Sputnik

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Matchup X



Brian:

Dre:

Zach:  


Back to Sputnik where we had a somewhat surprisingly good first round of burgers.  There were some quirks for me last time though like the weird tasting ketchup which kind of happened here again.  I had actually gone to Sputnik outside of the bracket with my wife to have a burger and have to say it was better then than this official trip.  My burger was good, but considering all this stuff is supposed to be made from scratch and what not, I can't really say that it's as good as it should be.  I mean throwing an egg and some bacon on a burger can make it good but I feel like you almost have to do some sort of add-on at Sputnik to get a really good burger.  Overall this burger was solid but just not outstanding for me.  It seems whatever seasoning they use on the meat is a bit salty and if you have pickles or any mustard on the burger it may seem double salty as mine did.  There was also a slight twang, maybe the ketchup again I don't know.  Sadly our fries were nearly inedible by way of extreme overcooking.  They were hard and dry inside.  Everyone else seemed to enjoy their meal much more than I did and I'm sure that will be reflected in the scores.

Box Score:  

	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	8	8.5	7
Meat	7	6.5	7
Toppings	8.75	8.5	6.5
Construction	8.5	7.5	7
Overall	8	7	7.25
Total Burger	60.313	56.25	52.5
Sides	7	3.5	4.5
Atmosphere	8.5	9	7.5
Value	8	8	6.5
Non Burger	19.5	16.5	15.25
Totals	79.81	72.75	67.8
Combined		73

Burger Tex (Guadalupe)

Brian:

Dre:

Zach:  So Burger Tex was up to bat again.  I don't think we were super excited because we have all had Burger Tex enough to know it's always solid, but perhaps not amazing.  Before the Burger craze hit Burger Tex definitely would be at the top of many Austin burger lists but now it's just hanging back in the middle.  As expected it was good.  My burger though was a bit on the dry side.  The bread, while good and fresh, overwhelms the smallish patty.  I asked for two pieces of cheese as it seems they never quite give you enough.  Not 100% sure I got two slices but I think I did and it still wasn't really enough.  Overall a solid burger as indicated by the scores but certainly probably not a high enough score to get out of this round. 
 The sides on this particular night though were great.  Finally some onion rings that are actually golden brown and greasy and the onion is actually cooked until soft and is not still hard or crispy inside the shell.  Together with the battered fries which are always good, I couldn't have been much happier.  This location is friendly and cleaner than the others but atmosphere is pretty blah.  Value is always solid since the meals are always pretty consistent here.

Box Score:  

	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	7	6.5	7
Meat	7.5	7	7
Toppings	8	8.5	7.5
Construction	8	7.5	6.5
Overall	7.5	7.25	7
Total Burger	56.875	55	52.5
Sides	8	8.5	9
Atmosphere	7	5.5	7
Value	7.5	8	8
Non Burger	18.75	18	20
Totals	75.63	73	72.5
Combined		74

Dirty Martin's 

Brian:

Dre:

Zach:  This was our second trip to Martin's although the first in the bracket.  On our first trip we all thought it was pretty good but nothing specatular.  I do remember thinking they had the best ice in town.  In fact my write-up on my other burger blog went on and on about the ice.  I had to wonder if I was just ice-crazy on that particular night or if it was really that good.  Well, I can safely say now yet it really is that good.  I had a root beer and before the burger had arrived I had eaten all the ice and drunk all the root beer.  It's so good!  It tastes so good when it hits your mouth!  Their ice is just a certain level of softness and consistency that makes the drink cold but doesn't water the drink down.  Their soda fountain may play in to things also as the root bar was particularly fresh, fizzy, cold, and delicious.  OK, I'll move on now.
  This burger is pretty solid. I had the OT Special which is a double meat double cheese joint.  It's not huge it probably weighs in at less than a 1/2 pound as these patties are pretty small old school flat-top style patties.  Ingredients are pretty fresh.  It all has a pretty good balance, the only thing lacking really is more flavor from the meat which should be the main component of any good burger.  It's good but it's not bursting with greasy good flavor like Flattop good. 
  Sides were somewhat dissapointing.  Rings tasted weird like the grease was holding some random flavors that didn't belong.  Fries are a bit sub-par.  Tots are good but as we discussed all tots are good, there is no real variation there.  The serving on the tots is kind of small considering they are probably cheaper than rings or fries to make. 
   Atmosphere is pretty nice, we sat outside.  The large tv's are either distracting or entertaining depending on how you want to look at them.  I'd really rather not have them when I'm eating with friends, it's more a distraction even when it seems entertaining.  Price is definiately pretty fair for the amount of food and quality, especially for the burger more than the sides which are strictly ala carte and cost $3+. 

 

Box Score:  

Dirty Martin's		2/15/12
	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	8	8	7
Meat	8.5	8	7
Toppings	8.25	6.5	7
Construction	9	8	8
Overall	8.75	8	7.25
Total Burger	64.063	58.125	54.38
Sides	7	6.5	6.5
Atmosphere	7	8	8
Value	8	8	7.75
Non Burger	18	18.5	18.38
Totals	82.06	76.625	72.8
Combined		77

Counter Cafe 

 

Brian:

Dre:

Zach:  It was kind of exciting to see Counter Cafe on the schedule.  Our first trip here scored pretty highly and it was a memorable burger and a good time.  Have to say expectations can play in to things, because this trip was solid but not nearly as good.  On the first trip we came during a weekday and they were not too crowded and the attention to detail on the burgers and fries was really high.  This time around things seemed a bit off and sloppy.  They definiately do have the freshest ingredients (lettuc, tomatoes, etc) of any burger place around but the primary component - the meat - was not perfect.  Also the sides were not as good for me as last time.  The first time I had the sweet potatoe fries they were crisp but soft inside.  This batch was rather greasy and dark brown.  Still OK, but I had declared their SPF's to be the best in town after I had them last time.  Overall a solid outing, but I think this would be considered an upset considering the team's opinions of Your Mom's Burger bar in the past and Counter Cafe's first round score.  But that's how it goes, on any given night a burger place can put out a spectacular burger or a sub-par one, and on this particular match-up, Your Mom's came stronger on the strength of the Buffalo Bill which was enough to catch Counter Cafe off guard for the win.

 

Box Score:  

Counter Café
	Andre	Brian	Zach
Bread	7	7.5	7.5
Meat	8	7.75	7.5
Toppings	8.75	8.25	8.75
Construction	6	5.5	7.5
Overall	7.5	7.5	7.75
Total Burger	55.938	55	58.44
Sides	9	8.5	6.25
Atmosphere	8	7.5	7.5
Value	6	6.5	6.5
Non Burger	20	19.25	17
Totals	75.94	74.25	75.4
Combined		75