Christians have Jesus, the Chinese have Confucius, and Indians have Gandhi, but Generation X has The Dude. If you are not philosophically enlightened, The Dude is Jeffery Lebowski, a character from the 1998 Coen Brothers’ movie “The Big Lebowski.” The movie is filmed, in part, in a bowling alley, where The Dude famously utters “The Dude abides.” Hence the name Lebowski’s Grill, tucked comfortably inside Highland Lanes at Burnet and 183.
You can order at the counter or through an app using a QR code. In keeping with the theme of things, I ordered The Dude, 1/3-pound Angus beef patty topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayo, and mustard carefully placed between a bun with your choice of tots or waffle fries ($12). I added cheese (+$1.25). If you need to substitute a salad, add another buck.
You have the choice of numerous four-top tables this side of the lanes, at the bar, or several tables in the lounge. In keeping with the theme, I chose the lanes. I suggest you stay close since they yell your name when your chow is ready (although they microphoned my name at dinner). I recommend you dress in layers: It’s colder than Akureyri in there!
The burger was dang good! A quality patty left pink in the middle bookended by an excellent, soft-but-sturdy bun. The burger moo’ed with beefiness while the mustard pleasantly twanged. The waffle fries seemed a bit vintage (I was there a bit after the lunch rush), so get the tater tots, which receive rave reviews, instead. If a single patty ain’t enough, order The Walter (a double pattied, doubled cheesed Dude).
All of the burger patties can be substituted with grilled or fried chicken breast. On my next visit, I tried the fried chicken version of The Buffalo Dude (patty tossed in buffalo sauce topped with pepper jack cheese, homemade ranch dressing, lettuce, and tomato; $14). Hoo-howdy, that was a mess of goodness! The chicken It’s not spicy in the least. Other items on the menu include The Inferno (grilled onions & jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, homemade jalapeno ranch, lettuce), and several other styled burgers.
You obviously get a din with your dinner with balls striking wood, pins collapsing into gutters, undecipherable pop music, and the occasional smattering of applause. The cacophony sounds like a civil war battlefield (“Spare no man; we shall strike now!”). But like a seasoned general who doesn’t duck as missiles careen overhead, the hullabaloo retreats into the background like defeated Southerners.
If you go, go soon. Highland Lanes expects the bulldozers after the end of the year when the inevitable redevelopment comes calling. As The Stranger says in The Big Lebowski: “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you.”
The Food abides.
Lebowski’s Grill; 8909 Burnett Road, Austin, TX 78757; (512) 458-1215
austin wanderlist 