Your Mom's Burgers -- Delivered!

** Editor's update: I think they are working on a brick + mortar in Smithville; not certain if the mail order burger is still around.

Your Mom's burgers is back! This time in the comfort of your own kitchen, as they now offer home delivery meal kits. They contacted me back in November, and asked if I would be interested in trying one of their kits. This is a sponsored post, and all opinions are my own.

While their restaurants unfortunately closed in 2014, they have reinvented themselves in this new era of home delivered meals. Go to their website, Your Mom's, and scroll down; I did the Stuffed Burger Meal Kits with blue cheese stuffed burgers, but you can also just get the stuffed burger without all the extras. But I was glad I got the kit! You'll see when you go online you have lots of options: what kind of cheese you want it stuffed with, type of bun, sauces, sides, etc.

It came in a cardboard box with two separate packages, one with the dry goods and the other, with all the perishable goods, in an insulated bag with a couple ice packs. Here's what everything looked like when unpacked.

As you can see, everything is very well labeled, which is good to make it as idiot-proof as possible.  The burger itself kind of flattened out during transport, so I reshaped it a bit before cooking. I also hardly every fry things at home, so making the sweet potato fries was a treat! They included flour and soda water for dredging the fries; all you need is the oil. There was a "sweet tater bling" seasoning for them once cooked, which was really delicious with it's chai flavors, and they suggest a little homemade caramel sauce (also included) drizzled over.

I don't have any fabulous pictures of my Black Angus beef burger cooking, but really, you know what a burger cooking looks like!  Here's my plate, and I was QUITE pleased with how everything turned out! You can kind of see the blue cheese starting to squirt out the edge of the burger! I normally like a good medium rare burger, so I was being careful not to overcook these, and I succeeded. They were delicious!

And check out their Instagram page , because when you register on their website, you could win an upcoming burger giveaway!!!

So even though the holidays are past, give yourself or a loved one a gift of burgers! If you were a fan of Your Mom's restaurants, or if you just want a darn tasty burger, hop online and order (delivery within the 48 contiguous states). Your biggest problem will be deciding on blue, jack, cheddar, or mozzarella to stuff it with! Burgers up!

Billie Jean's Burger Pub

** Editor's note: CLOSED in 2016**

A couple weeks ago, I met a friend for happy hour at the relatively new Billie Jean's Burger Pub. They opened at the end of May, and were barely a blip on my radar until I saw another friend post their huge wedge salad on Facebook. Can I let you in on a secret? I think they are a hidden gem, literally hidden behind the road construction at 6501 South Congress just north of the light at William Cannon.

Walking in at 5 pm, there was little business at Billie Jean's, but it gave me a moment to take in the space, which is light-filled thanks to huge windows. There's a bank of booth seating to the right, four-top tables in the middle, and a nice-sized bar on the left.  I plopped down at the bar where the only other patrons in the whole place were also seated. The friendly female bartender brought me menus, and my friend arrived shortly thereafter. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday, and I had their hard lemonade, which was fairly hard (no complaints!).

We split a basket of Rosie's Fries, which quite basically, were amazing. Hand cut fries with caramelized onions, goat cheese, bacon, and sriracha. I've been singing their praises and dying for these ever since. The name I would guess is a nod to their Rosie the Riveter-inspired logo, and the two women who started Billie Jean's as a food trailer. Nicely done, ladies!

Another friend came and joined us, and he wanted onion rings, so we ordered those. They were good, but not as much to my liking as the fries. Funny, I had two people say to me, as I was showing them the food pics on my phone, "I don't like tempura style onion rings." And they're right, that's exactly what these were, and I definitely missed all the little crunchy bits on onion rings that fall off everywhere. These weren't bad at all, just a style preference.

So now being fairly well-stuffed on fries and rings, none of us were particularly hungry, but I didn't feel that we should pass up the opportunity to try their burgers. We had seen some HUGE burgers come out of the kitchen, and the place was starting to fill up. They do have a slider option on the menu, where you get three sliders with your choice of two meaty toppings; we picked corned beef and bacon. It was a tasty burger though a bit dry (but that's often the case with sliders), and the side of harissa was particularly yummy. Their burgers are always made fresh from Angus beef, and never frozen. I would like to go back and try one of their regular burgers, and I am hearing a lot of buzz about their Moroccan. And that wedge salad still tempts me! Heck, even the tofu black bean burger sounds good!

People are able to find Billie Jean's through the ongoing road construction, as there was a good crowd when we left. Great addition to that part of town, and really look forward to going back!

