The Good News Burgers — Restaurant in San Antonio

Remember how you had to squeeze inside the door to get in line to order at Chris Madrid's before they expanded? Now think 5 times smaller and you have an idea of the hobbit sized service area inside Papa's. There's just enough space for about 8 people in front of the counter and sliding door refrigerator where you select a canned soda (no cup of ice) for your meal.

The tiny building may have existed as a gas station in recent history with the kitchen occupying a mechanic's bay. What must have been a storage room is the only sit down, air conditioned area with 5 small tables, trash can and condiment stand, a shiny Tyvek "wall" full of car photos and a big screen TV. You have to exit the order area and walk across the front to get to the windowless little room. Not to worry however, as the front of the building also has a number of picnic tables inside a chain linked, fenced in area. It brings to mind the term "captive audience", but the highway traffic was the only entertainment here.

While we waited in a short line to order, we found the menu on the wall to be double take interesting as well as a bit surprising. Among the listing of burgers, dogs, fish and deliberately designated "shicken" sandwiches there was a little sign that caught my eye. "Tiburon Takos". Oh, come on! Where can you get a shark taco in this town?! A curiosity I wish I had asked more about. A further curiosity was the fact that this little classic Chevy meeting place uses buns for their hamburgers that come from Las Vegas! With that, I half expected to get purple french fries made from potatoes imported from Bolivia, but I ordered the onion rings instead which were imported from the freezer and tasted like it. Same for the krinkle fries.

Fresh produce, burger patties ground from steak, and those toasted sin city buns were like having the winning numbers for hamburger Keno . . . two 1/3 lb. patties with double cheese . . . I had gambled on the big burger (my breakfast and lunch) combo and ate every juicy bite. My wife liked her 1/3 lb. burger as well, but would have preferred a 1/2 lb. patty for a beefier taste and appetite satiation which they do not offer. That's just one of the nits I might pick here with the rest not worth the mention and otherwise leaving any Wimpy character an urge to borrow enough money for just one more burger bite.

I had wondered why the tight order area also contained an ATM next to the drink fridge until the family in front of us tried to pay with a credit card. Cash only! Further appreciation of the reason for the ATM existed when I paid the bill. I had not expected to fork over $27.50 for two burger combos with 2 canned drinks in a place like this though, but the absence of almost 3 sawbucks from my wallet was unmistakable. Classic case of win some and lose some. I think I did both here. Hurry up Floyd's...

Mmm. This is a tasty burger! Had the bacon cheese burger. Kids had the original. To start, parking is kinda limited. I had to wait a bit for a spot. (Shhh, I parked at the gas station until it opened up.) parked within 5 minutes. No credit cards yet, atm said no fees. Service is great! Very friendly staff. Now onto the food, “I like big buns and I cannot lie!” Sorta reminded me of the Hawaiian rolls? But not as sweet. They were Texas Toasted. Awwww yeahhhhh. No condiments are in the burger, which is seasoned well, packets are available. The meat was not greasy or drippy, but not dry either. I had grilled onions but you can get raw or none. Fries are meaty crinkle fries with light salt and pepper. I liked that, daughter likes heart attack inducing salt, so she said they were aight. Son had the tots which were your standard tots. Daughter had the onion rings which we both agreed were the bomb diggity. I’m assuming batter fried because the crust was pretty smooth. What we REALLY liked was that the onion stayed inside the breading when you bite into it. Yes!! Drinks are Pepsi products at a self serve fountain if that matters to you. Seating area seemed small, but ended up being just right. Nice new clean tables. The chairs scrape on the floor when you move in and out, which made my misophonia spike, but that’s a minor issue for me. Over all, delicious! Friendly! They didn’t make a big deal that we were still there at 8:20pm when they close at 8:00. Great...

I had high hopes for this place when I heard of the rankings it received. At the front counter they have a trophy stating they were voted the best burger in San Antonio. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by a customer's back side. The register line only holds 5 people at the most so if you go with your family it's best to have them wait outside while you order. I was shocked that they didn't accept credit or debit. But they conveniently have an ATM that charges an addition 3 bucks 10 feet away from the register. If they have a phone line for the ATM they can have a credit / debit card system. I've seen panhandlers with the square swipe app. I can't think of a bank within a 5 mile radius near there. They didn't have any booster chairs at all. So my 2 year old son sat on my lap while I tried to eat the burger. 2 bacon burger meals, add guacamole on one, and a kids meals for 6.50 totaled to 33.xx plus 3 dollars for the ATM. I think I got charged a bit extra somewhere. I waited 15 for my meal. My party that was with me, ordered 2 orders before us and they were finished eating by the time we got our food. I Am Legend was playing on the tv and my 2 year old son was terrified of the zombies or creatures that were getting slaughtered. The dining room was very small and crowded. I had to be the door patrol to keep the flies out, since the door doesn't automatically shut on it's own. The food was good. But the other bad experiences...