An Average Joe in San Antonio

I don’t know if you noticed, but with the exception of Thursday (because a coworker was moving on to a different job) I pretty much ate burgers for lunch the entire week! We came up with the concept of burger week where we wrote down ten burger joints, put them in a bag, and randomly drew out the name each day. To conclude the week, and my assault on my heart, we ended up going to Texas Hamburger Company off of Huebner Road.  Would lady luck treat us right to the conclusion of burger week?

From what I understand, Texas Hamburger Company has been flipping burgers on the North West side for some time now.  Often times, the owner is right in the kitchen making sure that everything is going according to plan, and I think this has a direct impact on the food.

The atmosphere is a little odd — with all the wood panelling and a high pitch roof, you almost feel as if you are in some skiing lodge instead of San Antonio.  Very strange.

What is lacking in atmosphere is made up in the food.  Instead of going for a soda, I paired my cheeseburger and tater tots with a homemade chocolate shake (made with Blue Bell Ice Cream) and my ticket came out to $10.  There was no tip jar, so what you see is what you pay; I imagine if you opted for a soda you are right at the $8 range.

Each of my friends got a different side, and I have to say that the fries win at this place.  The onion rings are good, but as a matter of taste I like the more flakey onion rings whereas the onion rings here were more of the bumpy batter type (which was the delite to half of the table).  If you are with a couple of people, split your basket of fries because they are more than enough and can save you a little extra money.

The seasoning of the burger really shone through and the shake is worth the price.

As luck would have it, todays hamburger was the best that we got to taste all week.  In fact, I think that each day our hamburgers got better and better and Texas Hamburger Company capped off the experience.  It had the right amount of grease and of all the burgers we tried, the manner in which the meat was seasoned really resonated with this burger.  In fact, of all the burgers we tried, the seasoning of this one stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

The chocolate shake was nothing short of amazing as they somehow found the miraculous consistency that allows a shake to be thick but still able to travel through a straw.  At only $3, I think that this shake is well worth it.

Value: 9/10 (not many places to get an amazing burger, fries, and shake for $10)
Atmosphere: 6/10 (feels like a ski lodge instead of a burger joint)
Service: 10/10 (move through the lunch line rush very quickly and the order came out soon after that)
Taste: 10/10 (The best tasting burger of Burger Week v.1 with the right amount of grease and seasoning of the patty pushing it over the edge)

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Inside loop 1604 on Blanco road, the area has a feel of big city that folds into the country. Around one of those country bends lies Longhorn Cafe. Don’t drive too fast, because you might miss it; however, if you drop by during lunch, just pull over where you see a lot of cars.

Often times the line at lunch is out the door; once you get inside you will see the offerings on the wall, but plan on getting the Big and Juicy lunch combo. You can get a cheese burger with a drink and your choice of fries, tots, or onion rings for less than $8 (including the tip that you should leave at the register).

If you are a Coca Cola fan, you will be happy as they have regular, diet, zero, and cherry; all they need is vanilla and all the bases would be covered. The accoutrement that you should select to go with your burger has to be a toss up between the onion rings and tots; the fries just don’t bring it at Longhorn.  This is not necessarily a bad thing because (1) how many places can you go to and get tater tots for lunch and (2) either the tots or the onion rings can be had at no extra charge!  I typically opt for the tots namely so I can quote Napoleon Dynamite by saying “Are you gonna eat your tot’s?”, however, after eating the onion rings I might have to change my point of view.

Burger with a sample of the sides you can select.

I get the burger with everything on it, and I feel it is the mayo that really makes the burger at Longhorn.  Typically, the burger is very juicy and has a nice amount of grease on it, so you will want to have plenty of napkins at your disposal.  Oddly enough, this last time I went the burger was not as juicy.  This could be from the fact that I caught them on an off day or that I have had my fill of burger week.

Overall, I feel that this is the best burger deal in San Antonio (from my experience to date), even though they might have been a little off on the last visit.  You get a great burger, great sides, and a drink for a terrific value.  Heck, you know it has to be good because typically a Red Raider won’t be caught dead near anything with Longhorn in the name.

Value: 10/10 (the best deal in town; cheeseburger, drink, and your choice of fries, tots, or onion rings (with no extra charges) all for $7, but be nice and through a $1 in the jar)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (I enjoy the patio, but as a Red Raider can’t give a 10/10 for a place with all that Longhorn stuff…)
Service: 10/10 (they are quick, helpful, and friendly)
Taste: 9/10 (My, that’s a tasty burger!  At no extra charge, go for the onion rings!)

