Curious Notions

10611 Research Blvd
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 382-5864
www.terraburgeraustin.com

Alan texted me while I was at my night job tonight asking where the spaghetti was. I told him I threw it out and feeling nice, I offered to pick up something on my way home. He wanted to try out Terra Burgers. Neither of us have had it. It’s an all organic burger joint. I’m pretty indifferent to the organic movement. I know Alan prefers it so sometimes I cook with organic ingredients when I cook for us, but really, I don’t care.

So my goal was to only buy him a burger and at most take a bite of Alan’s. I had dinner at work with bags (2) of chips and pudding and wasn’t hungry. I almost succeeded in ordering just for him. “I want a Thousand Island Burger with fries, please…………….um make that two Thousand Island Burgers.” Dangit. It’s the lure of a new place. I like to try new eats, dammit. It’s impossible to ask me to order something for someone else at a new place and not expect me to get in on the action.

My bed time is midnight which gives me 6 hours of sleep a night on weeknights. It was 10:30pm when I ordered that burger. Bad! I have a New Year’s dress that has very little no room to grow in. I was counseled by a friend only to eat HALF of the burger and no fries. So on the way to Alan’s, I told myself that I’ll only eat half a burger and bring it for lunch tomorrow.

I failed.

I REALLY failed.

Well, here’s the review of Terra Burgers, written with a guilty conscience.

I prefer my Mighty Fine over Terra. At Terra Burger, all burgers are 1/3 lb and they’re 5.99 for just the burger. I’m guessing you’re paying for it being organic. Meh, it didn’t taste like a 5.99 burger to me. The fries were crumbly. Maybe it was my ordering at 10:30pm when they close at 11pm but the girl at the window told me I’m waiting a while because everything is being cooked as ordered. So, maybe they’re just crumbly or she just bullshitted me.

I like a little more seasoning in my burger or maybe a tiny bit more grease. Some more taste. I’m left wanting! Hard to believe with how much of it I ate, I know. The beef patty was so thick it was hard on my lockjaw. (BTW, I have a constant persistent case of lock jaw. The HORROR!)

Alan on the other hand enjoyed it. He think it’s pretty good for how healthy it is. I think he’ll be going back.

Anyway, it’s past my bedtime. Good night!

I’ve never eaten at Johnny Rockets before but walk by one every time I go outlet shopping. I subscribe to a stereotype that mall food and outlet food are sub par however I’m open minded enough to acknowledge if something is amazing. Like the “yummy yummy” chicken at Sarku Japan in the food court in our Austin malls. That’s fantastic!

Jamie and I tried Johnny Rockets after a day Christmas shopping. I still have my dad and Alan to buy for. I think men are difficult to shop for. Anyway. Nothing amazing, as suspected of Johnny Rockets however they had two things that I thought were adorable.

1. The mini personal jukebox at each booth.

5 cents could get you a song by the Eagles.. or the Beach Boys! I’ve never seen a personal jukebox at a restaurant before. You know what this means? I have to eat at more restaurants.

2. There’s already ketchup on the table but they bring out a ketchup dish with ketchup art!

This entry is part of a series. Here are the other entries in case you missed them.

1. Sneak Peak/Introduction
2. Sneak Preview of Little Bigs
3. First stop: Kolache Factory
4. Second stop: Antones

Little Bigs: Third and Thankfully Last Stop of Progressive Lunch

2703 Montrose Blvd.
Houston, TX 77006
http://littlebigshouston.com

Our third and last stop was Little Bigs. (We were supposed to go to fourth place but I’ll tell you what happened to that place later.) You order in threes at Little Bigs which works out perfect for a group of three. We let Willis take the reins and order 2 of whatever he thought best for us. Unfortunately they stopped doing their famous mushroom burger so Willis chose a black bean vegetarian burger and the signature all beef patty burger (with caramelized onions). The boys started with the black bean sliders which I should have done. The black bean was meh to me. I guess it tasted too much like black beans for my taste. I started with the signature slider which was juicy and perfect. I wished I had the black bean slider first so I could finish on a higher note. Their special sauce is special in a good way and their fries were a great complement to the sliders. Mmm. I understand the hype.

