Editor's note: Burgermeisters! Here's another excerpt from George Motz's book Hamburger America. George and his publisher were kind enough to allow us to run them here, along with George's beautiful photos. Eat up!
Casino El Camino is not a burger joint. It’s a dark, punkabilly rock bar with tattooed and pierced patrons that maintains one of the best jukeboxes just about anywhere.
I was informed of the Casino’s burger prowess by a film crewmember of mine in Austin, John Spath, who begged me to give it a shot. In a town whose burger culture is dominated by Hut's and Dirty Martin's, and in a state enormously burger-proud, I was skeptical. Even John commented, "It’s not the kind of place you’d expect to find good food."
The burgers at Casino El Camino start as fresh ground 90 percent lean chuck that's hand-formed into three-quarter pound patties. They are cooked on an open-flame grill, placed on a bun, halved, then the two halves are placed back on the grill again, cut side down, to achieve a decorative grill brand on the cross section of your burger. It should be noted that cooking over a flame and achieving decent results is not common. Most grill cooks, especially those working from a Weber in their backyards, manage to overcook and ruin burgers. Every time I’ve been to Casino, the burger has been cooked perfectly. Casino El Camino cooks their burgers to temperature. If you ask for rare, get out the napkins and listen for that mooing sound.
Don’t be alarmed when your burger shows up on a wheat bun. In this dark punk rock hang, a wheat bun was probably the last thing you’d expect. It’s quite the opposite — the kitchen’s attention to quality, from the toppings to the beef, follows through to the bun.
Casino El Camino is both a bar and a person. Casino El Camino, the stage name for this rocker and bar owner, came to Austin for the famed South By Southwest Music Festival in 1990. He was impressed with the forward thinking Texas town and told a friend back in Buffalo, NY that it would make a great spot for a bar. “Before I went I thought Texas was all tumbleweeds and fucking cowboys,” the Long Island, NY native admitted.
Expect to wait for your burger, sometimes forever, but so what? Enjoy the music, gawk at the crazy piercings, and get a drink. If you complain you may make it worse. Just remember, this is not fast food. It’s slow food at its best.
Casino El Camino
517 East 6th Street, Austin TX 78701
512-469-9330 casinoelcamino.net
Open daily 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Hamburger America is available at Amazon and comes with a DVD of George's movie of the same title.
This is going to sound possibly craycray, but I don't want my burger cut in half! I would be disappointed to receive a bisected burger. No logical reason except it's maybe an angles thing? I want to attack the sandwich from the round edge.
Mind you, I also scream "WAAAITT don't cut my slice in half, please!" when at a pizza joint --I want it floppy and foldable and get distressed if it arrives cut in half-- so it's maybe there's some kind of undiagnosed food disorder out there! :)
the photo reminds of that ridiculously huge burger from fuddruckers...I think they set a world record with it. you can still actually order it from them, you just have to give them a few days notice ahead of time
I work around the corner from Casino El Camino. The downside is they aren't open for lunch on the weekdays (you'd be waiting for your burger forever, so maybe my boss appreciates the lack of weekday burger temptation). The burgers are enormous; half-sized orders are acceptable.
I suggest the Amarillo Burger for those that are brave and enjoy heat. The verde chili cheese fries are awesome.
I can't tell you how great this place is...an Austin gem.
Casino definitely has the best burgers in Austin. They are 3/4 pound but if you ask for 1/2 pound they will do it. Also they recently switched to squishy white buns which are much better than the wheat imo.
I ate at Casino during SXSW Interactive earlier this year. My husband and I stood out like the two geeky squares that we are, but it was worth it - the burgers are outstanding, even if ordered well-done (I know, I know).
If you'd like to know what you're getting into beforehand: It's a bar first, complete with ID checks and near total darkness inside. First find a place to sit - we found a table for two upstairs, but there's also rail seating up there that gives an excellent view of the happenings below. Someone will approach eventually to ask if you want a drink, but you order your food downstairs at an open window toward the back (you can't miss it) and you pay for it when you order.
Then you get to wait for about an hour and listen for your name to be called. The highlight of our visit (besides the food) was an appearance by the grill cook who charged upstairs, screamed a crazy blue streak at some guy for insulting him and his food and told him he never wanted to see his face in there ever again. Dinner and a show - awesome.
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Casino El Camino is not a burger joint. It’s a dark, punkabilly rock bar with tattooed and pierced patrons that maintains one of the best jukeboxes just about anywhere.
12 Comments:
Mmmmmm going to Austin for ACL in October. This place is going on the list. God, I love the food in Austin.
FoodStuffs at 11:13AM on 07/10/09
"It should be noted that cooking over a flame and achieving decent results is not common."
Neither is it common to achieve decent results using 90/10 chuck.
grampart at 11:28AM on 07/10/09
Yeah, 90/10 over a flame sounds dangerous to me, but looks like they know what they're doing. Sounds like a fun place to hang out, too.
YancyDC at 11:33AM on 07/10/09
This is going to sound possibly craycray, but I don't want my burger cut in half! I would be disappointed to receive a bisected burger. No logical reason except it's maybe an angles thing? I want to attack the sandwich from the round edge.
Mind you, I also scream "WAAAITT don't cut my slice in half, please!" when at a pizza joint --I want it floppy and foldable and get distressed if it arrives cut in half-- so it's maybe there's some kind of undiagnosed food disorder out there! :)
conky at 11:39AM on 07/10/09
the photo reminds of that ridiculously huge burger from fuddruckers...I think they set a world record with it. you can still actually order it from them, you just have to give them a few days notice ahead of time
drunkn718 at 11:40AM on 07/10/09
I work around the corner from Casino El Camino. The downside is they aren't open for lunch on the weekdays (you'd be waiting for your burger forever, so maybe my boss appreciates the lack of weekday burger temptation). The burgers are enormous; half-sized orders are acceptable.
I suggest the Amarillo Burger for those that are brave and enjoy heat. The verde chili cheese fries are awesome.
I can't tell you how great this place is...an Austin gem.
Hobsy at 12:22PM on 07/10/09
That burger looks really tasty!
jlew911 at 2:50PM on 07/10/09
akjhgafsiuyIoio87 Casino El Camino burgersssss....they are so good, so dive, so delicious. They make me wish I wasn't a vegetarian.
Christina at 5:11PM on 07/10/09
Casino definitely has the best burgers in Austin. They are 3/4 pound but if you ask for 1/2 pound they will do it. Also they recently switched to squishy white buns which are much better than the wheat imo.
wtf242 at 9:57AM on 07/11/09
I wouldn't want to be the guy to tell the cook at Casino that you don't want it cut in half!
franktex at 10:52AM on 07/11/09
I ate at Casino during SXSW Interactive earlier this year. My husband and I stood out like the two geeky squares that we are, but it was worth it - the burgers are outstanding, even if ordered well-done (I know, I know).
If you'd like to know what you're getting into beforehand: It's a bar first, complete with ID checks and near total darkness inside. First find a place to sit - we found a table for two upstairs, but there's also rail seating up there that gives an excellent view of the happenings below. Someone will approach eventually to ask if you want a drink, but you order your food downstairs at an open window toward the back (you can't miss it) and you pay for it when you order.
Then you get to wait for about an hour and listen for your name to be called. The highlight of our visit (besides the food) was an appearance by the grill cook who charged upstairs, screamed a crazy blue streak at some guy for insulting him and his food and told him he never wanted to see his face in there ever again. Dinner and a show - awesome.
mlharris at 12:11PM on 07/11/09
check out this burger http://tinyurl.com/lhvhqy.
mtmcloone at 9:54PM on 07/12/09