While Hat Creek is a relatively new contender in the crowded Austin burger market, their burgers can definitely hold their own. The fresh ingredients shine through and they don't try to over-complicate things with too many choices. The only complaint I have is that the cost of cheese seems to be a little higher than it should be. But despite that, I can see Hat Creek quickly becoming an Austin institution. read more

So for what it is, a fast food burger joint, I give it 5 stars. Josh at the counter took my order and was super friendly. I got a cheeseburger and fries and I was very impressed. In my opinion, the food here is better than P Terry's. The price was very reasonable and I will definitely be going back! read more

Decent food but I'm crazed by fast food places who overcharge for a 20oz soda. $9 for small burger, small fries and small drink. $2.29 for a 20oz iced tea. Too bad for me I don't like water. Overcharging for a drink kinda makes me crazy. Anybody know of a decent burger joint with Sodas or tea for $1.50 or less. read more

Three Words: Blue Bell Milkshakes. Burgers are great, service is fast, and staff is friendly. Hopes and Dreams for Hat Creek's future: -Offer a hamburger size that provides a medium amount of meat on a single patty. I've always had a weird thing about not liking to bite into two patties, but I like the bigger sized burgers. Call it Medium Hat. -Make hot dogs. Hot dogs might be the most underrated food in this country, and a great hot dog could really supplement some already great food. All-beef please. -Open more locations besides Burnet Road--Hat Creek is the only reason that I would ever have to travel on this God-forsaken strip of concrete. read more

Full disclosure: my favorite burger joints in Austin are Players (best combo deal in town w/ a quality burger), Mighty Fine (very fresh tasting burger, but can be dry sometimes, excellent shakes and fun atmosphere), Shady Grove (is there anything better than a cold beer and a green chili cheeseburger under the oaks?), Sandy's (a guilty pleasure), and EZ's (the beanburger combines my two favorite cuisines: burgers & tex-mex). Burger joints I don't like: Hut's (survives by reputation alone), Ski Shores (can't beat the location, but food is bad and way overpriced), Dirty Martin's (see Hut's), and P. Terry's (overpriced, too small, and horrible fries.) I now have to add Hat Creek to my favorites. I was very skeptical of Hat Creek because I had heard it was a copy of the Mighty Fine concept. There are similarities like limited menu, all natural beef, fresh hand cut fries, etc. The burger was a pleasant surprise. The bun was soft but not mushy. The beef was cooked just right and moist but not greasy messy. Only complaint about the burger is that the onions are sliced too thick and instead of enhancing the burger it kind of took over. That's minor, overall and excellent burger. Fresh cut fries are hard to pull off. Mighty fine spent a fortune on their crinkle cut machine and their fries are mediocre at best and have way too many "shorts". Hat Creek fries are better than most but not outstanding. They were cooked fine, they were long, but the taste was just a little boring. Good crushed ice and self-service drinks are always a plus. One major complaint or dislike. The atmosphere is a downer. They took an old Arby's and basically painted the walls and threw in some cheap tables & chairs. Very stark and cold. The way they have their counter set up is also in need of a tweaking. There is only one register and it's located right at the front door. So during the lunch rush, the line of 10 or so people has nowhere to form but right in the middle of the smallish dining room. I don't want to eat my lunch staring at someone's butt and listing to several "...uhh...what are you havin'?....uhh...dunno, what are you thinkin'...." Very annoying. I felt like I was eating at, well, at an Arby's. One minor complaint: lady working the register was clearly not adequately trained. She was very slow. She was nice & pleasant, but you should have your A-Team during the lunch rush. read more

The Turkey Burger--juicy, thick, peppery--was so good, I thought they messed up my order and gave me beef. Then I got it the second time, and it was exactly the same. The sweet potato fries, beer, and shakes are also quite nice. read more

Used a Groupon to try it out. Not as good as "5 Guys" or "Mighty Fine". Don't get me wrong burger was better than any fast food chain place. Worst men's room at any restaurant in Austin. read more

