Short Stop

The fries here are nice, although ShortStop isn’t too diet friendly (I wouldn’t expect much from a fast food place). This particular location has been open for a while and I’ve had people tell me that they were here in the 80s. It’s a little place to stop if you need a quick snack, like all fast food places.

I went to Short Stop for my first time recently and I got the “Chicken Slammer Meal” which came with the chicken sandwich, fries, and a warm apple pie. I thought for the amount of food you get and the cost, it was a good deal. The pie could have been a little more hot, but otherwise the pie was good. The chicken sandwich I thought was okay. Nothing remarkable. The fries I were impressed with though. They were skinny like McDonald’s fries and salted perfectly. They were hot and crispy. There tea was supposed to be good so I got that, but I wasn’t blown away. 3.5 stars out of 5.

Still, the best fast food burgers.As far as i'm concerned and the best fries. Good rea and lemonade as well.

Forgot to take pictures because I was super hungry but Short Stop serves up a classic burger and fries. I got the #3 double meat double cheese and enjoyed every bite. Grabbed a hot apple pie which hit the spot. This spot is a 10/10 I am coming back whenever I need a classic burger.

I love this place. The fries and pies are unbeatable aside from the burgers being great. That being said, this location owes me a couple of dozen pies from orders in the last year. I don't always have time to head back and get my pie they forgot and I dont always check my bag. You really shouldn't have to check your bag every time you break for fast food though.

I heard so many good things about this place from multiple people, but maybe I’m confused or I came on the wrong day. I got the chicken tenders w/ white gravy and fries. The chicken tenders were over breaded, over fried, and salty. Although the gravy was flavorful, it could have also used less salt. Thankfully, the fries were fresh, crunchy, and perfectly soft in the middle. 3/10, would not recommend.

We were craving a chili dog recently and gave this place a try. Really thought it was a great chili dog…fries were good…came with a fried apple pie as well. Good job ST…employees were very kind as well.

This is a drive thru only place. The staff ate always kind, warm, friendly and professional! Shortstop has the BEST burgers in Austin, TX in my opinion! Delicious food 😋 Thank you for your Service and great burgers!

Uh this place is so good. When I saw it had low stars I had to give a review cuz das a lie. This is one of our favorite burger spots. The chicken tenders and gravy are to die for. It's a burger joint type burger not a gourmet or a drive thru burger. It's that mom n pop Type burger. So good

Unfortunately every time I've come since I've moved to the area I have to check my food because it always has what I didn't want on my burger. This time I checked my food at the window and I gave it back to the window attendant and she tried handing me my fries back and I had to state if I am waiting for my burger to be made to order I would prefer fresh fries. She rolled her eyes and took the fries. She then proceeded to ask me what I had already ordered with her to confirm it. As I stated the toppings she interrupted me and stated the things I didn't want on my burger. Two ladies in there always have an attitude. Very odd to be working in customer service if you aren't nice to customers. I order one burger and it's wrong every single time. I'd hire better staff that doesn't run your business off. Staff is rude and seems irritated to do the job they are being paid to do.

Hello, it's me again. I've since gone to this location many a time because I love the food so much. The service has definitely improved and the women here are so very sweet and the food is delicious. I highly recommend it as an Austin staple I'm sad the other location off of Duval closed, but glad this one is still open.!

When you want a break from In-N-Out this is a solid choice. Fries are okay, they are the skinny ones. It's not my go to but it's something I'll go back too.

I asked for BBQ sauce and they said they didn't have any, so I asked for ketchup and they said they didn't carry that either. I'd recommend carrying some kind of sauce because that's crazy.

Love short stop burgers! Best of all the fries are always hot. Been coming for several years, I'm so glad they're still around.

The Double Meat Double Cheese Burger was great! Fries weren't cooked completely still raw. Staff were great.

Wow tried one more time to pick up a late night order. It was delightful to see the fake Uber /DoorDash drivers trying to claim all the orders. Had to demand that I picked up my own meal. But apparently I can be a drunk grabbing 4 meals tonight, no problemo. I can't argue that the staff needs to deal with these people, or paid better to deny them. Someone needs the power to kick drunks out.