RIP Fran's

Sadly, the Fran's on South Congress at Mary Street has lost their lease and they will close on Sunday. I went with friends G + M today to pay our respects. M grew up on South 2nd Street, and went to Fulmore Middle School which is catty-corner to Fran's. He said he'd been going there since he could barely see over the counter. As we were eating, he said: "You know the thing about Fran's? The burgers always taste the same. Just like I remember them." I am sure they've been using the same flat-top grill since they were Fran's + Dan's, many moons ago.

The two ladies working at the counter today confirmed the rumors; the one on the left said she grew up there, as her parents had worked there before her. They said there were no current plans for relocation, but the spot on Cameron Road remains open. There's various memorabilia lining the walls, from the license plates to photos, including a Friday Night Lights poster. Several of the diner scenes used in the tv series were filmed here.

We'll miss ya, Fran! 

And we'll pray that this corner doesn't become a new high-end condo project. We still need some character in South Austin.


Update, 4/7/2013
According to an article in today's Austin American-Statesman, Fran's chose not to renew their lease.

Phil's Ice House

The fine folks of Amy's Ice Cream created the "Austinville 78704" retail triangle at South Lamar and Manchaca. All locally-owned businesses, including their own: a second installment of Phil's Ice House, this one an actual hybrid of Phil's and Amy's under one roof. A treat for big kids and little kids alike!

I think this location has been open for almost a year. Usually when I drive past in the evenings, the place is overflowing with cars, literally, as they park on the South Lamar shoulder. I have figured that lunch would be my best time to take a stab at Phil's. But, taking a chance on Friday night around 7:45, we were pleasantly surprised to find a few open parking spots in the lot, and there were a couple open tables inside, and plenty available outside. The noise level was a little high, as it is a kid-friendly establishment, but it soon quieted down some, and the noise from the kids playing outside didn't affect us.

The burgers mostly have neighborhood names, very catchy for Austin. They've also got dogs, frito pie, chicken sandwiches, and some vegetarian options. Cleverly, they have a sampler basket with three sliders, mini versions of their grown-up neighborhood namesakes. And that became my choice for dinner, cooked medium rare, along with onion rings. My dining companion chose what I believe was the Travis Heights burger, with Swiss, grilled onions and mushrooms; I don't see it on the online menu. The chatty high school order taker said it was her favorite, and suggested adding blue cheese, which he happily did.

Both the regular burger and my sliders were good sized portions. My slider basket consisted of (from top to bottom in the picture) the Crestview, with chili and cheese; the Rosedale with mesquite bbq sauce; and the Violet Crown, with blue cheese and grilled onions. The Crestview burger was cooked to more of a medium/medium well, and while there was enough chili to make it messy, there wasn't a ton of chili on it. The mesquite on the Rosedale was very sweet, and probably my favorite was the Violet Crown. Sort of surprisingly given the strength of blue cheese, it was the one where I could best taste the grilled flavor of the burger. All three were served on kolache-style rolls, as in, a sweeter bread, rather than just a traditional roll. (The large versions each come on specialty breads, like jalapeno cheese buns.) The onion rings were a nice thin cut, with a light batter, and were really good! Likewise the sweet potato fries. And there was no complaining about the Travis Heights burger, and the eater definitely liked the blue cheese addition.

So after burgers and beer, these big kids could happily take home a pint of Amy's Mexican Vanilla so we didn't have to overdo it at Phil's! Solid food, friendly, fun service. They've got a good thing going!

Hut's Hamburgers

Hut's Hamburgers is one of the first places I remember eating when I moved to Austin in 1994. My friends and I would go on Wednesday nights, when the burgers are buy one get one, provided both burgers are the same variety. So then you'd have to figure out a burger that two people would agree upon, AND there's 20 different ones to choose from. It's probably been at least 10 years since I was last there, and it doesn't look like it has changed a whole lot.

After attending a tasting at Haddingtons (see previous post), just two blocks east, we were still a little hungry, so we wandered over to Hut's.  I was quite tempted by the blue plate special of the evening, which was meatloaf. But after studying all 20 of those burger descriptions, I decided on #7 Hut's Favorite -- lettuce, tomato, mayo, American cheese, and bacon.

It was a decent burger; the bacon could have been a touch crisper, and unfortunately, the fries seemed off. Not stale, but just not crisp either. But it was fun.... a little touch of nostalgia for me, and it's an Austin institution.  I can only imagine what it's like for people who remember it way back in 1939 when they opened!