Cheeseburgers are seen in a pile during a burger-eating contest for National Cheeseburger Day at P. Terry’s Burger Stand on Lamar Blvd in Austin, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
No matter how much you love Lorde or Charli XCX, Austin City Limits Music Festival will eventually break your soul. You buy a round of drinks and you’re down $100. Canned water is $6.
Your partner wants to leave early. You are now arguing in front of strangers.
Article continues below this ad
And that’s when P. Terry’s — the venerated local burger stand, as if you didn’t already know — shines a light in the dark. P. Terry’s has returned to ACL Fest for the first time in nine years, selling burgers that are comparatively cheap.
The worker-owned, charitable, secret menu-offering, 24-hour burger stand is selling $5 hamburgers, $6 cheeseburgers, $7 veggie burgers, and $4 French fries at ACL.
‘We have a responsibility to our customers.’
P. Terry himself — that’s founder and CEO Patrick Terry — was on-site at Zilker Park Friday.
Article continues below this ad
“We’re pretty in tune with our customers, and in our 21 years of selling burgers, people are hurting like never before. The price of everything is too high. I’ve never had so many comments about our low prices than I have over the last four days at this festival,” P. Terry’s owner Patrick Terry told the Statesman Saturday.
“Shout out to PT for being the only vendor that did not f— over my wallet at ACL. I love you,” a Reddit user wrote on Friday. His post subsequently received 376 upvotes on the social media site.
“Thank you for not gouging a bunch of kids trying to have fun. Keep them in mind when you aren’t at ACL and looking for a burger,” another added.
Festgoers take a break to eat near the ACL Eats food court at Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman
“I think we have a responsibility to our customers to never take advantage of them under any circumstances,” Terry said.
Article continues below this ad
P. Terry’s prices are up at the festival compared with its standard menu. Burgers are normally $3.10 and cheeseburgers $3.65. The veggie burger is $4.85. But the stand remains the cheapest option in the food court.
The flip side to the streamlined, affordable menu is that the P. Terry’s line was so long you’d think Sienna Spiro was at the front of it signing records. At 4 p.m. Friday, festgoers could walk right up to most stands in the ACL Eats food court, but not P. Terry’s. The line for $5 burgers stretched back to the dining tent and looped around.
The burger stand was founded by married University of Texas alums in 2005. According to the Moneywise podcast, P. Terry’s makes between $150 $200 million annually.
Why is food so expensive at ACL?
Festival organizers take about 30% of food vendor proceeds. In order for these eateries to break even, markups are almost mandatory.
Article continues below this ad
“These festivals, on average, will take 30% to 40% of your sales, plus an upfront fee anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000,” KG BBQ owner Kareem El-Ghayesh told the Statesman last year. “And then you have to buy everything … If I need any more power, if I need water or ice, I have to pay for it.”
As one Redditor said: “[T]erry’s is playing a different game, their goal here is not to turn a profit, other places need to.”
“This community has been nothing but great to P. Terry’s. The least we can do is sell them a reasonably priced burger and fries on a warm day in October,” Terry said.
Article continues below this ad
Staff writer Matthew Odam contributed to this report.