Hut’s Hamburgers – Austin, Texas

When I went downtown to make photographs in early May, part of it was to test a new camera, the Panasonic GM1. However, I was also there to document Austin, especially during the quiet of the pandemic. This was before the protests and upheavals that we are experiencing right now.

I saw Hut’s Hamburgers and recalled that this 80-year-old establishment recently closed. Over its history, the restaurant has been in a few locations but has been here since 1969. An Austin icon, I felt it was worthwhile to document the sign and the building before it changed. Assuming that this modest structure would be torn down and replaced by a high-rise. The rapid pace of development is quickly altering the downtown landscape.

There are no immediate plans for a gleaming tower, I found out. Instead, an Italian restaurant is supposed to take over. That is unless the fallout from the economic slowdown doesn’t change plans.

I’ve eaten here, once or twice, a long time ago. It was back when I first moved to Austin in the early 1990s. Since then, while I often visit downtown for my photography, I usually didn’t make it to this area. I read that sales had diminished over the years, eventually leading to its demise.

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