Truly a dive, it has a diner-like front room, an appropriately dirty back room with a four seat bar and several tables and five to six 1980's vintage televisions showing whatever you want to watch, in addition to outdoor tables both in front and out back. Dirty is an appropriate name for the place, but you're fine as long as you don't touch the walls.
Note to customers, if you want something healthy, go somewhere else. This is strictly flat top and deep fried cooking. Mmmmmmmm.
So we went there for a late lunch yesterday after our adventures on St. Patrick's Day. Started with the chips and queso, I had a DH Special, Mrs. Gordo had a single cheeseburger plain and dry (her regular) and we split some fries and onion rings.
The queso is made in house, and seems to be a simple Rotel/Velveeta blend with a few other ingredients, or so it seemed. Perfect consistency, and doesn't leave you feeling like you just injected glue into your arteries. Chips are straight-out-the-bag white corn chips of Dorito thickness, not salted or toasted, but do provide what they are supposed to, which is a vehicle for cheese.
*please note the red glow is from the neon beer signs, which do more to light the back room up than any of the lights do
Now, you go here for the burgers, and they've got standard and also a few special ones, and I recommend you go with what sounds good. I'll also be frank in saying that there are some inconsistencies from visit to visit here in terms of quality, with the most prevalent issue being a burger being TOO greasy on occasion, resulting in a bottom bun that literally is saturated and falls apart when you pick it up, leaving you to put your thumbs right on the patty. That said, DON'T let that define this place for you and keep you from coming back, most of the time the burgers are done perfectly, the bun holds up and you walk away saying to yourself, damn, that's one of the best burgers I've ever had. And it is.
My experience with the DH Special was just that yesterday, made worse by the fact that it's served on toast and not a bun. Both pieces of bread felt like they'd been soaked in a bathtub for a few hours. That said, I LOVE this sandwich. Heavily buttered toast, thin burger patty, grilled onions (and I add grilled jalapenos to that as well), and cheese. It's like an amped up patty melt, and when you catch it on a good bread day, is just incredible. The flavor was there for me yesterday, but it was the victim of either sitting too long or steaming too much.
Now, if you want to eliminate that risk and also have an incredible sandwich, I'd stongly recommend going with the top sirloin sandwich. It's served on a hoagie roll, so it starts out with more integrity in standing up to the grease. I never thought I'd get anything but a burger at Dirty's, but I decided to try this one day and now I really don't know if I like it or their burgers more. It's awesome. Sliced sirloin with grilled onions and jalapenos smothered with swiss cheese. Get it.
The fries and onions rings are a good side, especially if you still have some queso left over that you can dip them in (though I believe they do have a chili/queso fry appetizer available should you be looking to completely close up your arteries and blow out your colon). Both are hand cut and deep fried very well. The fries come out a bit soggy but not overly, and have great flavor. The onion rings are very light, with almost a minimal tempura batter, and is the side I strongly recommend.
Mrs. Gordo puts these on her plain and dry burger, which makes for an awesome combo.
Don't visit Austin without hitting this place up when you're craving the grease, because no place does grease better or treats it with more respect.
Summary
Atmosphere: college dive
Food: burgers, fried food, sandwiches
Dog Friendly: yes
When to Go: lunch, after a big night of drinking, for beers and a game
Crowd: students
What to Order for the First Timer: burger of your choosing, top sirloin sandwich, onion rings
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