Crown and Anchor Pub, Austin, Texas

2911 San Jacinto Blvd

Austin, TX 78705

Austin can be a bit of a pain in the ass when school (the University of Texas) is in. The regular city demographic of 25-35yo hipsters becomes heavily diluted with young college kids, 6th St district turns into a giant messy frat party (fondly known as ‘dirty 6th’) and overall traffic is greatly exacerbated.

There are silver linings to being in a college town, however. For example, the slew of local business that cater for these college kids and price their wares accordingly. Like the Crown & Anchor, which is literally opposite the University of Texas campus. A bacon cheeseburger with fries at this establishment costs a mere $5.25, and is probably in my top 5 burgers in Austin.

Australians – let’s consider this for a moment. In Oz, you can expect a restaurant burger to average about $18, and a gourmet take away burger to level out around $12, with fries. Hell, a McDonald’s burger with fries costs more than that!!

And here’s what you get:

The bacon is crispy and plentiful, the iceberg lettuce is fresh and shredded for good coverage and the bun is perfect. The pattie isn’t the greatest quality wagyu-marbled masterpiece (nor do you expect it to be), but it’s flavoured nicely from the grill. I think the thinner pattie really suits this type of burger – the flavours tend to balance better, and it’s a smarter choice for lunch and avoiding a full meat coma.

May I also take a moment to give a special shout out: fries, you guys are delicious! I’m not sure exactly what the secret is, it may be something as simple as double frying or even just leaving them in the fryer long enough. They were crisp, salty and packed with flavour.

If you can ignore the fact that nothing about this place ‘cept for the name above the door is actually a pub, you’ll enjoy it just fine.