{"id":223366,"date":"2026-03-27T17:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/223366\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T17:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:37:07","slug":"taste-testing-dazed-confused-burgers-at-top-notch-in-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/223366\/","title":{"rendered":"Taste testing ‘Dazed & Confused’ burgers at Top Notch in Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine. It\u2019s a balmy Saturday evening and you\u2019re driving south down Burnet Road in North Austin. The sound of old rockabilly music makes its way through the sticky air as you get closer to St. Joseph Boulevard. As you near the source, yes, it\u2019s definitely Jerry Lee Lewis\u2019s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and it\u2019s coming from an impossibly preserved early \u201870s burger joint<\/a>, with a big light-up sign, complete with drive-up ordering.<\/p>\n

The parking lot is full of old hot rods: Red Model A, a \u201832 Ford Roadster and a blue T-Bucket with racing stripes.\u00a0It feels like you\u2019ve somehow slipped between decades and driven right into the past, but really, it\u2019s just Top Notch Hamburgers<\/a>\u2019 monthly hot rod show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This deep nostalgic vibe<\/a> is not limited to Top Notch\u2019s hot rod events, though. This classic, charcoal grill burger joint was established in Austin in 1971 and, aside from the city surrounding it, not a whole lot has changed.<\/p>\n

“The No. 1 priority here other than making great food is to try and capture that same culture that it had back in 1971,” Jarett Austin, Top Notch\u2019s general manager, says to MySA. “There haven\u2019t been a lot of changes to the exterior and we\u2019ve kept the dining room almost exactly the same. All of that,” he adds, pointing to some very 70s-looking carved wooden slats atop a brick wall, “all of that is original.”<\/p>\n

Lining the walls of Top Notch are old photos from the 70s: Cars, graduating classes, Texas, etc.; there are a set of giant longhorns mounted to one wall; old plates; vintage light up signs; and, of course, right by the register where you can\u2019t miss it, a glass encased shrine to what still makes this place famous today, Dazed and Confused.<\/p>\n

Inside the case up front are a couple of original paddles famously used in the filming of the classic \u201870s coming-of-age movie, as well as a license plate embossed with that phrase that Austin \u2014 both the manager and everyone who lives in the city of Austin \u2014 hears almost daily: “Alright, alright, alright.”<\/p>\n

See, Top Notch was the location of the iconic scene in Dazed and Confused where Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) makes his debut, cruising up in his Chevy Chevelle, and uttering those famous words.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While people may flock to Top Notch from all over the country because of this movie, they come back over and over because of the food \u2014 which has also stayed true to its opening-day roots.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve added and adapted a couple of things here and there, but I would say about 60 to 70% of the menu is exactly the same as it was,” says Austin, adding, “Obviously the prices have changed.”<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s menu is a simple mix of burgers, sandwiches and fried things \u2014 chicken, shrimp, fish, onion rings, fries. We ordered the grilled chicken breast sandwich combo meal ($13.49) which came with fries and a drink, as well as the classic Number 2 cheeseburger with a side of tots ($12.59), and a couple of chicken tenders and fries off the kids\u2019 menu ($7.59). Everything was good, with the charcoal-grilled burger patty probably being the best. But moreover, everything somehow tasted like the place looks: nostalgic, comforting, simple; just original, old school Austin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine. It\u2019s a balmy Saturday evening and you\u2019re driving south down Burnet Road in North Austin. The sound…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,2108,2107,1112,86458],"class_list":["post-223366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-mysaaustin","tag-mysaentertainment","tag-mysafood","tag-mysahistory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}