Austin Land and Cattle 

Week 11

Matchup Stack Burger Bar VS Austin Land and Cattle

Brian: 





Strangely, I wasn't excited on Gameday this week.  Overrated, overhyped, overpriced gourmet steakhouse here I come.  Whoop-dee-damn-doo.   The fervor was not at all stoked on the drive down there, as just parking and entering the restaurant became a deadly game that few will play and hardly none can win.  I mean they have a really weird entrance off Lamar that I almost got into 3 wrecks trying to enter.  They have a cramped parking lot that was full.  There were several nearby businesses that were closed but went to great lengths to let you know that by no means should you use their unused and solitary parking spots damn you.  And then the shitty-ass The Tavern has a whole parking lot to themselves that they don't want to let you park in.  Strangely in the midst of all this, a real looker of lady waved at us in a thanking-type-manner as we gawked, as if we had done her a favor!  When does that happen?  We eventaully had to park three desolate blocks away, in front of an oddly-placed parking meter that was in front of someone's house.  WTF?  Luckily the meter was off at that point.  We then walked along a stone path that forked off into a very sketchy under-a-bridge troll scene that we didn't have time to check out.  Also, Brett Favre was tailgating in the ALC parking lot while all of this was going on.  


So then we go in and tell the lady: 3 people.  We get taken into a very fancy dining room and seated at a fancy table with fancy menus.  I look over and there is a couple to our left on a nice date and they were saying a prayer over their appetizers. To our right: Brett Favre  Dre goes to the bathroom.  Me and Zach realize in about 75 seconds that there are no hamburgers offered on the menus in front of us.  Zach, being slightly more aware and less stoned than I (as in he not at all, me incredibly) went and talked to a person that told him if we wanted burgers we needed to be sitting in the "bar area" which is a *slightly* oversized foyer where ladies in nice clothes and douchebags in stupid t-shirts parade through on their way to a big steak or from one.  Two bartenders served the bar, made drinks for the whole restaurant and also waited on the few tables.  OH SHIT I ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION THERE WAS A MURDERBALL CONVENTION GOING ON AT THIS RESTAURANT.


Anyway, I drank two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales on a way empty stomach, had a bunch of laughs and ate their big-ass burger that was really good.  Mine had green chiles and chipotle sauce.  They didn't ask me how I wanted it cooked and brought it to me *pretty* well done.  It still tasted delicious.  The steak fries were some of the softest and best I've ever had, no uncooked half-frozen bites here..  Dre's sweet potato fries were some of the best in Austin also.  Apparently these upper echelon burgers are half price at happy hour on the weekdays.  Leave time for a long parking trek and if you have extra time, check out the Troll Bridge!!


Final note: Brett Favre was not actually Brett Favre, but a man who looked vaguely like Brett Favre and worked for Red Bull and basically seemed like the turd in the punchbowl at ALC the whole time he was there.

Zach:

What can I say that Brian did not say??!  Not much really.  ALC did put up a surprisingly good showing vs Stack.  We really weren't expecting a contest here.  I didn't rate it quite as highly as Dre or Brian, so it came out at an 81 versus stacks 84.  It was a good burger but it was all brute force.  I added bacon, cheese, and a fried egg to the regular burger.  They don't play around with the bacon it was like 6 pieces.  I actually forgot to order cheese I thought it came on there and I was about to cry so I flagged down a waiter and said I could really use some cheese.  I offloaded the egg and bacon and offloaded the patty on a small plate and he whisked it off and it came back minutes later with melted cheese on top.  I noticed when I scooped the patty off that while it looked small it felt like it weighed at least half a pound maybe more.  As I was saying, this burger was like a double barrel shotgun burger.  Not much subtlety to the flavors but good bacon, a good egg, and good meat and toppings all combined for a solid burger.  I was a bit surprised that Austin best steakhouse of all places would not offer a less than well done burger... or maybe they do but the waitress who was also the bartender in the bar area neglected to ask so they default to medium-well to well done.  It was good but no comparison in my opinion to the way our Stack burgers came out perfectly medium-rare.  
 Steak fries were tasty although they may have been of the frozen variety.  The did remind me of steak fries as a kid when mom didn't pre-heat the oven so they come out a little soft and not at all crispy.  That's actually how I have always liked them but I have preferred some of the other fries and rings at other places over these.  
 The atmosphere is a bit weird.  Some people are here with suits on and drinking wine and having dates and then there are a few misfits like us with shorts and/or ball caps roaming around.  That's Austin I suppose, lucky for us, I don't think any of us really like the snooty atmosphere of some of the places we have been to in the past but we power through for the sake of the bracket.  
 Price is good at about $10 although everything is extra.  So maybe not that good actually. At happy hour burgers are half price.  Service was OK, friendly but sitting in the bar area means the bar tender has to come out and check on you which she probably doesn't really want to do. It seemed like 15 minute intervals for menus, ordering, ticket, paying.  All in all a good round of burger club for sure.  

Box Score:  

	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	9	7.75	7.5
Meat	8	9	8
Toppings	9	8.75	8
Construction	8	8	8
Overall	8.5	8.75	8
Total Burger	63.75	63.75	59.375
Sides	9	9	8
Atmosphere	7.25	7.5	6
Value	6.5	6	6.5
Non Burger	19.5	19.5	17.25
Totals	83.25	83.3	76.63
Combined		81