Mike’s Pub

The fact that this place is closed is a crime against humanity. thanks Austin, you suck!!!

First time at Mike’s today. Total hole in the wall, shotgun style restaurant. Couldn’t seat more than 50 people, tops. Previous reviewers who talked about the gross padded stackable chairs (the kind you find in a bingo parlor or small town community center) rejoice! They are gone and have been replaced with a row of 4 top formica booths with no padding.
The fries were delish and very crispy, not your average crinkle-​cut ore-​ida frozen bag. These babies looked like the real deal. I ordered the single patty cheeseburger combo (burger, ½ fry, drink) which was about 7 – 8 bucks and for that reason alone really is why I only gave it a 4 star rating. If it had been thicker I definitely would have given it a 5.
I’ll definitely go again since it’s close to work, but I wouldn’t send an out-​of towner here.
Oh, and the Ugly Pug and Fireman’s 4 on tap? Brilliant.

Most of the time «hole in the wall» is a figure of speech. In the case of Mike’s Pub, it is quite literally a hole in the wall. But that is part of the charm I suppose. Mike’s has been around for awhile serving up burgers in its 10′ x 40′ janitor’s closet. With so many great burger options in Austin, I have a hard time making an argument for Mike’s. It’s cash only. A single patty cheeseburger combo meal will run you $ 7 to $ 8. The bun is surprisingly good but all the fixings are supermarket variety and self-​service. In the scheme of things I would rather grab a double patty jalapeño burger and fries at Players for roughly the same price.

Been going to Mike’s for about 20 years. The only thing that’s changed is about 10 years ago they put in the fancy eatin’ table in the back. You know-​the pool table –under the piece of plywood-​under the red/​white plastic table cloth.
It’s ALL good at Mike’s; especially the Texas cheesesteak sandwich. My usual is the cheeseburger w/​the half order of fries. Just wish I could quaff a cold one during lunch. That frozen fish bowl mug it comes in sure looks inviting.

Let’s see… how shall we put this…
Great food, incredibly shabby décor. First place in a long time that reminded me of Millers, which is in Dearborn, Mi… a place that serves great burgers, but with no plates. Wax paper. I wasn’t surprised to find this burger later on a «best of» list… same thing for Millers. And the reason? A bunch of folk whose fathers took them here for burgers when they were a kid. Nostalgia, folks, nostalgia.
Anyhow, went here (again — broken record) with a co-​worker for lunch, and he led us up the stairs inside an old garage. Literally. I honestly thought for a moment that my wife would read about chunks of my body being found in a freezer in downtown Austin.
However… the cheeseburger I had was actually pretty good. Condiment bar let you customize. The seats, on the other hand, were kinda nasty. Old padded, stackable chairs with chunks of the padding missing. Probably the same chairs you sat in when you were here with your pop. No kiddin’…
Well, at least the burger was good. I’d go again.

Great grease at the hideout.
Talk sports and chill… the nice thing is your not going to bump into the typical asshole you bump into downtown.
Best part is no annoying kids to wreck your meal… lol
Its usually too busy at lunch so I go off hours. For the bitch whining about the hours… go somewhere else.
Keep it up Mike even tho the Ags blow in every sport.

Definetely know what you’re getting yourself into… A GREASY yet IRRESISTABLE Burger. The only frills this place has are of the aggie variety. There is no way to come out of this place smelling like anything but a greasy burger. But its charm (despite all the maroon) is that it is a hole in the wall. And get prepared to rub elbows… But I never seem to mind it.
My go-​to place for french fries – mmmmmm. crispy not soggy —and completely unhealthy, just the way I like french fries to be.
In my line of work – I do a lot of to-​go orders for food. If you need a burger and you’re in a hurry. I bet you can’t make it there before they finish!
CASH ONLY! don’t forget.

So somehow this place won the «best burger in Austin» bracket on 104.9. They were a #14 seed, which I believe. As for winning, well, lets just say there was likely some good old-​fashioned Texas electoral fraud. LBJ and his dead voters would have had nothing on this bracket.
First off, the place is packed. If you were to order a double meat burger and chow down you might not be able to eat it all because you will be too full and bump into three other people. And the pool table in the back with plywood that serves as a big community table is kinda sorta really ghetto fabulous.
The line was literally out the door and our number was almost 20 spots away from what they were calling out but the service was very fast, considering.
Oh yeah, the food. The burger patty itself is good. You can taste the meat, it’s greasy like a diner but not too greasy. And the lettuce, tomatoes, etc are all fresh and kept on ice like a big salad bar. The bun is empty calories as are the fries. The whole experience wasn’t bad but it definitely didn’t live up to expectations. No credit card, being shoe horned into a table literally in the corner by the men’s room for a burger that was good but not great? Count me out.

