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Monthly Archives

February 2019

Feb 25
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Historic Burger Restaurant Opening First Expansion in Hutto

By Eater Austin

In the first-ever expansion for the 48-year-old retro fast food restaurant, Top Notch Burgers is coming to Hutto. The new second location will be in the under-development Hutto Co-Op District at 420 Highway 79, starting in 2020.

The new Top Notch will serve the same classic menu of charcoal-grilled burgers, fried chicken, and onion rings, although a press release teased new secret menu items. The new location will also include details from the original like car hop stations and classic signage.

The Hutto Co-Op District will also have a location of Elgin-based barbecue restaurant Southside Market and a location of movie theater and restaurant Flix Brewhouse. It will also house Hutto’s City Hall and library.

Top Notch is best known for its inclusion in the classic movie Dazed and Confused. Ray and Frances Stanish opened the Burnet Road restaurant in 1971. In 2010, after Ray’s death, Frances passed ownership to her brothers-in-law Kelly Chappell and Phillip Santa Cruz, who own fast-casual restaurants Zocalo Cafe and Galaxy Cafe.

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Feb 23
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Latest News, Hutto Co-Op District, Hutto, Hutto Texas, The Co-Op District

Top Notch Hamburgers is headed to Hutto

By KVUE Austin

Alright, alright, alright! Looks like Hutto is getting a little weird. 

Iconic Austin restaurant Top Notch Hamburgers will be opening a new location at the Hutto Co-Op District.

The hamburger joint, along with Flix Brewhouse and Southside Market & Barbeque, will soon reside in a dynamic 25-acre business, retail, entertainment and residential location on ‘The Gin’ property.

To view a KVUE TV Foodie Friday segment on Top Notch, CLICK HERE!

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Feb 22
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Latest News, Hutto Co-Op District, Hutto, Hutto Texas, The Co-Op District

Top Notch Expands to Hutto

By Austin Food Magazine

Top Notch Burgers has announced their expansion to a 35-acre mixed-use destination now under construction on U.S. Highway 79 in Hutto and is expected to open its doors in early 2020.

Top Notch is well known for its award-winning, drive-in diner-style cuisine, and equally beloved for its role in the coming-of-age cult hit, “Dazed and Confused.” The new location in Hutto will represent the restaurant’s first ever expansion.The owners are focused on creating as many iconic details as possible with the new Hutto location, including greeting guests by the unmistakable classic signage and car hop stations.  The building itself will include as many of the same designs and materials as possible.

The menu will include all of the current customer favorites and as well as a few new items from its secret menu.  As Top Notch has proven over the past 48 years, it will always continue to look for ways to extend its customer reach and maintain its presence as a community gathering place.

Top Notch will join an impressive lineup of restaurants and entertainment tenants that will be established at the Co-Op District, including Southside Market, Flix Brewhouse and Hutto City Hall.

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Feb 22
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The Co-Op District, Rendering, The Co-Op District Landscape Designers, The Co-Op District, Silos, The Co-Op, Hutto, Hutto Texas, Shopping, Entertainment, Food

Hutto’s Co-Op District lands Top Notch Hamburgers

By Austin Business Journal

Hutto’s Co-Op District has landed another tenant and this one comes with some history.

For its second location, Top Notch Hamburgers will open a store at the 35-acre mixed-use project in the Williamson County suburb. Founded in 1971, Top Notch has been selling burgers and fried chicken for nearly four decades from its location on Burnet Road and is regarded by many as an Austin institution.

The Co-Op District has also landed Southside Market barbecue restaurantand Flix Brewhouse movie theater as retail tenants.

Bob Wunsch of MA Partners, developer of The Co-Op District, said it took about eight or nine months to secure Top Notch’s commitment.

“One of our visions was to bring iconic Austin-area businesses to Hutto,” Wunsch said. “I think we fulfilled that promise.”

Top Notch is one of those small businesses many credit for bolstering Austin’s overall economy. The techies at Sailpoint Technologies love the brand so much, when it came time to donate food cans to the food bank as part of a contest they arranged them to look like the burger joint’s iconic sign.