I think this location was bought by some lame family because they just sit around and talk to each other not really servicing the customers. It's gone downhill in quality while up in price as you can see by the food photos.

This review is for the Hwy 183 and Spicewood location, right on the frontage road. Short Stop always seems to get a bad rap, but for this location, the food is typically consistent, as is the service. Food: Burgers, fish sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, and fish platters with hush puppies (Friday's only). The fish was hot, cooked well, with a crispy shell/batter (yes, I'm aware it's previously frozen.) Tartar sauce had the right tang, and bun was soft. I'll remember to get it with no tomato next time as it did make things a bit soggy. Burger had a nice char and was a good size. Fries were good, shoestring kind. Won't be getting the lemonade again as it was the powered kind, and that's not for my tastebuds. Cost: Two meals and an add on hot dog ran us $19. Service: Pull up and order, wait was minimal, order taker was friendly, and food was out in no time. Pay and collect at the drive through window. Overall: You know what you're getting when you roll up to a Short Stop, and for what it is, food is reasonably priced, and decent. Takes cards.

I was so excited to go to Short Stop for the first time and I told them that at the order speaker. A co-worker has been talking about the legacy franchise for a long time so I finally went. After the $10 bill and about 10 minute wait being the first in line I was still looking forward to it. Fresh cooked burgers are worth the wait I said. Then the disappointment hit when the $10 bag looked like it only had a pack of cigarettes in it. As the server rushed out of site so they don't get any uncomfortable requests, like ketchup or napkins. The $3 bag of fries didn't last through the 2nd stoplight on my 2 mile drive home. Was thinking of hitting McDonalds on the way to top off for a dollar. 10 minutes later I got to eat the burger. It was really good, not quite as good as the Jack-in-the-box across the street from it, but it was a good $7 burger.

Got the 1/4 lb cheeseburger and fries meal. The fries were pretty small and overly salty, but the burger was substantial and filling. For the price, I would say it was a pretty good deal, but nothing to write home about! The people who work there were cordial and friendly, which is always a plus!

I've found hair in my food before. Usually a strand or two that I can chalk up to being accidental. THIS TIME, however, there was so much hair in my burger than I'm genuinely concerned that this person may be experiencing some type of traumatic medical event. THIS IS DISGUSTING! I cannot even remotely justify this as a potential accident due to the SHEER AMOUNT that is in my food! I complained to the manager who seemed uninterested and told me that if I drove back (20 minutes because I stopped on my way home) that he would "try" to issue a refund. You know what... Keep your money and I'll keep your hair. I'm sure we'll never give each other any more of either ever again.

TLDR: Passable burger, but there are better options. Came here for lunch one day. The line wasn't too terrible, and the service was pretty good. I did drive back to the office to eat, so things did get a bit cold, but I took that into account. The burger itself was edible, but frankly pretty disappointing, as were the fries. overall it was basically the bare minimum. If it's all that was around, It would suffice, but in a world with P-Terry's, In-n-out, and Whataburger, I'd choose those. 1.5/5

Horrible! This place had me and my 2 year old throwing up and shitting for 2 days straight, hell no never again

The employees here are making food without gloves and using the phone wile making food. This is so nasty. I told the manager and he said they are approved for not wearing gloves. I told I understand that but she is touching her phone and touching the food. That's a health department violation. I just got my money back. Never again. Man I wanted that burger.

This place Never let's me Down!!! Their Burgers Are Bomb! Their Fries Are Legit! And their Sweet Tea Is On Point!!! Wednesday's are the busiest due to their Brown Bag Special. But my personal favorite is their #4 The Bacon Burger! Check Them Out!!!

Well today we got a couple of Chicken strip boxes and half of it was cold.... How does that happen if they're all cooked at the same time? If we get sick at least we know who to blame.