This place is unnecessarily slow and the quality in no way makes the wait worthwhile. There are far better burgers that you can get much, much quicker in Austin. read more

If I'm going to be naughty and have a burger, this is the place I go. I like to add mushrooms. The dining space doesn't have a lot of personality, but I usually use the drive through anyway. read more

Hat Creek has good burgers and especially good fries. The ingredients were fresh and tasty. The menu is fairly limited but has everything you need: Burgers, fries, shakes, kids menu items We found Hat Creek through their work with the Austin homeless community, and decided to give them a try...it was well worth it. Closest comparable burger is Mighty Fine, in my opinion. read more

As mentioned in my first review, I had a coupon for Hat Creek and decided to give the joint a second try. Wow, it couldn't have been more night/day in difference. First, the staff was awake, which was nice. In fact, I didn't recognize anybody from my first time at the restaurant. The burger itself was far superior than the first time, as well. The meat was thick and tasty, and the produce was excellent in quality. Again, night and days difference. If this is the real Hat Creek? It's worth it. If the real Hat Creek was my first visit? Then meh, but I might be back. Bumping to a fourth star for now, and if they find consistency, it'll be a consistent four star joint. read more

I hadn't been in awhile. Things have changed. My turkey burger seemed skimpy. Worst of all, the fries have changed. They used to be thin, fresh and delicious. Last night I had what looked to be generic frozen fries. They were limp, tasteless, and soaking in a pool of oil at the bottom! Disappointed. The only draw is probably for parents of small kids, for the play area. read more

I really love GOING to go to Hat Creek. Their meat is antibiotic free and their chicken nuggets are gluten free. Plus they have 3 great sauces and a place for your kids to play. The reason i'm only giving them 3 stars is the drive thru. If you don't order off the menu, with no changes, you need to check each item before you pull away. It doesn't seem like their drive-thru order taker is in the building, because they don't seem to be able to communicate special requests to the prep line. read more

I've been there a couple of times for lunch and only about twice for dinner. I like the atmosphere, the burger place is a very good and well made burger. It is a great place to just get a good old burger. Priced good also. read more

Finally, something in Texas that tastes like In & Out Burger! Only with a Texas style and options that make it a shitload better! I stumbled upon this place when drinking at Star Bar on 6th (They share a back porch). I was there on a first date with a girl, who was friendly but got too drunk for my taste, so I kind of was wandering around the bar alone, and there it was! The ordering system seemed pretty straight forward (It's just a window) and everything was quick, but not too quick like bad fast food, so I assumed they cooked everything to order. I had a double with pepperjack cheese and everything on it....which includes jalapenos, to my delight. I had a cherry limeade and fries as well. As soon as I pulled everything out of the bag and started eating, I realized it tasted just like a Texas version of In & Out burger, one of my favorite west coast burger places.....especially the fries. After talking to one of the dudes taking orders for awhile, I learned they just started up and were still working out the kinks of the stand, but I assured them they had something special. Later that night i dropped my date off. Needless to say, I don't think there was a love connection there, but the same can't be said for me and Hat Creek burgers. Sexy. read more

This restaurant is odd and poorly run. After driving past it for ages and thinking nothing but "obvious former Arby's", I heard they had some sort of fried pickle happy hour. Stupid name and post-Arby's architecture aside, there is just no way I can say no to that. Smart marketing, Hat Creek. So we drive up and I think to myself that it doesn't really look that much like an Arby's anymore. It's sort of stylish. Hip. I begin to get excited about pickles. My husband and I go to the drive through. The cashier couldn't hear us and the box was making a loud ringing noise. Whatever, I can deal. We repeat our order 3 times. We wait. Eventually we are told to drive up to the window. We wait. We pull up to the window. I'm confident that pickles are imminent. I am then informed that the fried pickle happy hour is only applicable for dine-in. Ugh. My husband and I exchange a look and decide that we like pickles that much. We ask him to put the order in and tell him we will walk around to pick it up. He says ok and slams the window closed. I ignore his attitude and focus on the pickles. Being lazy, I wait in the car while my husband goes in to pick up the order. I watch the events unfold inside. There are two couples with small children ahead of my husband. Children are everywhere. It looks loud. He waits. The front cashier doesn't have the order. My husband points at the drive through guy, literally 8 feet away. Front cashier frowns and shakes his head. After 10 minutes or so the food comes out. The order is wrong. A manager is eventually summoned, apologizes, and corrects the order. I found out later that he also gave us vouchers for two free shakes. I assume that they are only good for dine-in or subject to some other stupid rule, so we probably won't be back. And the worst part? The pickles were not great. Not horrible, but definitely not worth the 25 minutes or kindergarten atmosphere. read more

