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North Austin fast-casual restaurant and drive-thru Buddy’s Burger is opening a second location up in Round Rock. The Sunrise Road and East Old Settlers Boulevard restaurant will open sometime in late 2022 with dine-in and drive-thru services.
Buddy’s is known for its smash burgers — the Angus beef patties are formed by hand, placed in potato buns, and layered with lettuce, tomatoes, and the house Smack sauce. Both the patty and sauce are based on family recipes of co-owners Zain Fidai and Isha Fidai (both of whom are twins), and Saad Fidai (their cousin). Their grandparents had started and developed the recipes for the patties and sauce for family functions since 1999.
Along with the plain smash burger, there are cheese and spicy iterations, plus optional add-ons like grilled jalapenos and raw onions. Also on the menu are handspun milkshakes (Mexican vanilla, Oreo, chocolate), fries (plain or seasoned), house-made lemonade (with a mango version), and iced teas, and soda.
The Round Rock restaurant is being built right now, hence the lack of address. There will be dine-in areas as well as the drive-thru.
The trio opened the first Buddy’s Burgers in June 2020, something they had wanted to do for some time. After Round Rock opens, they want to eventually open additional locations throughout the Austin area and Central Texas region over the next several years.