Moreno Burger Co.

Moreno Burger Co

The patties are ground from the trim off the pit's own smoked briskets, and smashing that trim thin gives the edges a crust a scoring critic rates among the best in Austin.1

Why go

When Moreno Barbecue moved to 9900 I-35 South in 2025, owner Bo Moreno kept the original Menchaca room and turned it into a burger counter.2 His own reason for the split is the grind, and it is the interesting part. Brisket trim is not chuck. The fat is already rendered and the meat is already seasoned by bark, so a patty built from it eats smoky and rich without a minute in the smoker. The card is short: you choose a smoked or a smashed patty, regular or curly fries, and there is brisket chili, wings and pulled pork cheesesteaks alongside.1 The Infatuation's Nicolai McCrary scored it 8.1 in January 2026, and the useful part of that review is which of the two patties to ask for.1 Smashed wins. Pressing the trim thin against the griddle turns its rendered brisket fat into crust across the whole face of the patty, and McCrary puts that crust among the best in town. The smoked patty comes out thick, and its middle never picks up enough seasoning to keep up with its edges. One warning comes attached to the good one: the toppings are fully customizable and it is easy to overload the thing. Keep it simple.1

Order this / avoid

• Order: the smashburger. Double patties smashed hard, edges incredibly crispy, and a griddled crust The Infatuation rates among the best in Austin.1
• Order: the wings, smoked first and then fried. Ask for the honey mango habanero.1
• Avoid: the smoked burger. The same review finds the patty so thick that the inside never picks up enough seasoning.1
• Go easy on the toppings. They are fully customizable and McCrary's advice is to keep things simple.1
• Also on the card: brisket chili, pulled pork cheesesteaks, regular or curly fries.1
• Avoid: arriving expecting a tray of barbecue. The pit is at the South I-35 address now; this room kept the burgers.2

What locals & experts say

• Nicolai McCrary, The Infatuation Austin, 16 January 2026, 8.1: The griddled crust on the smashburger makes it one of the best in town, with the caveat that fully customizable toppings are dangerous.1
• The same review on the smashburger itself: These double patties are smashed hard, and the edges are incredibly crispy.1
• And on the smoked burger: The meat is cooked to a nice and even pink, but it's so chunky that the inside doesn't get enough seasoning.1
• On the wings: They're smoked first, then fried. He finds them less crisp than others in town and says We like the honey mango habanero for a bit of sweet kick.1
• On the room: he calls the space unremarkable, bare walls and a digital menu, and says the picnic tables outside are the place to linger.1
• Bo Moreno, in that piece: We had a great following with our burgers, and it all comes from trim from our briskets, so we figured we could differentiate the menu from our new location and still serve the old neighborhood. Operator testimony about his own business, not a verdict on it.2

Good to know

• Which Moreno this is: the burger shop at 5608 Menchaca Rd, the pit's original address. Moreno Barbecue itself is now at 9900 I-35 S., Suite M700.2
• Timing: the review covers lunch.
• Hygiene: no inspection record exists for either Moreno business. The operation started as a trailer and Austin's published dataset excludes mobile vendors, which is the likeliest reason there is nothing here, and absence is not a clean bill of health.3
• Getting there: Menchaca Road, south Austin.

Verdict

should-visit — A burger counter in the room a barbecue pit used to occupy on Menchaca, kept open by the same owner after Moreno Barbecue moved down to South I-35, and scored 8.1 by The Infatuation in January 2026. The reason it is interesting is the grind: Bo Moreno says the burgers come from the trim off his own briskets, which puts rendered fat and bark-seasoned meat into the patty and carries smoke by a route most smash burgers cannot take. The verdict is that the trim wants to be smashed. Nicolai McCrary calls the smashburger's griddled crust one of the best in town and finds the thick smoked patty under-seasoned in its middle. Wings come smoked and then fried, the fries come curly, and brisket chili and pulled pork cheesesteaks fill out a short card. No published source gives hours, prices or an inspection score for the address.