Crown and Anchor - The beer is boss

beautiful food photography by Suzi Q

Crown and Anchor was the burger du jour tonight. Tasty, collegiate and with plenty of beer selection, this burger joint was expected to fare very well. However, before we get into the score card results, I should mention that we were down 2 good burger eaters this week so the scores are a bit skewed, and we did have an unsatisfied patron among us.

Also, new and improved, we've added a few additional classifications: Delivery, Toppings, Beer and Overall Score.

The official score card breakdown:

• Depth of burger:
  Thins all around. A good burger to bun ratio though several of us agreed that the bread could have been a little thinner.
• Delivery: 6.8
  Fairly prompt. Not too busy on a Monday night so we got our food in a timely fashion. The waitresses have an amazing ability to hold 10 baskets using only one arm.
  
• Burger / Flavor: 6.2
  Somehow Crown and Anchor didn't do as well as our last review, Hat Creek, though most of us seemed to agree it was better. A couple among us thought the burger and fries didn't come out warm or fresh enough.
  
• Bun type and quality: 5.6
  No sweet buns here. Available in white only, slightly toasted. The crunch factor of the toasted bun added a nice texture.
• Toppings: 5.5
  Not too many options here. The cheese was nicely melted and at least one of us liked the chopped onions. Note that mayo comes standard so mayo-haters unite and just say "hold it"! Overall, a good topping to meat ratio.
• Beer: 8.5
  The highest scores of the night went to the beer selection. As a university mainstay, you would expect no less and the C&A came through with domestic, mid-range and premium categories. Many Austin favorites on the list and some unexpected varieties.
  
• Accessories: 6.6
  The fries were a bit hard and dry, like they had been sitting around for a while. The nice, salty spice helped them along a little. We ordered a second round of fries after we had finished eating and this batch was better. So the fries are a bit of a crap shoot. No milkshakes or other accessories available, but again, the beer score was really high!
  
• Atmosphere: 8
  A wonderful place to sit outside and enjoy an unusually warm February evening. Best to avoid C&A on a big game night unless you are fine going without a table. Dog friendly. To sum it up best: Austin Authentic.
• Overall score: 6.3

Other notable comments:
"good cheesy melty-ness"
"guitar rock ala Gwar!"
"does not try too hard"
"just kind of low-quality except for the beer and folks" (disgruntled burger-ite comment but at least he likes the burger crü folks)

Overall, for an average price of $5.00/basket, you can't beat it for a good solid burger, especially on a beautiful day. Its full of college students so you may feel a little old but the beer helps you forget.

Crown and Anchor Burger Crü Meetup

Date has changed from Monday 2/2 to Monday 2/9. Join us! If you see 6-7 people drinking beer and talking score cards, you've found us.

Hat Creek - Hold the Pepper, Jack!

photo by Suzi Q - www.QWeddings.com

While the Austin Burger Crü has been active since the better part of 2008, our activities have begun in earnest in this new year. With new advanced score cards (read: still working out the kinks), we returned to Hat Creek tonight, with an adjourn to Woodrows.

Hat Creek is located in the lot between Star Bar and Ranch 616 on Nueces. This makes it a nice pair with Woodrows for beer as Hat Creek is actually an airstream trailer. Hat Creek serves all natural burgers and fries.

To describe the burgers in one word - peppery. Very peppery. So dig it if you like pepper. And if you don't, well, man up.

There were 8 of us in attendance tonight. Here's the score card breakdown and a few comments:

• Depth of burger:
  This was decided to be medium, as it wasn't super thin but not thick. We need to clarify this score card entry.
• Flavor score average: 6.3
  Pretty much everyone put "peppery" as the descriptor for flavor. We had one "Where's the bacon?" from a disgruntled member who received a measly bacon order, along with a "structural integrity" which I'm pretty sure means it held together well bite after bite.
• Bun type and quality: 5.6
  No sweet buns here. Available in wheat or white, or "white and tight" as one cru member noted. Seems the white eaters were left a little pale, while the wheats loved theirs.
• Accessories: 7.6
  The fries were great and made with fresh potatoes. They also had Blue Bell shakes. High marks for a variety of cheeses including cheddar, swiss and pepper jack. Jalepenos available.
• Atmosphere: 7.3
  This score seems to stem from the fact that we took our burgers over to Woodrows outdoor patio and their wide selection of beer, including the $2.50 Texas beer special.

Other notable comments:
"good texture"
"not great music"
"clean, nice folks"
"server was easy on the eyes"

We also deemed the delivery as "medium" as they cook the burgers when you order them and we established it as "dog friendly".

Overall, a great place to try, especially while out drinking. They're open until midnight on the weekends.