JewBoy Burgers

We were shopping in North Austin and decided to find out what the hype was about. Pulled into the lot mid-afternoon: completely full. Walked up to the door: line out of it. Two good signs before we’d even seen a burger.

First bite

The bun is a glossy, eggy potato roll, soft enough to cradle the patty without slumping under it. The catch: it arrived untoasted. Toasted, this would be a knockout bun; as served, it’s a missed step on a build that needed every advantage it could get.

The patty itself is a third of a pound, a decent grind, cooked to order. But it landed medium-well, which isn’t what you want out of a smashburger — a true smash gets pressed thin and cooked hard until it’s well-done with a serious crust, and this one was thicker and softer than that. The seasoning, meanwhile, isn’t there. We ordered side-by-side — One Plain & Dry, One How it Comes — and the Plain & Dry tasted like beef that had never met salt. No pepper, no garlic, no nothing. The How it Comes version is rescued by the toppings, but on our rubric we score Plain & Dry, and Plain & Dry, this is an under-seasoned, under-charred patty with a great bun stapled to it.

The vibe

A cool stretch of North Austin, off Airport Boulevard between 51st and 52nd. We sat outside under a couple of two-hundred-year-old live oaks — easily the best seat in the house. The shaded patio alone makes this a place worth visiting, even if the burger isn’t the reason you stay.

They serve Maine Root soda and a few other small-batch drinks; the root beer is the right call.

The staff

Counter order, fast turnaround, friendly without making it a routine. Painless, top to bottom.

Getting there

Easy. Parking lot fills up but moves fast, and the location is right off Airport Boulevard between 51st and 52nd — close to I-35 and to the rest of central Austin. It’s the kind of place you can fold into a shopping afternoon without rerouting your day.

The verdict

The bun would be incredible if they toasted it. The patty is fine in size and freshness but flat in flavor, and it lands medium-well when a smashburger should land well-done with a hard sear. We genuinely cannot understand why a burger this hyped arrives without seasoning or a proper crust. They need to salt the meat, smash it harder, and toast the bun.

Two notes on the rest of the menu: we also tried The Mutt — an all-beef hot dog with Detroit chili and queso — and, embarrassingly for the namesake burger, it ate better. The Potato Latkes are good but weren’t piping hot when they reached us, which is the kind of small thing that matters with potatoes.

$53 before tip for three of us — three burgers, one Mutt, latkes, and drinks. Fair value for the portions. Worth a stop if you’re already in North Austin and want a great potato roll under a great oak. Not somewhere we’d plan a Saturday around, and not somewhere we’d order the namesake burger again.