Mid August
Long-time supporter of the blog, Clay, has been asking about when I'm going to eat at Longhorn since it's inception. While I don't trust his taste in music, I thought I should give his palate the benefit of the doubt. A good cast of characters came out for burgers including Geoff, Audrey, Graham, Matt, Rachel, Dani and Clay.
Service and Setting
It looks like they have about 8 locations across South Texas, making it the largest chain we have visited. It is a counter operation with the kitchen and grill on full display. They have a lot of picnic tables inside and on the patio. Easily the most dangerous playground we have seen. It's a 4 foot tall wooden ramp that ends with a 3.5 foot wide by 7 foot long piece sheet metal that they propose is a slide. It looks like it could double as the griddle, but I would venture to guess in the summer sun it would be too hot for burgers, nonetheless children's' thighs. You pick up your food after being called over a PA that would make Dane Cook (when he was funny) proud.
Menu
We went for The Original Big Juicy, but they have just about every burger option for which one could pine: mushroom & Swiss, bacon, guac, bean, chili and jalapeno. They have a good selection of vegetarian burgers options, though still no vegetarian reviewers volunteered for this trip. The rest of the menu has a selection of other hot sandwiches, chicken and dinner plates. Very affordable prices.
Beverage
They have a a wide array of domestic bottles including every Bud Light lime/orange/band-aid flavor you never wanted. A few beers on tap as well. Coke products in the soda fountain. I think I missed the milkshake on the menu, but I didn't see anyone drinking one.
Sides
A full line-up of your fried favorites from fries and rings to pickles and poppers to tots and Texas toothpicks. I could have gone for a few extra sauce options beyond ketchup and ranch, but they were all satisfactory.
Patty
You can go original, double patty or 1/2lb-er. They boast fresh, never frozen beef. The 1/3lb patty comes out very thin to cover the area of the bun. Difficult to discern the taste among the other ingredients. Had good enough juice to run onto the wax paper if for some unthinkable reason you smashed it down like Graham did.
Dress and Bun
I could have eaten the bun by itself as an appetizer. Think garlic bread without the garlic or a mom's grilled cheese without the Kraft single. Wonderful toast on it with a good butter coating. In respect to veg, they were a little heavy handed with the lettuce, but otherwise had the right crispness and surface area to capture all of the co-mingling flavors. We have had better pickles, but I did like the quantity. The guacamole portion was stingy, but those eating jalapeno and mushroom & Swiss toppings had good servings. They have gluten free and wheat bun options to which I am more strongly opposed than Clay's terrible music.
Geoff's take: "Next time I’m looking for a burger on 1604, I’ll pass Longhorn and go to Bigz."
Matt's take 2: "I had the ‘Big Juice’ classic with all the toppings, great toasted bun not too soggy despite quantity of toppings, filled me up despite being 1/3 lb."
The Verdict
Longhorn served a quality griddle burger with some great flavors. I think the 1/3lb patty gets pounded out a little thin to cover that large bun, and I think things would have blended together a little nicer with a slightly smaller bun and thicker patty. The pickles and special toppings were good but not great. Overall, the group was very happy with their burgers, and I think just a few tweaks could make take it into rare air. For now, we give it a very respectable 4 spurs.
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