Having gone to school in the midwest, I’ve had some of the beefiest burgers around. This is not what you find at Mikes. You do, however, find a shotgun style (why have I used that phrase a lot lately?) bar with the game on, patrons waiting for seats or grabbing one with a stranger, a covered pool table that folks eat on and all types mishmashed and mismatched in there.
The burgers are good — stand alone good — and decently sized. Can’t claim that they’re the «best burgers» in Austin, or the cheapest, by any stretch but they’ve got a well seasoned grill and they turn the orders out pretty quickly. I met the man who owns it now (has for 9 years) and he mentioned that he’s recently estimated that he personally has cooked over 1 million burgers. That’s a lot of damn beef folks.
I adore that there are men of the more mature variety (older, natch. Do men really get mature? What?) who have probably been going there with their best pal Wally for years. Catching a game, grabbing a brew and enjoying paradise by the neon light. So if you’re going to mikes pub, go for the ambiance, the cool upstairs, little dive feel and to taste an Austin tradition. Oh and check out the ancient pay phone on the way out. It’s details like this that bump stuff up a star for me and make me continue falling in love with Austin.

Minus 1 star for faulty air conditioning units and an unimpressive cheeseburger.
What saved Mike’s Pub for me was the secret menu Frito Pie burger. Frito. Pie. Burger. All that is good and awesome in this world in burger format. The frito pie burger comes with chili, cheese, mustard, jalapenos, and, naturally, fritos, which provide a nice textural contrast. I dream about this burger. I knew from the first bite that this burger would be filed securely under the crave-​worthy burger category. My co-​worker and I had gone halfies on the cheeseburger and frito burger, so I had a nice point of comparison. Would I return for just any burger? Probably not. But the frito burger is definitely one of the best in Austin.
Also, Chris, the owner/​chef/​every man of mike’s pub, is friendly and knowledgeable about the Austin burger scene. He definitely gives his place a distinct vibe, and our group enjoyed chatting with him for hours on end about the Austin Burger Bracket prior to his win.
Come for the burger. Leave quickly because of the heat.

I’m not a snob, I’m not an ambiance junkie, and I actually do like hole in the wall places. But this place is is way too gritty for me. It’s hot. The AC is mediocre. Everything looks dirty. I saw 2 bugs.
Mike’s is a big sausage fest. I didn’t see many chicks.
You order at the counter. Cash only. I got a burger and fries. There’s a toppings bar (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, pickles). The makeshift pico de gallo was a nice compliment to my bun-​less burger. The burger was good, nothing to rave about. The fries were nicely cooked but under salted.
I absolutely didn’t appreciate the experience. Never again!

Mike’s Pub is an important staple in Austin as far as local, independent businesses go. It was opened 50 some odd years ago and still family owned and operated.
Great happy hour deals, amazing food, and just a chill place to hang out in the AC/​watch sports/​bs with friends.
Only bad thing is that Mike’s is easy to over look geographically… but well worth searching out.