There are some real nice people here. However, I was a terrible guest. You see I went back in time to my youth and hung out with some youngsters after a great day of footy at Haymaker. In my enthusiasm to fit in, I went back in time and enjoyed a puff from a cigar. Which apparently was hand rolled by Bob Marley. After a two hour time out, I determined that I was famished and needed a quick fix. Now, I rarely eat hamburgers. Like never. It's a growing up in London thing I guess, but for whatever reason, I requested that we get a cold beer and a burger stat. A driver was summoned and off we went down the street and hit up Hat Creek. I recognized Hat Creek from another location close to my office. The crew piled in and I ordered a Big Hat with Pepperjack and fries. I inhaled the burger, it seemed small, but I believe this is common for these type of places. It was good and filling as was the fries. So was the rest of the fries from my mates plate which I seemed to finish off for him. And then ordered a Chicken Sammy to finish the day. In the future, I will crawl back into my shell and celebrate occasions such as these with the usual nice single malt and stay away from the toys that kids seem to be playing with today. read more

I've seen Hat Creek ads everywhere for the past few months, have sampled it at DKR during the UT Spring Game, and have driven by the Burnet location a few times in the past months. The other evening, following a pleasant sunset-viewing at Mt. Bonnell, the gf and I decided to give the Burnet location a go. She's the burger fan, so I was just along for the ride...or so I thought. Little did I know that they offer both beef and turkey burgers! Now, I've got nothing against beef, but when I saw turkey burgers on the menu, I was intrigued. I had to try! I ordered a Double Turkey with American cheese, mushrooms, and jalapenos. The gf ordered a Single Beef with American cheese, mayo (no mustard), bacon, and mushrooms. We each got fries and a drink with our burgers, and we split a tiny chocolate milkshake. The (VERY) positives: -Turkey: a turkey patty could very easily be overcooked and dry. This one was not only juicy (turkey jus was literally running down my forearms), but it was sooo flavorful. I usually don't like burger patties that have a lot of junk mixed in with the meat, but the heavy-handed black pepper and other seasonings REALLY worked here. WOW! -Fixins: in all fairness, the sauteed mushroom/cheese/jalapeno juice mixture could have also been to blame for the juices running down my arms. It's all good. Really, it. was. all. good. -Fries: they were nice and crispy without being stiff as a board. They obviously cut their own potatoes to fry. Very fresh and satisfying. -Milkshake: chocolatey goodness. I mean, how can you mess this up? It was good...even after sitting on the table the entire time we ate our burgers. Delicious. -Service: I'm not sure if this was just because the place was empty when we were there, but they actually brought our food to our table. It's not often that you see this sort of service at a fast food burger joint. -Owner: a former UT student/athlete! I didn't meet the guy or anything, but I thought it deserved some recognition. You gotta love when Longhorns stick around and contribute to the awesomeness that is Austin. The negs: -Order: so, the gf's order was a little "picky," I guess. The burger she got was almost the exact opposite of what she ordered. Somehow we didn't notice this until the burger was half gone and didn't want to be "those people"...so she sucked it up and finished it. Luckily she had the fries and shake, or else she might have been angry. -Bathrooms: I don't ask for much, really. I've used outhouses, port-o-potties...hell, I've even dug holes before. When I go to a restaurant (even a fast-food place), I expect to have a clean restroom. This one looked like something you'd see at an I-35 Shell station. Gross. I'm sure I'll be back...that burger was damn good! But next time I'll be sure to time my bathroom breaks accordingly. read more

