#HOP DODDY FREE#

In the social network age don't underestimate word of mouth. What missteps have you had and what did you learn from them? We like that it's still kind of central, and that on that north side of Anderson there's a good independent stretch - Alamo Drafthouse, Cover 3, Zen, and The Goodnight that's coming in. when you see it you'll know it's a Hopdoddy. It's going to open in the Spring after SXSW on Anderson Lane in the West Anderson Lane Plaza. We're always striving to keep the momentum and to be better.Īre there any plans to open another location? We would give ice water to people in line and taste people on fries and fresh baked bread while they wait. I wanted to hold the door to ease people in and help explain how it works. We really started to see lines get crazy after SXSW, and I even had to be a 'burger bouncer' to give the line some order. Now in this post social network age, we realized how viral chatter can be when you're giving people what they want.

When people started lining up and wanted to wait. When did you first realize Hopdoddy was going to be such a success? They're even more popular that organic ones. We wanted to show that we grind (the burgers), we bake (the buns), and that we squeeze all of our bar juices daily. For the mixed drinks we wanted fun, festive drinks that compliment what we're doing. It wasn't hard to get 12 good local beers on tap. We knew we wanted to be a burger bar, and fortunately the craft beer movement was trending strong in Austin. What was the idea behind your having a bar? We try and source as much as we can locally and organically, depending on the season because of the volume we need. Also, the greens in our salads are organic, too. Our concept in general is 'what will taste good between a bun.' What ground up makes a good patty? Anything from tuna to duck to pork. Even for the vegetarians we have a hemp seed patty.

#HOP DODDY FREE#

Our beef is hormone and antibiotic free and humanely processed. How did you want to differentiate Hopdoddy from other burger places? We serve on average about 1000 people a day. Now we have it down to about 20 minutes, mainly because I think people know how Hopdoddy works. When Hopdoddy's first opened, the line often backed up to the door which is about 30-40 minutes. How long was the wait when you first opened and how long is it now? In this area we have great neighbors - the trifecta of pizza, tacos, and burgers, and with the culinary guys of Perla's next door. It has such a meandering population, and because of the food trucks people have become accustomed to waiting in lines. We had heard about Cissi's Market closing (the restaurant that was formerly in Hopdoddy's location), and South Congress is the ideal location for trying something new. How did you come to chose your location on South Congress?

We want to be a burger place where parents bring the kids, not one where kids take their parents. We originally didn't have the idea for a burger place, but when we thought about cravings we decided on burgers. We ended up not going with that, but when thinking about this place we realize people choose food based on cravings - pizza, sushi, burgers, etc. When Larry and I opened Moonshine, we had originally thought of an organic, counter service cafe. What was the vision you had for the Hopdoddy concept? Hopdoddy's name is a combination of Hop (for beer) and Doddies, the name of Aberdeen cattle's original Angus. Very good, with people continuing to pack the restaurant on a daily basis. This week, we speak with Chuck Smith of Hopdoddy Burger Bar.Ĭhuck Smith at Hopdoddy Burger Bar Ĭhuck Smith and Larry Perdido opened Hopdoddy on South Congress in October 2010, building off experiences from their previous projects of Moonshine and Saba. This is One Year In, in which Eater Austin interviews chefs and owners on the occasion of their restaurant's first anniversary.

Hop doddy