The following is my experience at Mike’s Pub.
Mike’s is nothing more than a culinary flub,
Meaning he serves up the worst tasting grub.
He is quite adept, however, at giving a great snub.
Mike’s will hopefully go down the drain of the tub.
I amazingly caught these guys when they were open for business. 1:45pm on a Wednesday. I ordered a cheeseburger and a drink, and I asked about their highly confusing hours. So I found out the straight dope about Happy Hour: The website says, «HAPPY HOUR DAILY 3pm-​6pm!!!» Being that they close at 3pm on Mondays, 5pm on Tuesdays, and are not open at all on the weekends, you can see why I was confused. Apparently in Mike’s bizarre world, *daily* means Wednesday through Friday. Daily. Yeah. Makes perfect sense, guys.
I was disappointed in the burger when it was first delivered to me. It was nothing but meat and cheese on a bun. No lettuce, tomatoes, nor mayo. Just cheese and meat. What’s this? Oh, look right behind me… there’s a self-​serve condiment counter! Okay, no problem. So I loaded up my burger with lettuce (shredded, awesome), and rancid Kraft mayo (Hellman’s beats all). These toppings improved the taste of the burger only slightly, so I was still disappointed. The large circumference of the burger was its only redeeming factor.
I was already pissed when I got there because, frankly, I wanted to try out the new place Down Town Burgers at Trinity and 4^th. I walked over there, in heels, from 6^th and Lavaca, only to find no sign of them. You look at their website and assume they’re open. So now we have two burger restaurants downtown whose websites are liars. I called Down Town Burgers and explained that I was at the intersection of 4^th and Trinity, but I found no sign of them. «Oh, well [blah blah blah] inspection today, so we should be ready to go tomorrow.» You can bet your bippy I’ll call Down Town Burgers tomorrow to make sure they’re open before I walk all the way over there. As it was today, my feet were already hurting as I decided to head over to Mike’s at 7^th and Congress. My feet are ready to divorce me.
I should have stopped at Pecan Street Café instead. I passed by it on my way to Mike’s, and I’m betting it would have been a better lunch. Maybe tomorrow if Down Town is still closed.
Oh, and Mike’s apparently sells crappy-​ass t-​shirts and baseball caps with their logo on them [see pic]. $ 15 for one of the shirts, $ 20 for some other shirt. Or, you could spend $ 25 on a Mike’s Pub baseball cap! No idea why a baseball cap costs more than a freaking t-​shirt. I hope ol’ Mike isn’t expecting to make money with his clothing advertising. Having eaten there once, I wouldn’t want to advertise that stupid mistake via t-​shirt to everyone else in Austin.
Mike’s Pub? Puhleeeeeaaase… Mike’s Flub, more like.
Note to self: Business casual wardrobe be damned; wear tennis shoes tomorrow.

Decent grub. $ 7.10 for a cheeseburger, fries, and iced tea, cooked to order and you do the toppings yourself. And it’s all OK food. Methinks that 5 stars is unwarranted by any measure.
Frosted beer mugs… KLBJ playing over muted ESPN… about 20 – 30 other people at 12:30 for Friday lunch… block glass windows let in about 10 candlepower of natural light… stuff tucked into every free corner… a low ceiling… 12 feet wide by 60 feet deep…4 choices of beer on tap (including Bud Light for you psuedo-​beer drinkers)… nary a hint of HVAC. This is what I took away from Mike’s Pub.
11am-​3pm

This place is perfect for the day after heavy drinking, and you have to go to work, and you work downtown. Not much seating, busy as hell, greasy as hell, and you might as well write off your afternoon because it is a GUT BOMB.
Reminds me of Dirty’s as far as the hamburgers go. They let you dress your own, which is good.

Their burgers are awesome and their grilled cheese is divine.
Get there before noon to beat the large lunch time crowd, it isn’t big.
And don’t forget the frozen snickers bar for dessert.

It’s Monday. It’s cold. I don’t want to be at work after a long holiday. I am angling for a big greasy burger and somewhere warm and Mike’s pub fits the bill. It is definitely not a $ 10 fancy dressed-​up burger, but they are consistent in their fast tasty service each time.
Get there before the lunch rush hour hits, bring cash, and if you’re there in the summer, be prepared to shed some layers of clothes. It gets hot in a parking garage pub.

First of all, it should be noted that I’m pretty severely hung over… Or perhaps I’m still drunk, in which case this review is *EXTRA* special, seeing as how alcohol basically serves as a pretty effective truth serum for me. I actually don’t know how I’m functioning at the moment, but I *do* know that I needed greasy, greasy food, and fast. I’ve heard Mike’s Pub is pretty much guaranteed to deliver in that department, so I headed down the block to check the place out and pick up a burger.
It’s all true. Mikes is a glorious, glorious greasepit. I became a meat eater again recently and oh my f’n god THIS is what I’ve been missing? Holy hell it felt good to be a carnivore today. Grilled onions. Extra cheese. Ranch dressing. I am feeling pretty ghetto fabulous right now. Praise Jesus, I have found the best hangover cure evarrrrrr.
Mike’s is cash only, but not to worry — they have an atm right near the counter that won’t rape you with super high fees.

