Backroads Austin

Walked in everyone there stared and no one greeted us so we took a seat. Watched two servers go to everyone but our table. We waited over 10 minutes and I finally decided to go to the bar to see if they were still serving dinner. It was around 8:45 pm. I stood at the bar where the bar tender wiped off the bar in front of me and walked off not acknowledging me. At that time I decided we would leave. We were there to use a groupon. Aren’t those supposed to try to get people to try new places? Don’t recommend it.

Bought a groupon for this place to check it out. Upon arrival you could tell this was a locals bar and a gloomy looking one at that. The owners are probably struggling to keep this place afloat with the looks of their clientele. With all that being said, the food was delicious. The miss and I each got a custom burger and chips & queso. Delightfully surprised. However, I don’t know that I’ll return due to the gloominess of the place. Again, great food!

It was the Case of the Mondays. I took the day off from work to run a few errands in town, and it soon evolved into a Groupon Now Day with Backroads Austin being one of them I opted to try out.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a burger, the reviews were favorable, so I stopped in at around 2ish to find one customer here and the staff just finishing their set-​up. The location is challenged, it’s right behind the Clarion Hotel off I-​35 and Oltorf, and they are connected to each other but not related (kind of like Step Brothers, I guess).
I sat at the bar and a nice bartender named Nicole (aka «Sweet Blonde Green-​Eyed Bartender = SBGB) promptly got me a water and a menu. Bonus #1: they have wi-​fi here! Aww yeah, lemme go back out and get my laptop. It’s typical bar food, they don’t serve entrees until 4pm. Since I’m a Backroads Virgin I was quite fickle today, but Nicole came to the rescue. SBGB was patient, very nice and informative as she went over the menu and let me know her favorites: Loaded Fries (fresh cut fries + cheese + bacon + sour cream + chives + fresh jalapenos), the queso, and the burgers. That’s a lot but maybe I can get a little of each — — so we compromised: add queso to the burger w/​bacon, it comes w/​a side of sweet potato fries for $ 0.99, let’s go for the Loaded Fries. Better get me a to-​go box with that.
Food came out piping hot and in a jiffy. I just love it when an employee’s recommendations are accurate and spot-​on. Nicole was right — the Loaded Fries were awesome, some of the best I’ve had, the fries are fresh cut and the jalapenos too, none of that canned wet stuff. My burger was slightly overcooked but the queso added on was a winning touch. And the sweet potato waffle fries rocked! I had plenty of leftovers.
They have bottomless Mimosas on Sundays till 4pm for $ 7 — — WTF? My receipt said «all-​u-​can-​eat catfish for $ 9.99 on Fridays», and Nicole confirmed that every customer has left happy and full of fried catfish, no lawsuits or picket lines as a result of running out of fish.
I’d have to chalk this experience up as one of those pleasant surprises, something I thought could be average or above but turned our spectacular w/​the tasty Loaded Fries, decent burger w/​good queso, awesome sweet potato waffle fries, a discounted bill, and excellent friendly service by none other than a Sweet Green-​Eyed Blonde Bartender. I’d say 4.5 stars, which rounds up to a 5 in my book. I’ll definitely have to find my way back to this place.

The food is greasy and fried and exactly how it should be. Try the green beans they’re my favorite thing there. Oh that and the people watching.

I went in with very, very, very low expectations. I have been tricked far too often by eateries that utilize deals, especially the ones that are bar and grills and happen to weigh heavily on their bar scene. Additionally I-​35 grub seems to suck. Lastly, Backroads is attached to a dang hotel!!!
Well, because I went in so negative, I was blown away by what came out of the kitchen. Apparently, they really make things from scratch here, and that is a major bonus. Especially when you talk about items such as chili cheese fries, nachos, and sweet potato fries. No, they are not cut to order, but they just have such a fresh character. They did say that they hand batter their food. That is phenomenal.
The sweet potato waffle fries were excellent; they boasted the perfect crispy character and sweet note. The chili cheese fries were absolutely smothered in beefy, cheesy goodness. The nachos, though «homemade chips» were not in line, was chock full of queso, shredded cheese, beef, jalapeño, onion, and tomato.
Get here, eat, and leave. Take a nap, likely caused from the enormous portions. Return. Bring friends to help you eat. This joint is ridiculous. And good.

