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There are many things to
like about Huts on 807 W. 6th St. If you're a fan of tradition, you
can relish the historical implications, all the way back to 1939 when
the restaurant first began as Sammie's Drive In. The building got its
current name in 1969 when Homer Hut Hutson bought the lease of what
was then Picante's, and changed it to Huts.
If you're a fan of kitsch, the walls of Huts are adorned with UT and
Dallas Cowboy sports memorabilia. You dine amidst the storied victories
and heroes of yesteryear.
And if you're a fan of burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches and Chicken Fried
Steak, well Bubba, you've come to the right place.
The menu at Huts is, and has always been, heavy
on the good, old hamburger. They've got 20 of them on the menu. The
key to a good hamburger is the bun, and they're nice and fresh at Huts.
And the names of many of the burgers are indicative of the restaurant's
lineage: no burgers named after In Sync or Brittney Spears here. No
sir. You've got the Allan Freed burger [now how many of your kids would
know who the heck Allan Freed was?] which features their homemade hickory
sauce, the Fats Domino burger [another blast from the past] which aside
from the usual abundance of lettuce and tomatoes features jalapenos
and New Orleans Spices. And my favorite, the All American Buddy Holly
burger with lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, onions, pickles, and of course,
American cheese. As good as these burgers are, and they're great, they
are so big that sometimes before they melt in your mouth, they collapse
in your hands. Eating a Huts burger can be a problem for the fastidious.
I love the hot dogs at Huts as well. They come on
a Poorboy bun with mustard and onions, but the discerning add cheese
as well. I sneer at chilli on a hot dog, yet there are those who claim
that at Hut's it is God's nectar. Ah well. And the BLT with mayo on
toasted grain bread is as good as its going to get in that genre around
Austin. The $3.95 price tag's not bad either.
And do make a point to try both the French Fries
and the Onion Rings at Huts. They are crisp, delicious and they have
a shelf life beyond the usual two or three minutes that one usually
sees with these around Austin. And I must acknowledge my partiality
for the Fried Chicken. Golden brown, crispy, and oh so tender, it is
more than worthy of you consideration.
Polish things off with a Strawberry Milk Shake and life is good.
The current owners of Huts have had control of this
institution since 1981 and have done a good job preserving both the
culture and the quality of food. Old Homer Hut Hutson would be proud.
I'm proud that we still have places like this left to brag about.
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