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

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Your Mom's Burger Bar in Austin Texas

Q: Where you havin’ lunch? A: Your Mom’s

Editor’s Note: Your Mom’s closed May 2014. Read a letter from the owners here.

If you’ve been looking for the best burgers in Austin, you’ve come to the right place. This post is part of a series on The Austinot.

All the posts in this series start with “Search for the Best Burger Joint in Austin” in the title. Remember, I’m looking at not only the burgers, but the experience as a whole.

You’ll always get an honest take on the burger joints that I’ve visited. I’m not on any burger joint’s payroll. Agree or disagree, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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 in Austin

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 on Airport in Austin

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

Your Mom's Burger Bar in Austin

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.

The Willie Nelson Burger Mural at Your Mom's Burger Bar in Austin

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.)

***

@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?

Eric Highland
Latest posts by Eric Highland (see all)

Filed Under: Food, Food & Drink Tagged With: ,

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Comments

  3. Great review. Wish you pointed out two things. Most burgers come with cheese inside (and you can choose), and you can get all sorts of different sauces on the burger (like choosing a flavor for chicken wings), You were right on how massive their burgers are.

    • Good points @twitter-282188191:disqus. In order to keep my reviews on an even playing field I always try and order the joint’s equivalent to a Bacon Cheeseburger and fries. Otherwise it wouldn’t really be fair to compare one to another. In all fairness their stuffed burgers looked amazing and I’m definitely going back to try one of them myself. Also, their onion rings looked great! What is your favorite burger at Your Mom’s?

  4. Looks and sounds like a must try. Eric, I’d like to add Rivals to your list of suggested places to review. And, if Rivals would add CinnaMan cheesecake to their menu, they would be my fave burger in Austin. Just kidding, of course

      • Excellent burger! Went last night and had a Norma Jean & 1/4 pd Angus Young. Loved the fries also. Ryan is a cool guy and we’ll definitely go back. If not for Austinot we wouldn’t have known about this place and we’re glad we do.
        As for Rivals, they have a 2 for 1 burger on Tuesday for lunch.

    • @ce24c8606fcc48bc69c1b1fe3acf8647:disqus I’ll add up Hut’s. Can’t believe it wasn’t on the list. For some reason I thought it was. Good catch. Thx.

  7. I love Your Mom’s but I don’t think you can give a full review without tasting their stuffed burgers. Those things are amazing but they’ll bump up your messiness rating up to an 8 or 9!

    • @ffd2a109a59431984082d2ed31af1924:disqus haha I love a messy burger. I really wanted to try a stuffed burger there since that is what Your Mom’s is known for. But in order to keep things even as far as the scoring goes… every burger joint I visit I try their equivalent of a bacon cheeseburger. I’m definitely going back for a stuffed one though.

  9. Eric, there is a major hole in your hamburger claim-to-fame list. I do my own reconnaissance for burgers as a personal hobby. My favorite, by far, is the Border Burger at Ski Shores. Select a lovely Fall day to sit overlooking Lake Austin and enjoy live music (check schedule). You may bring your dogs or your kids – or both! Don’t miss this local favorite!

    • @disqus_fYqzELottw:disqus , we love P. Terry’s. We were just there for lunch this week. Like Top Notch, it’s on of our personal favorites that we haven’t taken the time to review yet. Definitely hope to get that done!

      • @knektion:disqus, thanks! And, btw, did you know there’s a new giant (and soon to open if not already) P. Terry’s being built in North Mo-Pac? It’s just a little south of Parmer on the right if you’re northbound… Looks big enough to hold a few HUNDRED people!

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