This place is AWESOME! We’re here at least 2 times a week. The burgers, queso fries, onion rings, chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes are the BEST! Service is great and never have to wait for an open table.

Pricing for drinks is all out of wack. A lone star, high life or pabat in a can is more than a domestic draft. Beer selection is lacking… unless you like light beers and they may have what you want.
Food is bad. Real bad. The only good stuff is fried and it’s not good. They have ‘stawberry shortcake’ which is twinkies with frozen stawberrys. Also, their cherry cobbler is cherry pie filling. Its a mess.
There are no drink specials ever.
If theyd figure out proper drink pricing and get some decent beers it may be worth hanging out there but more than likely I wouldn’t.

After seeing all the 4 and 5-​star ratings here, we were very disappointed in Backroads. We arrived at close to 7 on a Saturday night, opening the door to blaring music. They had two booths that were on the other side of the speakers and therefore a little bit more quiet – the drawback being the floor-​to-​ceiling mirrors at one end of the booths. Oh well.
To say the place was empty would be overstating a bit, but I got the impression that a family owns the place and winds up serving mostly relatives who come over and hang around. In addition to the loud music (thankfully, it transitioned to something less country after a while), they had two large screen TVs playing silently. Odd.
So, the menu. Not a lot of variety, but a good selection. Louis ordered grilled chopped beef and onions, I went for the Monterey chicken – and the waiter told me they had no Parmesan cheese, would cheddar be OK? Okaaaaaay. We both ordered Caesar salads and two sides. Oh, and we went with a
coupon so we had jalapeño poppers and bottle caps for appetizers. The waiter came back to say that the cheese they had was cheddar-​jack and would that be OK for the Caesars… uh, sure, why not. For some reason, the salads came out before the appetizers. They were OK. The appetizers were excellent! Well, I wasn’t impressed with the poppers, but Louis liked them. We both loved the bottle caps – jalapeño slices battered and fried. As for the meals, they were OK. The green beans were yummy and the mashed potatoes tasty.
Overall, though, service was excruciatingly slow and there was nothing outstanding about the place or the food. The evening was one we’d rather not repeat.

Best burgers ever! I had mine with grilled onions and cheese. Absolutely delicious, melty, grilled, the kind you keep eating way after you are actually full. Yum Yum.
Ramsey D. had the Backroads burger, a monstrous thing with two patties, chili, cheese and some other unidentified condiments. This thing was huge! He couldn’t even finish it, and let me tell ya, my man can eat. If you have peeps with giant appetites then Backroads is your place. Our waitress was really sweet and told us what was best on the menu (hint-​burgers) and also the specials of the night.
All that and some beer battered fries and we were set, bellies swollen, barely making it out the door. I cant report how this place is as a bar, we just had dinner and nonalcoholic bevies, but its look like a chill joint. There was a poker tournament going while we were there and some regulars having dinner. It seems like a cool bar, I heard they have Karaōke night so I think we will be back for that. We will definitely be back for some more of the yummy burgers!

Love this place! Friendly, efficient staff, great food, best karaōke show around. Period.

This is kind of a funny place .
It is part of the Clarion Hotel on I-​35.
This is basically a bar — but a bar that serves some food.
The juke box is excellent and very loud which makes it twice as excellent. Good metal, some country, good classic rock, good pop, good metal, … did I mention they have metal?
The place is huge — and wasn’t all that populated when I showed up around dinner time one night.
Very few people came in … but very few people left. The crowd that was there was there to stay. Most congregate around the — fairly small — bar.
Most people seemed to know each other … and knew the staff. Making it either a neighborhood place — or very regular hotel guests.
And the crowd could easily have been right off of Sixth Street.
(minus the fraternity boys — and the black dress crowd. just the cooler bikey-​alt types.)
If you had told me that some of the crowd were touring musicians killing a lot of time till 10 pm, that would have been plausible.
The room is pleasant enough.
The menu is limited and of a snack bar/​/​snack bar with dinner options nature.
Hamburgers, sandwiches, grilled chicken breasts etc.
Execution is middle of the road.
Nothing too great. Nothing unacceptable. Its just plain food.
Servings are huge — which is a plus. You won’t go hungry at this place.
But basically this is a drinking establishment.
And for a highway hotel bar, you can do a whole lot worse.