Did I just pay $5 for a burger??? Not really sure, I took three bites of something and it was gone. Way too small for what you pay, and an average tasting burger at that. read more

I consider myself a burger connoisseur. I enjoy a good burger and fries meal, especially one at a reasonable price. I was excited to try try Hat Creek- it's local, it's new and it's near my hood. It's more than good, it's AWESOME. The meat is top quality, the toppings are fresh and the fries are to die for. Some local places charge way more for their organic burgers, but Hat Creeks prices are totally reasonable and you get a lot of food. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a great burger and like to support local businesses! read more

Delicious, Delicious, Delicious; you cannot get enough HatCreek in my opinion. They treat the livestock used to make their wonderful food, almost as well as the employees who always are nice, patient, and happy to be there! read more

Just threw away a grilled cheese sandwich from them for the third time in 8 visits. It was so burnt I couldn't feed it to my daughter. You don't serve this sort of stuff unless you don't care or aren't paying any attention at all. EDIT 6/23: My review stands, but I'm adding more stars. If it were a truly 1 star place, I wouldn't keep going back, right? The people are nice, the bacon cheddar chicken sandwich is classic, and the sauerkraut has become a staple in my house. My kids love the playscape, and cheap beer Thursday is always cool. The problem is that they have a quality control problem, and have had for a long time. I can't tell you how many "over-hard" fried egg sandwiches I have worn to work the yolk squirted all over me when I bit into it. It's probably not going to change any time soon, and when it's good, it's 4-star. When it's bad, someone will apologize, listen sympathetically, and fix your order. We have come to expect robotic consistency from our fast food, but if it were McDonalds, I wouldn't be eating there in the first place. I do still wish they would look closer at what they are serving. Today's grilled cheese was perfect, BTW. read more

Hat Creek - Burgers Near Me - Austin, Texas

For just the burgers and fries, I would have given a four. They're good burgers for a good price, plus they have very solid turkey burger and sweet potato fry options. But I'm going back at least weekly for the chocolate malts. Whoa. I grew up in the malted milkshake mecca of North America and seriously- Hat Creek could hold its own up there. read more

Impressed! Just left the new Hat Creek Location on Burnet Road. We had a class at our church (The Unitarian Universalist Church just off Burnet) and bribed our 2 year old not to scream her head off when we dropped her off at the day care with ice cream. YES I know...not the greatest parenting method. But it worked so there. Anyhow we figured we need to feed her first. My normal go to for the ice cream bribe is typically Amy's AND we needed to feed her lunch first so naturally Phil's Ice House is right up the road and there is the play ground n all, but it just so happens that I am fresh off a non carb eating detox and am not quite ready to re build the 6 pounds I lost in the last 10 days with a burger so I would've had to sit at Phil's and watch my partner and my daughter chow down on burgers and ice cream while my tummy rumbled. Then I remembered seeing Hat Creek. Googled the menu and BLAM salad - add grilled chicken option, add avocado option. YES. We're off. First off, the place was spotless. Points there. Second, the bathrooms were private, and CLEAN. Points there. The salad was beautiful. Fresh, large, tasty, homemade dressing. AWESOME. I was totally impressed. The service was stellar. When I asked if there was any sugar in the dressing, the cashier asked and they said no. I took their word for it as we ordered the rest of our food but then, who I presume was the manager, came around the corner with their recipe book and showed me the dressing recipe!! Impressive!! and appreciated. Our food was out in a flash and we were munching away. The play ground is fun. But it was too crowded for my 2 year old to feel comfortable with the bigger kids. No points off, just a side note. The only downside was the blaring TV. We don't watch TV at home, and it is super distracting to us. UT football was on, and I can appreciate having that playing at a burger joint, but my two year old couldn't focus on her food because the tv was taking up all her attention. It was too loud to escape though we could've probably moved seats to avoid the visual distraction. 1/2 point off. I will hand it to the manager? though. Same guy who showed me the dressing recipe came out and turned down the tv a little and gave my partner the questioning eyebrows to make sure it was good. Nice move guy. As for the burgers, they looked tasty. Daughter Dear eventually at the whole thing and partner liked his as well. He also mentioned that they had a nice small selection of good beer on tap. As for the little one's ice cream, the strawberry shake did the trick and they even asked if we wanted strawberry syrup or real strawberries. Nice! 5 Stars except that I HATE tv's distracting my meal. We'll be back for sure. Thank you for having such great healthy options at your burger joint Hat Creek. read more