Review for Short Stop at 183 and Spicewood Springs Road. Once again they have kids running this location. I usually have good service if I pick something up for lunch but the food is declining. They no longer bother to toast the buns on the grill so if you go more than 2 blocks after purchasing the buns are already soggy. The fries are never crisp any more. The evenings are the worse when they have mostly young kids running it. Get home and always discover they have either left a burger or fries from the order. They tried to hand my husband 3 cokes tonight when he had only ordered 2 burger specials. They are no consistent with cooking the meat and I had to cook the rare burgers a little bit before putting them back on the bun tonight. As fast as the quality and the ability to properly fill orders are declining I expect they may end up going out of business before too long. They already often have to close one of the drive through sides because they have insufficient staff. Staff are handling money and food and too busy to wash their hands. I called the store to tell them about missing a burger in our order and that my husband was on his way to pick it up but discovered they now no longer have a phone number you can call. I see why now. Pay a little more and find a better place to a decent burger and fries. If they keep cooking rare burgers they might end up with a lot of food poisoning problems. They really need a responsible manager on staff during all shifts. The young kids working there are too busy with their phones and with each other to pay attention to the job they are being paid to do.

Very friendly staff who actually know how to hold conversation or at very least are friendly which is becoming very rare in New Austin. The food is also good and I was pretty skeptical about that, but I was wrong.

Look at the picture of cheese fries I just received after waiting 30 minutes what a JOKE. Cold shredded cheese this is so sad it is comical.

Yelper Kenna N. is very wise. I've always liked Short Stop. And I work in Riata, right between this location and the Duval/183 one. This location has a couple advantages: - Convenient proximity to my fave Northie cupcake place Oh, Ok... One advantage. Here's why I'd rather head south to get my Short Stop fix - Yes, Kenna, thanks for helping me figure it out. The Duval location flame-broils, and this one does not. The flavor here is definitely less. And coming to this location brings me to that awful choice of either waiting through a long traffic light, or risking shooting across three lanes from the access road turnaround to get to the driveway. Common to both places: - The slushes are fairly good (though I prefer Sonic) - More places should serve strawberry soda and/or green tea - I've always liked Short Stop fries, compared to Sonic, Whataburger, Mighty Fine, BK, Wendy's, etc. - Hunt's ketchup? Really, Short Stop? *smh* I'm sure I'll still go to this location (stupid cupcake addiction) occasionally. But if I remember, I'll probably head south to Duval instead...

If you have driven around Austin much, I guarantee you've driven past a Short Stop. Most of them look like an old, one-hour photo building in the middle of the parking lot for a strip mall. I bet you drive by one or two of them every day on your commute to work. It may not look like much from the outside, but one evening, think about stopping by on your way home and picking up a couple of some tasty burgers. Short Stop serves a fast food burger. On the menu, there are four burgers to choose from: 1/4 lb burger, bacon cheeseburger, double meat double cheese, and a chili cheese burger. Except for the chili cheese burger, they come with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, mayo, mustard and ketchup. Yes, that's mayo, mustard and ketchup. The three combine to make what I like to call the Short Stop Sauce, and it's great. Plus, do you remember when fast food restaurants used to "super-size" your order, but then got scared off by that Morgan Spulock movie? Short Stop knows what it is and gives you what you want... feel free to Super Size your Short Stop! The beef at Short Stop isn't super fancy, but it's straight up good and tastes like a hamburger should. There's no overpowering seasonings, and it's not super greasy, either. The condiments are straight fast food. Lettuce is chopped iceberg, pickles are dill, onions are white and diced, cheese is American, and the bacon is nice and crispy. The lightly toasted white hamburger buns hold everything together. Make sure to add a side of fries to your order. It's likely to be some of the best fast food fries you've had. Each fry is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Every time I've had their fries, they're always fresh and hot. I appreciate the very light salt added to the fries, since I can always add more salt if I want. But, I've never felt the fries were lacking in any way. Also, I really like the lack of grease. Fries are served in a paper bag, and there's very little grease in the paper even after several minutes on the drive home. There are two drive-throughs (one on each side of the building), and service is always very fast. Short Stop now accepts credit cards (except AMEX), so there's no excuse to give them a try. To top it off, Wednesdays and Saturdays offer a combo meal (1/4 lb burger, fries and a drink) for under four bucks! That's the best deal in town! Cross-posted on my blog: Burger Austin - The Best Burgers in Austin http://www.burgeraustin.com/2011/04/downtown-burgers-pound-burger.html

The wait in the drive thru was ridiculous and they didnt even give me my drink as I waited after I paid. Then to top it off the burger was cold.