Imagine, if you will, you’re walking down the street. And on that street is one of the nicest hotels in the city. You’re on the sidewalk traipsing along next to this nice hotel when all of a sudden, as you’re approaching where the hotel ends and the next building begins, there’s what looks like a non-​descript glass storefront of sorts with nothing but a narrow stairway winding upwards.
It’s almost Harry Potter-​esqe, this little dirty abandoned storefront with nothing but a stairway. You decide that you’re just curious enough to want to know where that stairway leads, and so you open the door and proceed on up, thinking to yourself all the while, «This looks a little like a parking garage.»
But then… it hits you. It’s the cloying yet somewhat disgustingly appetizing smell of… cooking grease and unhealthy foodstuffs. And it’s emanating from the door right at the top of the stairs.
Slo-​mo. Your hand reaches out to open the door, guided by some strange force echoing heart attacks and clogged arteries, cold PBR and dirty bar mats. You feel a little giddy, a little scared, maybe a little like you need to run screaming back down the stairs and go to Chipotle or some other clean corporate polished turd when all of a sudden, as the door opens, you realize you have stumbled upon what might perhaps be a little piece of Arthur’s Holy Grail…
…yep. It’s a f**king dive burger joint called Mike’s Pub, friends, and it doesn’t get much more greasy spoon than this.
Places like Mike’s make me sick to think about eating at. And it is this precise reason why I enjoy going to them. You know the experience you’re about to have is going to be unique. This thought alone empowers me to slap a piece of duct tape over my whiny-​ass inner healthy child and just accept the fact that, for every 7 minutes I sit there chewing on a nasty greasy burger and fries, sipping from a disgusting plastic cup with a stupid grin on my face, I’m shaving off about 4.97 seconds from the end of my life.
Where do you even begin with Mike’s? You don’t go here for great food; you go for the fact that you’re actually sitting in this skinny little makeshift bar/​pub thing… in a parking garage. Read it again. In. A. Parking. Garage. I can’t say that I’ve ever had any kind of sit down meal in a parking garage until I ate here.
Let’s just get it out of the way that it’s good in a completely horrific bad way. You don’t really want to eat the food you get… but you do. You know you’re going to pay for it later… tenfold…but you just don’t particularly care. Your arteries beg for forgiveness, and yet you continue to abuse and assault them with wanton abandon because that’s just the way the burger slides.
Note the fact there is nothing restaurant-​grade about this Mike’s. There are 4 – 5 regular old refrigerators that one might find in one’s house lined up against the wall. Some appear to have food in them. Some appear to have beers. Bizarre. But strangely enticing.
The seats are old, falling apart and ugly. It smells like a combination of cooking food, stale beer, bowling alley, and… yes…garage. It’s kind of loud because there are quite a few people in there for lunch (or at least there were when I went). There are regulars in there. The staff is a little rough around the edges. Sounds awesome, yeah?
I obviously ordered one of the only things you order in a joint like this… and that was a cheeseburger, fries and an iced tea. Maybe the tea was my attempt at wrestling some tiny little bit finery from the place. I don’t know…
The burger came out on a white paper plate wrapped in a giant bun that was just a little too big for the meat it housed. The fries were placed next to it… the kind of fries that are cut straight from a nice big potato, like the ones you get at a carnival or Great Steak and Potato Co, fried in a bunch of nasty peanut oil. There’s a fixins bar where you dress your stuff up any way you like.
After I finished up and walked back down the stairs with a stupid grin on my face, I knew it was a terrible idea to eat there. And I probably wouldn’t…no…COULDN’T…make it happen on a regular basis. But I now feel better knowing that, should I feel like committing slow delicious grease-​induced suicide-​by-​burger hiri-​kiri, Mike’s Pub would be one of the places I’d do it at.

Hmmm. I want to think I’m cool enough to appreciate funky dives like Mike’s Pub, but I’m just not feeling this one. I mean, maybe it’s a well-​kept «secret» because it’s just not really worth talking about.
The burgers were fine, but nothing special, and they seemed kind of pricey for the size (on the small end). I like choose-​your-​own fixings bars, but again, this one isn’t all that great and it just seems like kind of an afterthought flopped in an inconvenient spot right near the door.
I do kind of like the whole idea of this bizarre little restaurant crammed into this nondescript and downright strange space above a parking garage, but not enough to keep me coming back. Aside from the kitschy space, you can get a much better burger and a nicer fixings bar for about the same price at BurgerTex (and it’s easier to find parking there, too).
Meh.