P Terry’s Founders Patrick and Kathy Terry Have Elevated Their Austin Stores Into the Must Visit Category and Are Now Eying Houston

As a young man in Abilene working for the legendary Mack Eplen, Patrick Terry caught the burger bug and throughout his matriculation at UT Austin and later at a large Dallas advertising agency he never once lost sight of his goal of opening a great burger joint.

Like so many former UT alums he returned to Austin, where he opened a small pizza and sandwich joint on Congress Avenue in the mid 80’s to gain some more experience.

When the small tract of land at South Lamar and Barton Springs that had been occupied by The Short Stop became available, Patrick jumped at the opportunity to put his plan to work. After some creative input from his wife Kathy, the first P. Terry’s Burger Stand was born.

While there was discussion about outside dining, that first store quickly evolved into a drive through model. The menu, meticulously crafted by Terry and his wife, included bacon cheeseburgers and a newer introduction to Austin’s taste: the Veggie Burger.

As the restaurant evolved it was clear that the fries were at the top of the food chain and that was hardly by accident. Along with their exceptional taste, they were also exceptionally crispy. And on to go orders, they remained crispy without getting the least bit soggy.

This unusual but highly popular phenomenon was the result of endless experimentation by Terry and his crew. They realized that potatoes contained an abundance of sugar that increases sogginess. Through many trials they developed a technique to extract the sugar from the potatoes, then tested the potatoes with a small strip much like might be found in a diabetic test kit.

Through this experimentation they determined the very best potatoes to  buy that met their criteria and in doing so they developed what are arguably (along perhaps with Hyde Park’s) the best fries in town.

Patrick and Kathy have always had a fondness for banana bead, so after they had accomplished most of their culinary goals at the stores, they held a recipe contest for the best banana bread. While it may be a bit of an unusual menu item for a burger joint, the winning recipe came up aces. My wife and I buy it regularly by the pricier loaf as opposed to the slice. We love it! And Patrick tell me he begins day with a slice for breakfast. Can’t say I blame him.

Another thing that has impressed me about Patrick is his absolute dedication to customer satisfaction. And as he sees it now, that’s his current job description. So At P. Terry’s there’s no customer complaint that goes unresolved. Ever!

He’s also uncompromising about issues that might escape other drive through places. As he told me, from the years he’s put in, he can totally sense the rhythm of the line, from the end of it to the arrival at the pickup window. When it gets out of rhythm he dispatches additional employees into the line to expedite traffic flow. And he knows that the elapsed time from ordering and picking up the food should be no longer than between five to eight minutes.

Want to build customer satisfaction? That’s where it starts!

From the opening of their original store in 2005, Kathy and Patrick have watched their business expand to eight locations with several new locations planned, including a huge move to Houston. It’ll be fun to see how those uniquely developed fries play in the new food Mecca of Texas! But I’ll tell you this, I wouldn’t bet against them, or Patrick Terry for that matter.