Pretty damn good for a quick fast food burger joint. The burger tastes fresh, the fries are hot and fresh and it really does hit the spot. I'll definitely be making this place my quick fix for a burger. This was a cash only establishment but now accept CC's so that's a plus also but they are still fast with their service. Just amazing to get quality burger and fries from such a little shop quickly and not feeling like a total slob after eating. Helps when the ingredients are fresh. Also, the window staff is nice. Good people.

I go here on Saturdays usually to take advantage of the discounted #1 combo. The burgers are solid, but I really enjoy the fries. Decent fast food burger for a good price (especially on Wed or Sat).

How ya gonna give me a chili dog Sans chili?!? (I asked for it on the side ..... Didn't get it AT ALL

This makes for a good late night meal. I have tried several of their items and have been pleased. Having two drive thru's is great, specially late at night because this location is usually busy. It doesnt take long for you to get your meal. However, I have had an issue with the fries. You know as an employee when fries just shouldnt be served. I have had some soggy, not so warm ones before. I might just start asking for fresh fries even if I have to wait because I love me some good crispy fries. Never had an issue with the employees. (Except when they serve bad fries.)

This USED to be the best Short stop in town - the only one I would go to. Now I rarely go. The staff has changed. I haved talked to multiple managers about the present lack of quality control at this location (McNeil/183). When they do it right, it is a VERY GOOD burger. I usually get the bacon Cheeseburger, and WHEN THEY WERE GOOD - A WHILE AGO - I would come and just get the burger at full price, not caring if it was Wednesday or Saturday for the special. This burger would cost around $7 but I didn't care - when they made it right it was a delicious, extremely satisfying burger. Over the past 1-2 years, I have noticed a decline in the quality of food here. The manager who really cared before has gone to another location, and the staff here just doesn't seem to care. In the past 6 months or so, I have had a number of issues with my food here. One time, the burger patty was SO SALTY I honestly feel like the lid fell off as they were seasoning it, and they tried to dust off the excess. It was inedible really. I also had another instance with freis so salty that I could not eat them, not even after trying to dust them off, and also trying to get my fingers wet to get the saly to stick to my finger and get off the fries. They were destroyed with salt. But the issue I've been having lately - in the past few months - is that they are usually undercooking the meat. First of all, their patties are not thick. They are way skinnier than a McDonald's Quarter Pounder. So there really isn't an excuse for the entire patty to be pink in the center, except that the person behind the grill doesn't know how to cook a burger properly. I have received multiple burgers there recently with pink in the middle. So now, I have to order my burgers well-done, when I really don't want them well done -- I just want them cooked thoroughly. And unfortunately this tactic doesn't work. I ordered it well done recently, and I got a dried out patty that looked like it had been "staged" (waiting for a customer to come buy a burger) and then placed back on the grill to cook it more after I ordered a burger well done. The burger sucked. I have called the manager(s) at this store a couple of times about these issues, but still they just don't seem to care about quality. I also bought a chili burger which was almost devoid of chili, and there was absolutely no question that I would not be buying a chili burger from here ever again, because I felt pretty ripped off. I mean, I said no onions -- so there was only chili and cheese on this burger. Did they really have to skimp on the chili of my already meager burger. Honestly, it was pretty dry. And after this final act of disgust, I decided to write this review. I have given them enough chances. Called managers at different stores even to get to the bottom of things. So, why don't I just go to the Short Stop where that old manager went to?? Becase this Short Stop "was" special. It has a different grill than the other locations. for instance, I believe the Duval location uses a broiler, and managers have even told me that the Duval location doesn't have very good burgers for this reason. Anyway, The McNiel location was the last Short Stop holdout for me, and they have failed, failed, failed. It's really sad because I have been eating short stop along with the rest of my family for about 40 years. They used to be a great burger. Too bad the employees don't care and the management can't seem to get them to either.