Not an easy place to get to. You basically have to come up the southbound feeder road past Whip In, and into the Clarion Hotel parking lot. Backroads is attached to the Clarion.
Came in on a Friday night at 7pm and found it mostly deserted — a table of seven or eight guys playing poker, two girls at another table, and four guys at the bar talking to the two blondes working.
After seating ourselves and waiting five/​ten minutes, a young guy comes out and gives us menus, asking what we’d like to drink. We both ordered tea. ‘We only got unsweet,’ says he. We assured him it’s what we wanted. After another ten minutes or so he brings us two large glasses of watered down weak tea.
After a bit longer, our burgers arrived. My sweetie got a chili burger. I’m starting to think Austin hasn’t got a clue about chili burgers. You shouldn’t be able to pick up a chili burger. It should require a knife and fork and be messy messy messy. Every chili burger I’ve run across in Austin, including this one, was just a regular burger with a touch of chili.
I got the Backroads burger, a double meat burger. It was big, meaty, and tasty. I was just able to pick it up and fit it in my face. Was it special? No. Was it amazing? No. But it was good and I barely finished it.
Overall, this is a decent place, disadvantaged by its location and it’s emphasis on the bar part of the bar and grill.

Last week was my birthday. UGH! Even though I decided to quit having them at 39, and for sure at 49, they march on. I got a wild hair and decided that karaōke would be cool. I haven’t been in ages, and wanted a place that had a mixed crown of ages and so on. I’m a private investigator, so I stalked Travis, the KJ, and gave him a call. I shared with him my desire for a karaōke night out with good sound, nice people, good food, etc. He PROMISED me if I brought my friend to Backroads it would be a blast. Promise kept.
As soon as we walked in a bunch of people said Hello to us from across the room… I wasn’t even sure if they worked there, but they were so friendly I felt right at home. The owner (I think his name was Chad) came over and made sure we got the table we wanted and chatted for awhile. Such a nice guy! We ordered the fried mushrooms… OMG. About the size of ping pong balls, they were to die for… amazing. The drinks were great, the burgers were very good and the service was awesome. Later they sang to me and another gal who was having a birthday, and brought us a bunch of chocolate drizzled rice crispies treats (YUM!) with Happy Birthday written in chocolate all around the plate… cute, thoughtful and time consuming, bless them.
Around 9:00 Travis came in and was so warm and welcoming to my whole group. I gotta say, the sound was really good. I played in bands for 13 years and I know good sound. The sound was the best at any karaōke I have been to here in Austin. Travis was the best KJ I have heard, as well. He’s got a great voice (speaking and singing) and an effortless way of running the show that was very unique and entertaining. LOVED IT! He had a gazillion songs, and a mic for singers that was wayyyyy above the usual karaōke mic. THANK YOU, Travis!
We had a great time, enjoyed it all from beginning to end.
Thanks to all at Backroads Austin for making my birthday party wonderful.

Won’t be going back.
Yes, the people who work here were nice enough, and the place has a close friendly environment, but that doesn’t excuse the bad food. My bf and I came here because it’s close to where we live. The reviews are good, so I’m thinking maybe we went on an off night, or maybe the chef wasn’t there and someone else was cooking? I don’t know.
Anyways, we my bf got a margarita, and that was actually good, so add a star there. Then it sort of went downhill. We ordered our food, and ended up waiting for almost an hour. Our server was nice, but came by twice to say she was just going to get it now and sorry for the wait. Then she’d be back out at other tables, still without our food. We ordered one BLT, a hamburger, and a side ceased salad. How does that take almost an hour? When the food did finally come, I could already tell it wasn’t going to be very good. My bf’s sweet potato fries looked, and tasted like they were frozen, they were so flavorless. My BLT was also plain, I don’t think it even had mayo on it. The bread seemed soggy too. All in all it was pretty miserable. If I come back here it will be to drink only. Such a shame, since it’s so close too.