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When people drive out Bandera highway just outside of 1604, they are greeted by a billboard with a smiling man, a burger, and a dream.  The smiling man is the one and only Bobby J, the burger is what he sells, and the dream is to make your taste buds dance with the joi de vivre.  The question is, does the burger deliver?

How could this man possibly deliver anything but a quality burger?

The people at Bobby J’s are as friendly as a South Texas summer day is long.  They engaged my group from the start and were nothing but nice.  I opted for a cheese burger with American cheese (though you could get several other types including Cheddar and Pepper Jack) and once again substituted my fries for onion rings (other people in the group got the fries).

The fries came out and were nice and fresh.  I would advise you to sit down and immediately start eating your fries while they are hot and crispy because they do not have a long “crispy half life” and will become soggy after about 10 minutes.  They are definitely one of the better fries in the area.

The onion rings were good, but it did cost me a bit to upgrade to them (in fact they don’t allow you to substitute them for the fries on the meal, so you have to go a la carte).  Given how the fries taste, I would strongly suggest you just dance with the one that brung ya on the combo meal.

The burger was excellent and juicy with just the right amount of grease on it.  What was really nice about the burger was the ensemble that accompanied it — the lettuce was crisp, the tomatoes were bright red, and the pickles were really good.  I don’t know, but the pickles were huge, I don’t know where they get them.  This place also puts on a generous helping of mayonnaise (which the more and more I think about it really makes the burger) and mustard.

You do get a healthy size of fries or onion rings; I just put a sample of each for the picture.

While I was eating outside on the patio, I was looking in through the windows and saw a gentleman that looked familiar.  I did a double take with the billboard outside and realized it was the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Bobby J himself.  He gave me the thumbs up, so I went inside and had a quick conversation with him.  Super nice guy.

My gut instinct was right, there was no way that a burger joint with that billboard could disappoint.  If you ever find yourself on the edge of town, I highly recommend you make a stop on Bandera highway for a truly good burger.

Value: 8/10 (With a tip you are looking at a $10 burger and fries (both generous) and a drink)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (Nice hill country atmosphere with a solid patio)
Service: 10/10 (great staff and you might meet the man yourself)
Taste: 9/10 (My, that’s a tasty burger!  Go fries over onion rings!)
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Sam’s Burger Joint is one of those places in San Antonio that most everyone has seen or visited. Located right off of highway 281 before you hit downtown, Sam’s is smack in the thick of things with the Pearl Brewery development. Additionally, this is one of the places to hear live (non cover) music in town as they pull in many local, regional, and national acts.

The atmosphere at Sam’s is pretty cool; you do feel as though you are in a dive diner.  One of my favorite features is the license plates on the cieling from all over the country.

I ordered the special, a half pound Old Fashioned burger with a drink and substituted onion rings for fries (some of my friends got the fries).  The special was billed at $7.50, but my ticket came out to $9.15 with the substitution and tax; with tip it was a $10 meal.

First the good.  The burgers are branded with “SAM’S” on the bun; have to give them some points for creativity.  The onion rings were pretty solid too, having a nice flavor and the fact that the batter held on as you ate it.

Unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good in my mind.  For the $1 I was charged to upgrade to onion rings I received, literally, 5 onion rings.  I know this because I shared one a piece with my two friends and had only three left.  Extremely disappointing.  The fries that I ate were lousy too; nothing really to write home about, and I wouldn’t be suprised if they were frozen.

The burger itself was not very good; it was kind of dry, thin, and didn’t have much flavor to it.  As one of my friends stated, “Man, this used to be the place to go to when I was a kid; I don’t know what happened.”  Neither do I; considering my meal was $10, I could not imagine taking a family a four to this burger joint and running up a $40 tab for a mediocre burger.  I think that the meal is more in line with being $5, but even then, the burger wasn’t that great.

I would suggest that you continue to go to Sam’s for the concerts to support local and regional music, but maybe pick up something to eat beforehand.

Value: 4/10 (Couldn’t imagine spending more than $5 on my plate; I was gouged for $10)
Atmosphere: 8/10 (Cool atmosphere, especially the area for concerts, but man cannot eat on atmosphere alone)
Service: 8/10 (good service but limited interaction; they get the burgers out pretty quick)
Taste: 5/10 (Jules would not be happy with the tastiness of this burger, the fries were subpar though the onion rings (although there are few to an order) are delicious)

The Sam's burger with my "basket" of 5 onion rings

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