Before I tell you about what happened at our fourth destiation, here’s a pictural intermission.

When the guy behind the counter told Willis they don’t make their mushroom burger anymore, he said almost too seriously, “Are. you. serious?!” It made Thomas and me laugh because the poor cashier looked a little nervous.

Patience is a virtue.

Thomas having a hard time with the ketchup.

Still having a hard time.

Which tickled me!

How beautiful is our feast? We were already full from our previous stops and my mom making me lunch, but we managed to enjoy anyway. (It’s hard out there for a foodie, ya’ll)

After we stuffed ourselves to the point of MOANING, we took deep breaths and drove to our fourth place. Willis wanted to take us to get us pastry puffs at Asia Market. We got there, hurting, but still excited to finish our 4 part progressive lunch. We were greeted by a locked door and a sign that stated they were closed for Thanksgiving still. More relieved than saddened, we stood around in the parking lot because it hurt to sit. :) I love progressive meals. I’ve only done it twice before. Once with Cindy (we only hit up 2 places though) and once more with Alan our first night in San Francisco.

P.S. Since we never made it to Asia Market, I’ll leave you with Willis’s food blog entry of Asia Market.

Photos in this entry were taken by Thomas.

Yummy goodness at Little Bigs. One of three stops of our Progressive Lunch.

Photo taken by Thomas.

My kid brother turned 24 today. We celebrated at Mighty Fine (his first time!) and later the gang met up at Sherlocks. My brother ordered from the Mighty Fine secret menu. He got the Beast! 2 1/2 lb patties and 4 slices of cheese. He added bacon. Bacon!!! I feel like Bacon deserves an echo everytime it’s mentioned. Bacon!!

Pictures.

THE BEAST!

Jesse rocking out at Sherlocks.

The lunches they cater us at work.

My dress pants and jeans are killing me. I wore my favorite Armani Exchange one the other day and it left jean imprints on my hips and waist that did not go away til the next day. I went for a nice run with Nisreen yesterday and completely negated the run with this delicious juicy burger. I had to cut it in half to divide and conquer. You can’t see the bacon in the picture but trust me, it’s there. I can see juices seep out of the burger when I squeeze the buns. So bad, but oh so good.

I haven’t had a new entry up in a while. Not to say that I haven’t had my fair share of new things. I’ve just been internet free mostly and am cursed with a horrible short-term memory. So I don’t remember what I did the week before last or if I even posted..

This past week, I finally tried Dan’s Hamburgers. I heard praises and praises and it was tied with first for best hamburger with Hut’s a few years back. I love me some Huts so Thomas and I investigated last Thursday before seeing Knocked Up. We were very very pleased. I went to the one across the street from Half Priced Books on Lamar. Thomas loved how it was all windows.. I loved the old time feel of the joint. He had the hickory grilled something or other burger, I had the Jalapeno Cheeseburger with curly fries. My mouth is watering as I type this. Mmm. I may have to go back sometime this next week. Reminded me of In -N- Out burger when I went to California.

In between Thursday and Sunday we introduced everyone else to a slew of new things. The Domain, Flip Happy Crepes, Threadgills, 219 West, Cuba Libre, Saba, Foundation… new places for everyone. All great places to go to when you’re in Austin. (Though I’m partial to Hoovers over Threadgills when it comes to Southern Comfort cuisine.)

My second new thing of the week for myself was Yen Ching Noodle House on the drag. I’ve seen this place since I moved to Austin 6 years ago and never actually went in. Chris swore that their noodle soups are to die for. Man, are they good. I had the spicy seafood noodle soup. The noodles were handmade, delicious, and authentic. I think I found another place to frequent whenever the mood for Chinese noodle soups strikes.

I’m now very hungry.