Restaurant strives to make a better burger

When owner Shane Street opened All Star Burgers at 12921 Hill Country Blvd., Ste. 105, in Bee Cave, he did so because he thought Lakeway and Bee Cave could use a gourmet burger restaurant.

"There are lots of places out here to get a burger," Street said. "But there aren't any at the level that we wanted to build."

Street said that he wanted to do things differently than other burger restaurants by offering a "farm-to-table and healthier" burger. Part of the restaurant's effort to offer a higher-quality burger involves serving "never-ever" beef—which has never been injected with antibiotics or hormones—as opposed to beef that was given antibiotics and hormones but weaned off the additives 90 days before slaughter, Street said.

"This option costs a bit more, but it's a good option," Street said.

Not only does Street want a healthier option of burger, he also wants a variety and the different burgers took time to create, he said. Street came up with the recipes with his wife and two children while making dinner in their home.

"For about six months we would eat nothing but burgers, and the kids would go, 'Oh my gosh, burgers again tonight?'" Street said.

Some of the burger recipes Street created are The West—cheddar, bib lettuce, jalapeos and garlic-cilantro cream cheese ($8)—and the Make My Day—cheddar, cage-free fried egg, smoked bacon, skillet hash browns, red onion, ketchup and mayonnaise on Texas toast ($9).

All Star Burger also offers other protein options for diners such as an ahi tuna burger ($11), a hemp seed burger ($8.50) and a turkey burger ($8.50).

The restaurant has the choice of salads ($8), hand-dipped Blue Bell Ice Cream shakes, and beer and wine.

Street attributes some of the restaurant's success to the location he chose and the restaurant's focus on giving back to the community.

"We live here, and we are involved with the schools and local organizations," Street said. "We try to keep the money that we donate local."

All Star Burger may not always be local, however. Street said that he would consider adding restaurants throughout the Austin area and eventually franchise his establishment.

"It's every entrepreneur's dream to grow, to make a mark for yourself," Street said. "We would like to start looking for our second location later this year, probably a location like the Lakeway and Bee Cave area, an area where we can tie in the community and be involved like we are here. After that, we will look at where we will go from there, whether we want to start franchising or be company-owned."

Regardless of the route the store takes, Street said he will always own the restaurant in the Hill Country Galleria.

"This one is our baby," Street said.

Shaking it up

"One of the hardest things to figure out were the shake recipes," said Shane Street, owner of All Star Burgers.

Street and his general manager worked out a number of recipes in Street's kitchen.

"It's not as easy as you would think," Street said. "First you have to figure out what kind of ice cream you want, and Blue Bell was a home run for us. Then you have so many choices. If you want vanilla, do you want vanilla bean, Mexican vanilla or homemade vanilla?"

While Street worked on these recipes, ice cream was melting all over his kitchen, he said.

"It looked like a tornado had gone through our kitchen," Street said.

For Street, the biggest challenge was trying to create a s'more shake ($5). The restaurant also offers apple pie and dreamsicle ($5 each) as well as chocolate and vanilla shakes ($4 each).

Behind the name

To Street, an all-star is more than just an amazing athlete or a big-time Hollywood actor.

"Sometimes people [see our name and] think we are a sports bar," Street said. "To us, an all-star is the American people. We represent on our walls servicemen, firemen, moms that take care of their kids and raise their kids. Those are all stars."

All Star Burger, 12921 Hill Country Blvd., Ste. 105,, Bee Cave, 512-263-7300, www.allstarburger.com

• 11 a.m.–9 p.m. daily