Dude, I got a hot & tastey pepper jack cheese-burger loaded with the works, so good! And it was all cold outside and the burger totally heated me up, like the burger was telling me "Come on in, it's warm and safe inside..". Oh oh OMG, and I was so in hog heaven with those fries too! I was all licking the salt off my fingers when I ran out! Totally the bee's knees! Hot Food Hefty Portions Handy Drinks read more

I have to say Hat Creek has really gotten its act together. The Burnet store is still a former Arby's in appearance, but the experience is much better than when it first opened. Freshest ingredients, never a frozen patty, the ground beef is all natural, made from cows raised with none of that antibiotic, hormone scary stuff you read about in chain burgers. Hat Creek really excels in the available condiments (the grilled onions rock! and they are free) I like the turkey burger and order it based on taste as well as health. Get a turkey burger with jalapeno jack and grilled onions. Or get the double meat patty burger the same way. Every burger is made to order, so there are lots of ways to customize your burger. I have done the taste-test comparison with my teenage boys who are big burger fans and we all agreed Hat Creek's have better flavor by far than rival P Terry's. The new Westlake location (corner Bee Caves and 360, in a former pink flamingos nursery location) is a large and wonderful space. It's got abundant indoor and outdoor seating (nicely shaded and covered), a first class, fenced playscape area for kids, fast service and delicious burgers. You can get a beer or wine at this location too. Great place to sip a cold one outside while the kids romp around safely -- and Hat Creek has way, way better food than Waterloo, which has the other good playscape in the general area. The fries are excellent and the kids love the real Blue Bell milkshakes (no plastic McDonalds stuff here!) Nice employees who try hard to make your experience a good one. Good value too. I don't like the lame country music they play (did they get it from Rudy's? C' mon! This is Austin). But it's not too loud and you don't hear it outside. Update: Hat Creek's Westlake location is now open all day (and evening) on Sundays. They used to close at 3 PM on Sundays, but a poster in the store says on May 27, they will start staying open Sunday afternoons and for dinner -- prime family time and this is a family-kid-friendly place. read more

I'm a fan of this place, however, the speed of their service is unpredictable. I ate breakfast there with a friend two weeks ago, and it literally took them 20-30 minutes to bring out the food after we ordered it. There was only one other customer in the restaurant, so I have no idea what they were doing back there. There was zero explanation for why it took so long, so I'm not sure they're even aware that it was a problem. Then today I drove through the drive-through, and it took my family 15-20 minutes to move up 4 cars to the window. Again, zero explanation for why the long wait time. Hat Creek - You guys are great, and I love your food. But your Burnet store is too slow! P-Terry's is waaaaay faster! You gotta figure that out! Thanks! read more

I hit up Hat Creek for the first time today for lunch. I wasn't overly impressed, but I certainly wasn't asking for my money back either. The burger is maybe slightly better than you get at Mighty Fine, but worse than Dan's or Top Notch. Hat Creek is in with that organic crowd, trying to do the all natural beef and whatnot. This is fine, but personally I think the 'All Natural' beef lacks flavor . Thankfully Hat Creek peppers their beef (much like P Terry's), which adds some welcome flavor to the meat. The fries are of the 'fresh cut' variety which is ever so popular right now, and they are pretty damn tasty. I actually think I liked the fries more than the burger itself. The staff was friendly, the place was clean, and the food was pretty decent. I don't think I will be racing back to Hat Creek anytime soon, but if some friends want to go give it a try I would gladly tag along and eat there. Pros: Peppered Beef Adds Flavor, Fries Were Great, Friendly Staff, Clean Cons: Bland Beef (The Pepper Saves It), Very Corporate Feel read more

