Counter Cafe

Counter Cafe VS Art's Rib House



Brian:

Eating at Counter Cafe was a surprise. The day began with our group's plan being to visit Mike's Pub for a lunchtime burger, which is out of the norm for our crew. Luckily Dre did *some* research when the day arrived, because he found out that Mike's Pub, which had won a burger bracket conducted by local sports radio outfit 1300 the Zone, was now closed. So much for that. Counter Cafe also has standard hours during the daytime only, so it was an easy swerve to recalculate the route for Counter Cafe, which I'd had once before and enjoyed quite a bit. Counter Cafe is a tiny. old, old-school diner type spot. It is about 12 feet wide, There is a long counter in front of the grill and a few 2-seater tables. At the very front there is a table that seats around 7 that can be shared by groups. There is also table seating outside, which we opted for given it was a pleasant morning. The CC offers only one burger option, no myriad of toppings to choose from here, which is sometimes a relief. I added grilled onions to my burger, which the waitress informed me would come medium rare unless I didn't want that. I like to roll with what a venue does best so medium rare it would be. I don't know if Zach used this line in his write-up, but he mentioned, and I agreed that the waitresses both looked appropriately cut from an American Apparel ad. They were nice and competent enough though. The clientele was a mix of Austin hipster and old-timers, but classy old-timers, almost gangster looking dudes. The place is cool.

The burger arrived in a very reasonable amount of time. It was served on a "sweet bun" or "kolache" type bun. This is a new breed of burger, similar to Hill's or Phil's. It is a thick hunk of bread, two halves that are each as thick as the patty almost. The bread was delicious. The meat was expertly cooked on a griddle to medium rare which gave it an almost cotton-candy like texture. My only complaint is the soft, big bun and the airy texture of the beef do not offer a good contrast. Maybe a more toasted crispier bun would be in order? Don't get me wrong, this is a very good burger yet and still. The toppings were very fresh and the grilled onions added a nice flavor. They get good points for using grated cheese, which is a long-beloved tradition that my friends and I deeply appreciate. You could taste the cheese. The fries were outstanding. They were a thin cut, a little bit thicker than a McDonald's fry. In fact they taste like gourmet versions of McDonald's fries. I hear the sweet potato fries were rollin' as well. This is a really good burger and overall experience at Counter Cafe. A little pricey but that is to be expected. It's a once a year or so treat type burger in the end, I think. It will be interesting to see if we come back here or Artz' burger can triumph.

Dre:

Zach:
So, we were supposed to go to Mike's Pub which is only open on weekdays during lunch. Well, it turns out actually they are not open on weekdays or weekends at lunch or dinner, because they are no longer in business. This place has a really strong reputation for their burger, so that was disappointing news, but making the best of things we decided since we were already planning for a long lunch to hit Counter Cafe which is also only open for lunch (and maybe breakfast too I think).
Counter Cafe was once the storied GM Steakhouse which was a tiny old school diner. It was somewhat of a legendary place, but it was not a place I frequented often because of the off hours and small location (no parking, no seats, etc). They closed down and the space went through a few permutation before becoming Counter Cafe. It seems what they are doing here will probably stick around a while because the food and service generally gets great reviews. Their burger also had some buzz going so we included it in our bracket. How was it?
Counter Cafe servers a burger for which we are becoming well acquainted with but we don't quite have a name for. We do know it's sort of gourmet, but not 100% and it comes on a sweet soft bun. I think some call it a Kolache bun, but I'm really not sure if it's really like a Kolache or not but the name seems to fit somehow. Personally, I do not think this style of burger can achieve the same level of burger-osity as an old-school flat top griddle burger with american cheese and shiny thin bun, but that does not mean I will not continue to enjoy them.
Counter Cafe makes a great example of this burger. You can taste the freshness in all their ingredients from the bun to the patty to the toppings. I ordered the basic burger with cheese and added bacon (a $3 addition). The burger has a good flavor although it is predominately sweetened by the bun. Ketchup brings some acidity to the mix. The tomatoes were good and fresh, but two thick tomato slices were too much so I removed one. The bacon was good and added some flavor but I don't know that it added $3 of flavor - the burger is probably 95% as good without the bacon. I also did make some deductions in the construction and overall burger score for the bun being a little overwhelming compared to the patty size which was ample but not quite as substantial as some places such as Casino. Good quality cheese and more than a lot of places give you, but with cheese, less is never more in my opinion. Overall, an excellent burger.
For sides I had sweet potato fries. Put simply, these are the best sweet potato fries I've had so far. Unlike most places that use some type of frozen ones, these appear to be cut fresh and are fried up nicely. I don't know if they are perfect, but they are the best I've had. We ate outside, so the atmosphere consisted primarily of the view of South Lamar and the parking lot of Book People. I didn't detract for that, because I know the inside is a pretty cool space. The service was attentive and friendly. The price is well, very expensive. $19 for burger, fries, water, tax, tip. But the burger is worth it and is better than many $15+ burgers I've sampled around Austin.

Box Score: A VS B

Counter Café		2/15/12
	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	7.5	7.5	8
Meat	8.5	9	8
Toppings	9	8	7.5
Construction	8	7.5	8
Overall	8.5	8	7.5
Total Burger	62.5	60	58.13
Sides	9.25	8.5	8.5
Atmosphere	7	7	8
Value	6.75	7	5.5
Non Burger	19.625	19	19.25
Totals	82.13	79	77.4
Combined		80