Dan's The Man

After spending nearly an hour driving around Austin aimlessly, looking for the perfect location to set up shop [a place where an awkward girl could click away at her keyboard unnoticed amidst a hustle and bustle], I was still in need of a place outside of my comfort zone to read in and was starting to get hungry. I grabbed some reinforcement.. [Tiny Tim] and we departed in search of food. Unfortunately, we passed up the A+ buffet, which served, [all at once, as is the beauty of buffets] Mexican, Italian, hot pizza, Chinese, American, salad, Indian, and Greek. Tim didn’t seem interested.

After several trips through ghettoland and a failed attempt at gathering the courage to work inside a tattoo parlor, we ended up back at Dan’s Hamburgers, an oasis of fatty foods, outdated décor, and general sketchiness. We each splurged and ordered curly fries and shakes to go with our respective burgers [his certified angus beef, mine chicken] and sat in a “wooden” booth, the likes of which haven’t been produced since Charlie’s Angels were still a new commodity. We shared our evening with Couple A, 2 men, one with hair longer than mine, discussing comic books, and Couple B, a man and wife? possibly celebrating their 34th anniversary at the hot spot that is Dan’s. The food was perfect – the greasy, stereotypical burger, fries, and shake served in nondescript containers that I think I’ve secretly always longed to consume at least once in my life. The atmosphere was even better – everyone was pleasant but remained detached and uninterested. I was able to eavesdrop into a very serious conversation about the merits of Sin City while the twinkling lights of the Dan’s Hamburger sign outside mesmerized my inner child. All in all, it was one of the more perfect meals in recent history. It offered exactly what was expected, nothing more, nothing less and didn’t try to disguise itself in commercialized blandness. Bonus: the extra small, tightly wound curly fry hiding like buried treasure at the bottom of the fry basket.

In all honesty, the real reason it was so perfectly satisfying was bcause it felt like the sort of small town joint you find in the middle of nowhere, 12 hours into a road trip. It evoked the sensations of freedom and endless possibilities which accompany long trips in the car. For a few hours or days, you can pretend that nothing matters in your world, that nothing bad could ever happen, and no responsibilities hold you back. You just get in your car and go, and there is the possiblity that maybe, if you drive far enough, under enough stars and past enough Dan's Hamburgers, you might just find the person you're looking for.


Props to Dan and his 35 year old establishment and to this project for giving me an excuse to venture inside and eat food that took approximately five years off my life.