Burger Bar has a cool name, was bootstrap funded by hocking things at a pawn shop and has learned from mistakes. Much respect to Owner Ryan and his wife Gina for pursuing their dream and creating a great place for locals to go to.

Bottom Line on Your Mom’s Burger Bar in Austin: 8.0 out of 10

Overall Score = 8.0. The overall score is the average of the 10 categories.

Willie Nelson Burger? You’ll have to check it out

Coming in with a score of 8.0, as of this writing Your Mom’s Burger Bar is in second place on my search for the best burger joint in Austin. The burgers are melt in your mouth good, the fries are fantastic and the staff is really cool.

The addition of local artwork and the tenacity of the owners make this place extra special.

For the purposes of this review, I ordered the “Norma Jean” with bacon. But their specialty is stuffed burgers. I can tell you that I’m definitely going to go back and try one of their stuffed burgers. Oh and by the way, their onion rings looked great, though I haven’t tried them yet.

If you are looking for the best burger in Austin, this may be it. It falls second on my list so far, but it only came in second by one tenth of a point.

I highly suggest you check out Your Mom’s Burger Bar for yourself. When you do, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

And so my…

Search for the Best Burger Joint in Austin Continues

So far, of burger joints in Austin reviewed on the Austinot, here is the scorecard:

#1 – score 8.1 – The Tavern

#2 – score 8.0 – Your Mom’s Burger Bar (Tied for 2nd so far) CLOSED see below.

#2 – score 8.0 – Opal Divine’s Freehouse (Tied for 2nd so far) 6th Street location CLOSED see below.

#3 – score 7.64 – P. Terry’s

#4 – score 7.6 – Phil’s Icehouse

#5 – score 7.2 – Casino El Camino

#6 – score 7.1 – Crown & Anchor Pub

#7 – score 7.05 – Dirty Martin’s Place

#8 – score 7.0 – Billy’s on Burnet (Tied for 8th so far)

#8 – score 7.0 – Moonie’s Burger House (Tied for 8th so far)

#9 – score 6.9 – Mighty Fine Burgers

#10 – score 6.7 – Wholly Cow Burgers

#11 – score 6.4 – Nau’s Enfield Drug

#12 – score 5.9 – Old School Bar and Grill

#13 – score 4.8 – Cover 3

Burger joints that have shut down since they were reviewed:

1. Opal Divine’s (The 6th street location is closed but they have other locations so give them a try.)

2. Your Mom’s Burger Bar (The owners decided to buy an RV and see the country. But they did write a farewell letter to Austin. We’ll miss you Your Mom’s!)

Other places that have been suggested to review: 

1. 2nd Bar + Kitchen
2. 24 Diner
3. Austin Land and Cattle
4. Austin Java
5. Black Sheep Lodge
6. Blue Star Cafeteria
7. Burger Tex 2 on Guadalupe
8. Cain and Abel’s
9. Counter Cafe
10. Cow Bells
11. Dan’s Hamburgers
12. Dart Bowl
13. Foreign and Domestic
14. Fran’s Hamburgers
15. Hat Creek
16. Hill’s Cafe
17. Hideout Pub
18. Hoover’s Cooking
19. Hopdoddy
20. Hula Hut
21. Hut’s Hamburgers
22. Jack Allen’s Kitchen
23. Jackalope
24. Lambert
25. Luke’s Inside Out
26. Parkside
27. Ski Shores
28. South Congress Cafe
29. Sputnik
30. Top Notch

Got one you’d like added to the list? Comment and let us know! (Only suggestions of burger joints founded in Austin will be added.)

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@EricHighland asks:

I’d love to hear what you have to say. Do you agree or disagree with me on Your Mom’s Burger Bar?  Do you know of any places that I need to add to my list?