final straw. im not eating here anymore. ya'll take orders then just make whatever you want. so tired of not getting what i order. its a shame cause i think ya'll have the absolute best fries compared to any other fast food chain. but this is like the fourth time straight. knowing how many times its been wrong in the past, i said what i wanted on my burger twice nice and slow, and the guy said it back to me. then what i got when i got home wasn't even close. ya'll need to start incorporating some sort of order checking where 1 person makes it while 1 person just stands their looking at the receipt and the person making it. Then, a third person should recheck it again. just because of that fact that the number of orders you get wrong statistically would probably require you to have 3 people checking orders to get half the orders right.

I get it. It's not healthy. Sometimes, though, you have to be a bit unhealthy in order to appreciate being healthy...gotta be a little bad to be good..... So I have been to several of the SS's in this area, and I am only going primarily describe their chicken tenders: Oh, they are good! Ask all of my co-workers....lol! (I am always like, you HAVE to try this, especially when I bring it back and they mention how good it smells.) They are so good and don't taste like chicken derived from Sea Monkeys or whatever chicken is being fabricated from or molded into these days. I grow timid about the all-too-familiar cases and remarks regarding this unearthed, unidentified, foreign-chicken-robot-zombie crisis that all too many drive-throughs are guilty of pushing off to the public through truly dirty (on all levels) drive-thru windows. However, SS's chicken literally tastes like fresh bird that was properly battered and fried. I am no expert, though. The staff is really nice, too! The prices are low for what you get! I also don't feel like a Gremlin after eating the chicken tenders nor have I grow feathers, hooks, or beaks afterwards. I am hoping that is a good sign. It is kind of wierd when I pay with a CC though...because they always hang onto it for what seems like a few minutes too long, every time, and I am just paranoid. I have found that to be the case accross the SS board, thought. Their credit card processor must be a bit slower than what I am accustomed to. I only take off a star because they don't have honey mustard. The right honey mustard would be a wonderful marriage to that deliciously fried chicken tender! I don't do gravy, so everytime they give me that, I don't use it. I am thankful that the locations are not always easy for me to access, so thanks for that, SS :)! (that could be habit forming, kidding, kind of)... They always have the food hot, ready, and quicker than Suze Orman breaking down the pitfalls of having a second mortgage.

Fresh hot fries at a good price! The workers are usually friendly. They do great work from a such small place! How do they do it? Great to grab a quick snack from this place when you need something quick or during a wait for a bus.

Catfish Friday's are the best at Short Stop. This is my first catfish meal from shortstop which is across the street from where I work. On Friday a four peice meal is only 4.99 plus tax. Make sure you take cash, they are cash only, but do take ATM cards with a $1.50 fee. The Catfish was great, but the fillets were on the small side. It's not a bad stop for lunch, hard to beat the price.

The wife and I love Short Stop. It's greasy, juicy, and cheap. We got the $3.99 specials tonight, and we haven't ever had anything else on the menu except for the addition of bacon to the specials sometimes. I hate all fast food. The meat at all the other burger places just tastes like icky mush to me. I don't care if they call it Black Angus or Never Frozen, it's always just gross. My kids were kinda freaked out when they saw the meat grinder in Short Stop pumping out meat! I'd never noticed it until today! We usually show up when it's dark though. There's just something about the Short Stop burger. It's not exactly mayo or miracle whip, but something in-between that makes us come back. It's always dripping good stuff everywhere. The fries are short but I love the crunchy tips and they're always hot and salty! No, it's not Sandy's or Dan's or Mighty Fine. It's just cheap and done right.

Best short shop in the Austin area ! I've been all over the Austin area this is at its best. My fries are alway fresh! Keep up the good work guys! Thanks , Renee

y'all got me messed up...... y'all didn't give me my goddamn apple pie. what kind of nonsense??????????????? the only reason why i wanted short stop and YALL MESSED ME UP LIKE THIS???? i'm so mad.