After catching a couple words of a Unilocal review we came for the bottomless mimosas (which we only had two of because the glasses were huge). I was a little worried when I saw the menu was a printed sheet in a page protector, but when the waitress told me about the redneck special I was sold– fried chip shaped potatos covered in scrambled eggs with tomatos and onion, covered with bacon and hamburger crumbles and queso. YUM! It was quiet, they have outside seating so my dog could come and, most importantly, there was no wait! Definitely a hidden gem.

Went with friends for brunch and the bottomless mimosas. I thought the mimosa glasses would be small but they were big and the pours were generous. Very impressed from the start. Got the «redneck breakfast» which is eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, sausage and queso poured over the top. It was OUTSTANDING! There was also a jazz band playing. All in all a GREAT brunch, we’ll def go back!

DEFINITELY the best place to satisfy my baby cravings. Not actual baby, even for me, baby burgers seem a little strange. I mean, this kid I’m growing here LOVES everything that is bad for me.
He loves bacon and let me tell you, Ryan makes the BEST BLT sandwich in the entire world. Today I had a bacon cheeseburger that was awesome.
Everyone there is always more than welcoming and is very entertaining while sitting at the bar. I enviously watch shots go in and out… for now.
Their facebook page always has updates of lots of fun events at night time and the weekends as well. I’ll get to one eventually!

I, the GF, a female friend and her 9 year old daughter, came into this establishment after watching the bats over at the Congressional Bridge. It was a little after 8, but still not too late. Surprisingly to me, the place was pretty empty. We were one of three or four tables. we were greeted upon walking in an told to sit anywhere we pleased. Apparently on this Saturday evening there was a rep for some liquor, Blu or something, shilling her wares in nothing but a bikini and apparently she approached my GF and my pregnant friend & her 9yo and tried to shill her wares. I say apparently because I had to use the restroom and had no interaction with said bikini clad woman. That kind of turned me off a bit. Reviews had said this place was kid friendly, and 8 O’clock at night is not party time for a place that should be kid friendly, and I don’t think that was.
We looked over the menu, which was not huge, but still had a nice selection of food. The waitress came back pretty quickly and took our order. Me being the dunce I am, I forgot to order the Appetizer that the table wanted. So I had to catch the waitress a few minutes later and put the order in, and it still cam out before our dinner! Yay!
We ordered sandwiches and the kid ordered steak fingers. It felt as thought our food took a while to be prepared, but that could be just because the 9yo was complaining. My Burger was delicious, the BLT was piled high with bacon, the gravy serve with the steak fingers was delicious, and the club was also huge! All in all the food was really good.
I bought a
$ 25 coupon and we barely made it over the required minimum of $ 35 to use it! We didn’t order Alcohol, so that saved us, but the prices were still very very reasonable! I hope this place gets a little more business and survives, because next time I’m in Austin I want to go again! I just hope the Liquor companies keep their whores out of the restaurant until after !0, when it is a little more appropriate. ;)

We would probably never have learned of this place except through a gift certificate for
, because it is not extremely visible from I-​35. It was close to an event we were attending in the afternoon, so we decided to give it a try. Boy, were we glad we did!
The fried mushrooms were the best I’ve had — crispy outside, fresh & juicy inside. My sons experienced their first fried dill pickles, and loved them. We sampled several other appetizers, and all were excellent, as was the cheesecake.
Best of all, the staff is genuinely friendly and fun. The owner, Chad, saw to it that we had a great time, introducing the boys to pool and the jukebox. Taffy, our waitress, was lovely in every way. We even got to chat with Liam, the chef on duty, about his awesome cooking, and he was also a delight.
The open, airy space is inviting and true Texas come-​in-​and-​stay-​awhile cool. Great place for delicious comfort food and a cold beverage in a relaxing environment. We will be back.

Chicken fried chicken was awesome