Hopdoddy

South Congress is home to many famous trailer food trucks and restaurants. One of those restaurants is Hopdoddy. There are three different locations, one of them being at 1400 S Congress Avenue in Austin. What is it famous for? Burgers and beer. I'm too young for the beer part, so I'm just sticking with the burgers.

The menu is made up of 12 different kinds of burgers. Each of them are very different. I always order the classic burger with a root beer float and - sometimes - some french fries. After waiting for what seemed like no time at all, my food was handed to me. Everything was better than I expected. The float had handmade ice cream in it and the burger was so juicy and filling. It's always the best burgers that tend to fall apart at those last couple of bites, and the ones from Hopdoddy seem to always do that. 

Photo by Aimee Wenske

The atmosphere is very friendly. It can get a bit too crowded and there are always those tables with the loud, drunken people. Seating on the outside is a plus, but not when there are smokers or cheap, live music coming from the restaurant next door. But if you can't hold in your appetite for ten minutes in the line, you can always order a drink (not just beer) at the bar. 

Now I can't think of any cons about Hopdoddy. Well, maybe the fact that if you have a party of more than six people, your party would have to be split at seated at different tables. Also you can't order to-go oders. Anyway, they offer gluten free buns and vegetarian burgers (for those of you who are interested). It's very casual and welcoming. Oh, actually it is a bit pricey.

Interested? Here's a link to their website.

http://www.hopdoddy.com/burgers/

Feeling Somewhat Embarrassed

Link to Carolyn Chen's article, "Asians: Too Smart for Their Own Good?" 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/opinion/asians-too-smart-for-their-own-good.html?ref=contributors

       In Carolyn Chen’s opinion piece, “Asians: Too Smart for Their Own Good?”, from New York Times, the author explains that colleges select their students based on their race, and that they generally admit Asian-Americans. But she is stating that the Asian-Americans feel ashamed of their identity. Chen uses logos to support her claim in paragraph two when she writes, “Asian-Americans constitute 5.6 percent of the nation’s population but 12 to 18 percent of the student body at Ivy League schools.” This is basically saying that there are many Asian-Americans in Ivy League schools... duh.

       Chen also uses pathos to support her claim in paragraph eight when she says “...students tell me that they feel ashamed of their identity - that they feel viewed as a faceless bunch of geeks... When they succeed, their peers chalk it up to ‘being Asian.’” I think what the author is trying to state here is that not all Asian-Americans are the same. We can’t expect all of them to grow up and have very successful jobs as engineers, doctors, etc.

       My opinion on this topic is just like Chen’s. If colleges are only looking into admitting more Asian-Americans and not everyone else, then “we are sending a message to all the students that hard work and good grades may be a fool’s errand.” I agree with her when she states that “we are now stigmatizing their [immigrants from places like Taiwan,  South Korea and India] children for inheriting their parents’ work ethic and faith in a good education. How self-defeating.” I feel like the United States is being hypocritical over this whole issue. We let them into our country because they were very smart and very successful at their jobs. But now we are characterizing these immigrants as disgraceful or ignominious? Those ‘titles’ should go to us. South Korea was ranked with best education in the world after Finland in the Global Education Ranking. The United States was ranked in 17th place and rated ‘average.’ In a way, I feel somewhat embarrassed.