So, I usually get their Catfish Special on Fridays, but today I decided upon the Chicken Slammer 'cause it just sounded good. Ordering was simple and there was a pause after placing the order which was just long enough for me to look a LOT closer at their drink offerings. I discovered the most AMAZING thing ever. They serve fountain Apple Fanta, which I grew up on overseas and haven't had in nearly 5 years. I LOVED every sip and after the ice melted, sucked up the remaining flavor. Short Stop is my FAVORITE Austin fast food joint now. Good food and APPLE FANTA.

I've been craving a burger and I wanted to try someplace new but not get out of my car...hm...drive past my favorite mini-mall plaza and there's a Shortstop! I got the #1 meal -- burger, fries and drink and YEP, that was a GOOD CHOICE. The burger was juicy and tasted like MEAT. This is not common for drive-through burgers, I have no idea how they do it, but most fast food places take the burger flavor out of the burger. It was also juicy, I would not recommend eating in a white T-shirt, I will have to say that. Lots of lettuce that looked really lettucy -- actually green -- and good condiments, they listened when I said no ketchup, and the fries were tender and tasty. For a drink I got Cherry Limeade and it was yummy! I'd say on a par with Sonics but the burger was WAY above Sonic. Shortstop just shot to the top of my "quick burger run" places for sure!

The food is great but this last time I was cut off from ordering the rest of the food I needed to order and the cashier just told me to pull up. I tried getting her attention but I never got a response. When I finally did get to the cashier window to let her know I needed to order more food she had this angry look on her face. I have worked at drive thrus before so I'm sure it was frustrating but I tried before hand to order the food I needed. She told me they have never sold shakes when they are on the menu and Her apology was clearly not apologetic and the food I additionally needed had barely any sauces on them. I love short stop but sometimes the cashiers can be very rude.

What can I say? It's fast, cheap, and delicious! They have the best corn dogs ever! It's SO good when you want to be a little bit bad :P

You want a fast, good burger? Well here you go. They have deals on burgers Wednesday and Saturday that just sweeten the deal that much more too.

We don't eat here very often but every single time I have been impressed with their customer service. They are always so nice and friendly to the point that it makes me realize how rarely I get that anywhere else. I have never gotten an incorrect order and the food is always hot and fresh. You guys are doing a great job and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you. And my son appreciates the heck out of those hot apple pies. Fried, not baked. Yum.

So delicious! Hope they stay forever! Their charbroiled burgers taste unlike any other! Yum!

I would not advise going to this particular location, I recently stopped by for a quick bite, only to not be greeted and waited about 3 minutes only for someone to ask me to please hold. I stated that I would like fresh fries and I would not mind waiting. I also stated for easy mayo on my double meat burger. I sit down to eat my burger only to find that there was so much mayo it was seeping out of the sides of the burger as I went to scrape off the excess I see dried old meat. Needless to say the fries were limp and not appetizing.Instead of eating lunch I am writing a review only because I called to have no response. Thank you short stop for wasting my time and money.

I've eaten here several times (as well as other locations throughout the North Austin area, but I ate from this one today). I'm quite certain at this point that they sprinkle crack on their fries. They are fantastic.

Every time I was out late with a empty stomach, this was my first resort. I ordered the tenders meal and I loved it bcuz it came with half a toast gravy and fries IT DIDN'T COME WITH KETCHUP... I smuggled it in a theater once to watch infinity war, it was worth it.

My hamburger today was terrible. The meat was dry and didn't have flavor, one side of the bun was dry, the french fries tasted like they were dusted with flour. I can't believe I paid $6.15 for a hamburger and small fries. Short Stop used to have delicious burgers which at one time tasted like the Holiday House Hamburgers for those who remember Holiday House.

Omg..great double meat with cheese .so juice and hot..would have given it 5 stars but my chili cheese fries were not up to par..be back soon ..

Damn good burgers! This location will make it any way you want and it's always made fresh to order...just like at Whataburger but cheaper!! Definitely A MUST HAVE! =)