Kelly Chappell, who is part of an ownership group that bought Top Notch in 2010, said they wanted to be on the “ground level” of Hutto’s growth.

“After all these years, we feel like [Hutto] has the small community feel that Austin did when I was growing up,” he said. “We feel like we picked the right project.”

Meanwhile, the 35-are Co-Op District continues to develop as one of the major projects for Hutto leaders. City staff are moving into the new City Hall building at the Co-Op on Monday. The mixed-use development is expected to have stores, offices and residential development, built a round a repurposed cotton gin on State Highway 79, about a mile west of downtown Hutto.

Wunsch said they’ve also gotten approval from the Texas Department of Transportation for work on Highway 79.

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Feb 21
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Latest News, Hutto Co-Op District, Hutto, Hutto Texas, The Co-Op District

Top Notch burger and fried chicken restaurant opening in Hutto

By Austin360

New Hutto is about to get a taste of Old Austin. Iconic burger and fried chicken restaurant Top Notch will open a location next year in the Hutto Co-Op District, a 35-acre mixed-use development that will also be home to the new Hutto City Hall.

The new location of the longtime Burnet Road burger joint memorialized in “Dazed and Confused” will join Co-Op tenants Southside Market & Barbecue of Elgin and Flix Brewhouse.

The new owners intend to transport the classic feel of the Leigh am to the new location, including aesthetic and service touches like the neon signage and car-hop stations.

Frances and Ray Stanish opened Top Notch in 1971, and Frances sold it to the team behind Galaxy Cafe in 2010.

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Feb 21
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Latest News, Hutto Co-Op District, Hutto, Hutto Texas, The Co-Op District

Iconic Austin drive-in restaurant shifts gears to open first new location in 48 years

By CultureMap Austin

It took almost 50 years, but Top Notch Burgers is finally getting a second location. The Austin institution is headed to the suburbs with an outpost in Hutto set to open in early 2020.

According to a release, the restaurant has signed on with Hutto Co-Op District, currently under construction on U.S. Highway 79. The ambitious development is a reimagined Main Street for the city, compete with a new city hall.

Founded in 1971 by Ray and Frances Stanish, Top Notch is one of the city’s most recognizable dining landmarks. The signage, car hop stations, and dining room has remained virtually untouched throughout the decades. In fact, keeping things the same was a stipulation when the Stanish family sold the spot to Phillip Santa Cruz and Kelly Chappell in 2010.

Its time capsule authenticity made it a natural choice when director Richard Linklater was scouting for locations for his 1993 cult hit Dazed and Confused. Chappell and Santa Cruz, whose families also own Zocalo and Galaxy Cafe, plan to bring the same ‘70s vibe to the new construction.

The building will be modern with more windows for natural light, but design elements and materials from the original — including the iconic sign — will be brought to Hutto. And, yes, it will still be a drive-in.

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Feb 21
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Latest News, Hutto Co-Op District, Hutto, Hutto Texas, The Co-Op District

Iconic Austin restaurant Top Notch Burgers to open its second location in Hutto

By Community Impact

MA Partners, developers of the Co-Op District in Hutto, announced Feb. 21 that Top Notch Burgers is going to open its second location in the mixed-use development. This is the first expansion for Top Notch Burgers, which has been in business since 1971.

“We know plenty of folks in Hutto who drive to Austin just to visit Top Notch, and we envision being met by friendly faces the day we open our doors,” said Kelly Chappell, owner of Top Notch Burgers.

Top Notch Burgers is known for its classic diner-style menu with drive-in style eating and car hops. The iconic Austin burger joint was also featured in the hit 1993 movie “Dazed and Confused”.

Chappell told Community Impact Newspaper that he expects Top Notch Burgers to open its Hutto location by early 2020. The restaurant’s patio will overlook the Co-Op District’s amphitheater in the development’s western section, according to Chappell.

The new Hutto location will closely resemble the iconic Top Notch Burgers on Burnet Road in Austin, complete with car hops and drive-in ordering, Chappell stated.

“I want to stay as true to the original design as possible, down to the brick and the booth and the decor inside,” Chappell said. “I really believe that we have something special and it is authentic. Why would we try to change that?”

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