Good location and a pretty building. The staff were friendly and inviting. They had a good variety in their menu and even had a veggie burger for me! This place was very clean and family friendly. It's a great place to get a good quality burger! Also, the fries were fabulous! Definitely recommend to a friend! read more

I live right across the street from this location and it's become my go-to burger place when I'm too lazy to drive somewhere else. Great prices. As others said, not a ton of variety--but I don't know how much variety one would expect at a burger place. I always get the Little Hat burger because the Big Hat is pretty substantial in side. Pair that with a side of fries and a shake, and I'm good to go. Definitely worth it! read more

I had the veggie burger and their chocolate malt! The chocolate malt may very well be the best I've ever had. It was amazing!!!! The veggie burger was quit good and very fresh...not too big either. The perfect veggie burger has been hard to find, I must admit. But theirs was quite good. I would order it again. The price was a little high....the burger plus malt was over 8 dollars but it isn't McDonald's and that's a good thing. I did wait a a long time in line but I felt that what was served was indeed worth the wait. read more

Love the new location on Burnet. The playground is super fun when it isn't too crowded. Love the fresh salad option. Wish they did NOT use styrofoam. They'd earn more stars with greener serving materials. Yum on the milkshakes. read more

Absolutely one of my favorite Burger joints in the area. They've just gone through a complete remodel with an amped up high variety menu. There are a few qualities of a solid burger that everyone should look for, one being the MEAT! Well seasoned quality beef is the start and they do it great. Thirsty on Thursday? How about $1 local drafts?!!! Great Malts & Shakes and quality customer service too! read more

Passed this place probably 1,000 times, but finally stopped in yesterday. Other than it being a bit pricey, the burger and fries were fantastic. Definitely will be recommending to friends and family. read more

Best drive-thru Burger In Town....My Fav is Double Meat, American Cheese, Mushrooms, Grilled Onions w/ Grilled Jalenpenos on the side (sometimes very hot). Organic Beef is a nice touch. Seen several famous UT Atheletes here as well. read more

Meh. For 12.00 I was expecting MUCH better. Just a plain burger with cheap cheese. Not very flavorful. I ordered it loaded and it just didn't have that 'umfph'. I will stick to Mighty Fine and PTerrys. Fries are yummy but the 'dipping sauces' they claim are fantastic are 'blah'. read more

The burger and fries were ok. The cheese on the burger was not melted much at all. The staff was very nice. I ordered a shake with oreos. The oreos are ground up into small pieces so I didn't get the expected chunks of oreos. I'm agreeing with another review that the shake quality is nothing as good as I had hoped. Great employees but I would pay more for better quality. read more

MMM Delicious. The french fries are yummy, thin cut, crispy and salty. I had the small hat/short hat, I forget. Little burger, fries and drink. Much alternative to a fast food burger. Nothing fancy but it is Angus beef, all natural, not frozen, those are things I value. Not mass produced mystery meat with pink slime. :) read more

I love to come here for turkey burgers, and I find myself coming here a couple of times a month for a fix. The seasoning makes the meat so tasty. I will say there has been a time or two the meat was flattened so thin that the lettuce and tomatoes were much thicker than the meat, and that was weird. Overall though, the turkey burger is so yummy. I also like the fries. I wish they would offer small sizes of fries, so I won't feel like such a pig eating a whole regular order by myself. read more

Went to try it out, had groupon. Expecting high-quality beef, home-style burger as advertised--problem was, couldn't tell quality of beef because was peppery. Fries were nice, but due to the black-pepper domination of the burger, I couldn't tell if it's anything special. read more