What’s with Austin’s Odd Fascination with Lines at Restaurants?

If you go out to eat in Austin fairly often, as my wife and I do, you’ll almost surely happen upon a place with a ridiculously lengthy line. Yes, the restaurant may be good, but there seems to be an almost unusual tolerance for the lines and subsequent waiting at these spots.

So here’s a list of places where the lines are usually and predictably lengthy. And my question is simply: Why the extraordinary patience customers show?

FRANKLIN BARBECUE
Best BBQ in Austin? Perhaps or perhaps not, but no question they serve up some damn good Q. Still, 3 1/2 hour waits? And that with absolutely no guarantee they’ll be served. It’s astonishing to watch, especially in summer.

P. TERRY’S BURGER STAND
We joined a lengthy line of cars in the drive-thru queue. By the time we reached the place to order we had gone through the entire cd of Hamilton. And all four sides! If I heard “I’m not giving away my shot” one more time I was going to start screaming. But was it just me? Because I noted that there seemed to be very little impatience from all those other drivers.

Finally we ordered and honestly the cheeseburger was decent, but to go through all that? Sorry but I just don’t get it.

CHUY’S
A long time Austin favorite that’s home to insane waits. I like Chuy’s but I still don’t get the wait thing. It’s almost like a rite of passage for locked and loaded Longhorns. Kind of like pledging your fealty to the Lord of the Manor. Perhaps we should ask Jenna Bush. 🙂

HOPDODDY BURGER BAR
When this burger favorite opened near my last office on South Congress, I took my intern over for lunch. After a quick walk the place came into view, with a line stretching out the door and all the way around to the back.

Very little has changed since then. The concoctions inspired by Larry Perdido still resonate, and even with their fairly high prices and the aforementioned wait, the die hard partisans keep clamoring to get in. Good for Chuck and Larry. Just another notch in the “How long will they wait?” legend.