Max Parfait

These guys used to be stationed at the SoCo lot, but now you’ve got to follow them on twitter or their website (
) to know where they will be. Find them!
Their burgers are all hand made and have this amazing seasoning, almost Persian in style. Oh God I wish I could be eating one right now. The buns are also hand made by the proprietor. After trial and error they found out the perfect bread recipe and it’s sized to match their burger perfectly.
They keep it coming with their Belgian fries. They told me among other things, that means the fries are fried twice. I have to share them when I order them because they are so so so so good!!! I share them with complete strangers on the street. Max Parfait, I heart you.

I had been waiting for a special occasion to splurge on the calories of a cheeseburger and fries. Yesterday was my birthday, and that was all the occasion I needed. Word on the street has been good that this is a great burger, and I concur. So, I ordered a burger with cheese and fries. The burger was darn near perfect. It was perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked medium rare and the meat tasted very high quality. The toppings were fresh, and the homemade bun was soft and flavorful. The Belgian Fries were perfect, crispy and well seasoned. I topped it all off with a Topo Chico and Zargun donated a cookie for my birthday, which was very sweet.

I want to love this place, I really do. I’ve tried a few times now.
The fries are excellent and have been each time I’ve tried it. The burger on the other hand has been a mixed bag. The first time I tried it it was quite delicious and well seasoned. The wood fired aspect of it was subtle. The other times I tried it the burger and bun have come out burned and over done. The outside of my bun was burned black, to the point I had to pull most of the bread off to be able to eat the burger. Why didn’t I just bring it back? I had waited such an extremely long time that we had no time to wait any more.
2 lessons I think the owner could learn.
1. Don’t serve the customer anything that is not right. It had to be obvious my bun was burned black? It was on the outside, very visible.
2. Anticipate and plan for your lunch rush. You only serve like 2 things, a beef burger and a portobello burger. Start cooking burgers in anticipation of customers. They will be fresh AND fast when the customer comes around. You are open for a limited amount of time around the lunch rush anyway, you know you are going to get customers ordering in a semi steady stream. Believe me, I waited long enough I had opportunity to see that stream and see how angry people were getting when much time had passed and they still had no food.

I had been wanting to try Max Parfait after reading KK’s review over a month ago. Last week they were at the HOPE Farmers Market but we had already eaten so my Sister and I shared a side of their Belgian Fries (2.00). Perfectly fried and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and perfectly seasoned but man their homemade ketchup was just too good not to give them a dip. Oh and they are fried in olive oil so that makes them healthy right?
I have been talking about their fries all week to anyone who would listen. So, I was beyond excited when I spotted their trailer at the Barton Creek FM yesterday. I decided on the Portabella Mushroom Burger with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese (6.00) for myself and a beef burger sans bun (4.00) for my pups to share and of course a side of «those fries». The Shroom Burger was super meaty and well seasoned and the made from scratch bun was just the right size for «meat» to bun ratio.
They were also selling cage-​free egg sandwiches but were sold out of those when I was there.
From the looks of how many people were either seated or walking around the FM with their burgers I am not the only person who is a fan!

*Edited at bottom
Stars are a difficult thing to apply in certain cases.
I had a cheeseburger and fries while shopping at the HOPE Farmers Market. The tomatoes were tenderly delectable. The bun was uniquely tasty with a hint of biscuit crumble. The ketchup and mustard were the perfect proportion.
The burger was, well, seasoned to the max. Now, it was wonderfully flavorful, but this burger is nothing like the popular greasy turn n’ burns found at top local spots like Top Notch, P Terry’s, or Dirty Martin’s. These burgers are nothing like the thick patty burgers we love off our home grills or from Casino el Camino. The thicker patty takes well to the seasoning, but the seasoning is the flavor. The beef flavor is gone. In many ways A Max Parfait burger has more in common with a stand out veggie burger than a juicy beef patty. Not a negative, just need to establish expectations. Max Parfait is very good.
The fries! Ohhhhh, the fries. They claim to be styled like the popular fries of Belgium (Netherlands, Germany, etc.). The color is all wrong, but that doesn’t matter. The flavor is spot on. I have not found as authentically flavored fries as these outside of the aforementioned region. The ketchup is delicious. Next time, it’s mayo all the way.
Edit:
I moved these burgers from 4 stars to 5. We’ve been back to Max Parfait a few times, and we love the burgers, portabello burgers, and the fries.
After some further development, they have perfected the seasoning method. It is good. Solid good. Must try. Not to mention, the owners are fantastic folks!
Keep in mind, this is not a fast food joint. Fresh burgers, veggies, and toppings. Expect to wait 5 – 10 minutes for your order. It’s entirely worth it!

I decided to try Max Parfait on a whim, after seeing them on The Lunch Deal. I don’t usually eat burgers out because I so seldom find one that is as good as what I cook on the grill. However, the burgers at Max Parfait were truly delicious.
Max Parfait uses organic meat and locally grown vegetables and makes their own burger buns from scratch. You can really taste the difference between their fare and what you might find at a larger burger joint. The patty was flavorful, which is rare (pun not intended). It reminded me of when my parents and I used to crush soup mix into our burger patties before we grilled them. I ordered mine with ketchup and mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. The cheese was $ 1 extra, bringing the total for the burger to $ 6.00.
The trailer was super busy while I was there and my boyfriend and I waited about fifteen minutes for our food. It looked like they hadn’t anticipated the turnout received on a Saturday afternoon. Hopefully, they’ll keep having large turnouts and can hire more people for their staff. Despite the wait, I will definitely return — most likely with friends from out of town who want to know where the best burger joint is in Austin.

Max Parfait is a pretty darn good burger. SoCo needed this trailer! Very juicy and cooked to perfection. The cheese was melted all over it. The fries were from scratch… and you could tell. Very tasty.
$ 5 for burger or Portabella Sandwich. Bonus for the home made bun!
$ 2 for side of fries or $ 3 for a full order.
Eddy is a sweet girl… but the picture I took didn’t turn out. ;(Sorry Eddy.
Bonus…they were on the lunch deal today for $ 7 bucks you get $ 14 worth of food and drink. On their website they had a promo code that got it for $ 1. WHAT! OMG!
Totally worth the full price.

Max Parfait satisfied me deeply last week.
«Max Parfait» sounds like, but is NOT…
1. «Maximum Perfect»
2. An enormous ice cream concoction replete with nuts.
3. A person’s name, often confused with Mr. or Ms. Right.
4. A sex toy, yielding infinite joy.
«Max Parfait» IS…
1. A Duke Ellington song.
2. Perfect Wood-​Fired, Spicy Burger and Portabello ($ 5 per).
3. Amazing hand-​cut, salted, crispy, golden Belgian Fries.
4. Zargun, yielding infinite joy.
Check the website for updates as Zargun is still working out the hours. His enormous white truck has been open Thurs-​Sunday but his website blog expressed interest in changing that to Wednesday-​Saturday.
If you would like to check out A Little Max Parfait for yourself…

These are the best burgers in town — local, organic and most importantly — delicious. I’m not sure what they put in them but I am going again tonight. Try the fries too — crispy, salty, delicious…