The Texas Burger Restaurant That Joined Forces With A Laundromat

If you have to do chores, you might as well make it fun. Such is the concept fueling the decision to combine laundry machines with a bar selling craft beer. At Harvey Washbangers, Texans can fill two needs at once: Clean laundry and drink cold pints. The restaurant-laundromat combination provides both the machines and the menus for locals and visitors alike to pass the time while waiting for spin cycles to complete.

Guests can order buckets of beers of their choosing, picking out six bottles from a dense list of craft IPAs, lagers, ales, sours, stouts, and ciders. A rotating selection of beers on tap offers fresh pours, and for teetotalers, hand-spun milkshakes made with Blue Bell ice cream serve up a sweet treat on washing day. With happy hour discounts, weekday lunch specials, and organized trivia nights, getting the laundry done has never seemed so appealing — and we haven't even begun to describe the burgers on the menu.

In the 1930s, the first laundromat was established in Fort Worth, Texas. The Depression-era entrepreneurial endeavor launched a wave of similar establishments across the nation until clothes-washing appliances became more accessible to the average consumer and wound up in 1950s homes. Yet for San Antonio's Pete and Phyllis Lair, the nostalgia of the laundromat never waned, and the couple opened Harvey Washbangers in 1997. The site remains a family-owned and run operation, as the pair's son Michael has assumed the position of general manager. 

In addition to overseeing operations, the younger Lair has taken it upon himself to develop the food menu at Harvey Washbangers. "I like playing with my food," he told My Aggie Nation. "We wanted to bring in some different flavors. We wanted most of the menu to reflect Texas." With hot dogs slathered in barbecue sauce, generous servings of taco salads, and a variety of burgers to choose from, Lair seems to have succeeded in his mission.

At Harvey Washbangers, BLTs come garnished with fried green tomatoes, and juicy hot dogs are wrapped in bacon. Sweet potato fries are served with honey horseradish, and "Porkaholic" cheese fries arrive at tables covered in layers of applewood smoked pulled pork, bacon, melted cheddar cheese, pickled jalapeños, and barbecue sauce. Those with appetites as big as their laundry loads can feast upon a variety of filling burger options, like the 6-ounce chorizo burger made with chorizo, Mexican pork sausage, and Angus beef. Topped with pepper Jack, spicy housemade avocado pico, and a sprinkling of tortilla chips before being packed into a sourdough bun hot off the grill, this burger is one for the books.

"It was one of the first ones that we did that we blended our own patties. That one kind of spring-boarded us to the Cajun Burger, which is really popular as well," the younger Lair explained to My Aggie Nation. Enjoyed with a cold brew, it would be easy enough to forget about the clean clothes in need of folding.