Modern technology meets classic American food

At Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries and Shakes, service comes with a side of both classic hospitality practices and innovative technology that bring new meaning to the term fast-casual dining.

The restaurant uses electronic devices to track patrons for food delivery and automatic machines to cut french fries, batter onion rings and measure ingredients for milkshakes to ensure consistency.

"We saw with this newest brand of table tracking the opportunity to follow where that tracker went, bring them their food and create a moment of relationship-building," Manager Andy Jenson said. "Also a lot of times [we] experience that 'wow' factor where they say, 'How did you know where I was?' Then we get to have a bit more of a conversation and pass a little bit more of our culture on to them."

Jenson said the company is always looking for ways to impress its guests, and technology has been an effective tool.

Ken Schiller and Brian Nolen, who are franchisees of Rudy's Country Store & Bar-B-Q, started Mighty Fine in 2007 at the Shops at Arbor Walk. They now have four restaurants in Austin. Schiller, Nolen and the staff read through customer surveys monthly to consider new ways of improving the business, such as adding onion rings and gluten-free buns to the menu.

Mighty Fine's simplistic menu is intentional to ensure high quality, and patrons have the choice of "white" (mayonnaise), "red" (ketchup) or "yeller" (mustard) and either a half- or quarter-pound beef patty. Additional topping choices include bacon, chili, cheese and jalapeos.

"The best way to be great at something is to limit what you have to be great at," Jenson said. "You see it on the walls when you come in to Mighty Fine: 'Where classic meets modern.' ... We try to be your old-fashioned hamburger but in a really cool, new-style environment."

Jenson said to provide transparency to patrons at the Arbor Walk location, the kitchen is fully visible, and a two-way mirror in the men's restroom allows patrons to view the dining hall, but diners cannot see into the restroom.

"We wanted to have something that people would talk about," he said. "The two-way mirror was something that everybody notices, everybody talks about when they leave."

Modern tech hospitality

Table Tracker allows Mighty Fine employees to locate where customers are sitting and deliver their food. Here is how it works:

• After a customer places an order, the cashier gives them a Table Tracker device with an order number and starts a timer for that order.
• The customer selects a seat and places the Table Tracker on the table. The device reads the table number and sends that information to an order screen that Mighty Fine employees reference.
• When the order is ready, the runner checks the screen to locate the customer and deliver the food.
• After delivering the order, the runner stops the timer, which the restaurant uses to ensure food is being delivered quickly and efficiently.

Source: LRS Paging Systems

Off-the-menu items

Although they are not posted on the main menu, Mighty Fine offers special items for its regulars, including:

• Beast ($8.49): Two half-pound beef patties with pickles, tomato, lettuce and onions
• Jr. Beast ($5.59): Two quarter-pound patties with pickles, tomato, lettuce and onions
• BLT ($3.59): Bacon, lettuce and tomato served on a butter-toasted bun
• Salad sandwich ($1.99): Tomato, onions, pickles and lettuce sans beef patty
• Chili cheese fries ($4.84): Crinkle fries topped with chili and cheese
• Lemonade shake ($3.99): Hand-dipped vanilla ice cream blended with lemonade

Source: Mighty Fine

Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, 10515 N. MoPac, Ste. 205, 512-524-2400, www.mightyfineburgers.com, @mightyfinetx, Hours: Sun.–Thu. 11 a.m.–9 p.m.,Fri.–Sat. 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m.