Lone Star Attitude is the new burger place on the square. It opened up to the public just yesterday, Monday, November 11th. Reviewing local restaurants such as these can be tough for a hyper-local blog such as ours. We sometimes exist within the confines of a catch 22. Some folks expect us to hype anything that opens just for the sole fact that it is locally owned. Others, give us flak for giving a hard time to local restaurants that we don’t feel are up to snuff. We’re not in the business of making people happy. We just like to share stuff that we like and pass our thoughts on as for what we think is worth doing/trying in town (and what isn’t). That said, Lone Star Attitude thankfully doesn’t give us too much trouble. We like this place.
LSA isn’t the first upscale burger establishment to hit downtown. After all, Tim Love’s Loveshack closed it’s doors just one year ago before turning into a steakhouse (we still have a lot to say about that, but let’s save it for later). Love Shack was often empty. We don’t foresee the same problem for LSA.
Just a few of those friendly bartenders.
The space that once housed Denton County Hamburgers has seen a massive overhaul. Heck, they’ve even added a rooftop patio to the darned thing. While, at times, we were slightly apprehensive about the space, after having seen it in action last weekend, we can’t wait to go back again. The sign is a fairly good indicator of the inside - lots of flash, but artfully built. The ambiance is really conducive for a great post-work happy hour with friends. Drinks underneath the beer bottle chandelier or even sitting at the bar downstairs chatting with the friendly staff will probably be in the future of many Dentonites. Now that we are able to have a view of a band playing with the courthouse as background, we can’t imagine how we ever lived without it. We don’t even care if it’s an alt-country bluegrass band. We’ll still stick around.
Homage to the old Denton County Hamburger hanging in the hallway.
Are you tired of us not talking about the food yet? The burgers here are of quality stuff. We tried the “Georgie Boy,” their burger offering with bacon and cheddar cheese. It was meaty and the toppings were fresh. It sure did a good job of warranting its existence in a world full of cheeseburgers. Time will tell whether they’re the best in town (we still need to put them up against RG’s, Sweetwater’s and Rooster’s), but we can definitely give these burgers a thumbs up for your meat, cheese and bread eating approval. We hope to go back soon and try some of the other choices. Namely, the “Stevie,” with it’s blue cheese and bacon. Aside from the burgers, the fries were wonderful - perfectly salty with just the right amount of crispness, not too thin and not too thick. LSA offers alterations on their fries in the form of chili cheese fries and garlic parmesan fries. We got a chance to try the former, topped with real Texas chili and plenty of cheese, and were more than pleased.
Lucky for you we spent our fair share of time at the bar, since we know how important the cocktail scene is to you. Normally, at places as glitzy as LSA, the drinks tend to be overly sweet and made from mixes. Thankfully, LSA is better than their flashy brethren in this case. The drinks were skillfully muddled and swirled and deliciously strong. Believe us, we tried all of them. (We're not kidding, we really did.) The price points were right on mark, too. If you’re looking for fun dining on the square, LSA is gonna be hard to be beat.
While the place is not the most prim and proper, who needs it to be? White tablecloths be damned! This is Denton y'all. There are probably at least two city councilmen at a tattoo parlor right at this very moment (no tribals, guys). Love Shack doesn’t exist anymore because they never understood that fact. LSA, however, seems to get it. We have a pretty good feeling they'll able to sustain it too.
The Last Supper - but with all Texas musicians. We love that the owners have made sure every corner is full of Texas charm and is as creative as Denton itself.