Nau’s Enfield Drug

I just had my first trip back to Naus in about 10 years. The nostalgic feeling you get when you walk in is unbeatable. The staff is in uncomparable (is that a word). The food is still great, however, the portions seemed to take a hit. I will continue to eat here, I don’t want to see this place disappear!

I went to eat here with the family after a visit to the playground at Pease Park. Our first visit to Nau’s. We were pleased. Waitress was pleasant and attentive.
The pdf of the menu on their website had more choices than the one handed to us, but we just ordered what we wanted, including the choices we didn’t see on the menu in the pharmacy.
The general-​store nature of the place gave our (active) kids something to help distract them while we were waiting for food.
Our kids had their first shake here, a banana shake. It was up to the rim, and delicious. We all shared, each having our own straw.
All the food was good. Portions modest. The BLT a little small — I let my wife have a quarter of my club. I was pleased by the thick turkey and thick ham slices used on my bacon, ham, and turkey club.
We plan to return.

Their website states they close the fountain soda at 4.15pm. After hearing they’re having financial difficulties I decided to visit on the only day I leave work early. I got in at 4.08pm and wanted just a milkshake. I asked what time they closed and they said 4.15 so I said «ok, so still 7 min from now» but I left empty handed as they were already cleaning the grills.
Last time I’m there. Maybe its lack of respect for their customers what brought financial difficulties upon their business. I’m all for supporting small local businesses but I’m not willing to accept crappy service n

Had a delightful lunch early this afternoon at Nau’s. I ordered a grilled cheese with tomato, and they went to the extra trouble of searing the tomato slice so it wouldn’t be cold in the sandwich. I was most impressed with the service, and will continue to enjoy lunches here for years to come.

After reading in the newspaper that one of Austin’s institutions (opened in 1951) is in financial difficulty, we left our neighborhood and went to have lunch to support Nau’s and the family that has owned this drugstore/​fountain since 1971. I do understand some of the criticism on this page from out of towners, but come on KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD and support local businesses.
It is a step back in time to visit this very casual and quaint café and fountain. Our very friendly waitress alerted us to the negative backlash from raising prices and that many were very upset. (ex, they raised the price of a cheeseburger from $ 4.50 to $ 6.50. How do you complain about a $ 6.50 cheeseburger when they charge $ 10.50 for a cheeseburger across the street). They did lower the price of coffee to $ 2.50. This place can never be duplicated and must stay open.
My wife and I both got cheeseburgers (her small and mine large), ice tea and chips and we paid $ 22.00. Chips are separate. We would have paid $ 30.00 for lesser quality food across the street. There is clearly great quality for value at Nau’s. (The guy next to us order bacon and eggs and they looked great.)
Well the griddle is at least 65 years old, so guess what, the burger was fabulous. It was on of those you can’t put down.
Again, friendly service, great quality food, history ambiance, and support of local business, how can you beat that.

One of my favorite places has gone off the rails. You used to be able to come here and have a decent greasy spoon breakfast for $ 5. Now, it’s more expensive than Whole Foods. $ 4.50 for a three item breakfast taco ?
$ 3.50 for a coffee? Are you joking?
The dream is over, and sadly I will not return until they become sensible.

This place became a rip off!!!. We came in and asked for a Menu and the woman that was attending said they didn’t have one. Would’ve been smart for me to stop right there and see something bad was coming. She said but we can do anything you want. So we went ahead and order a breakfast special, which she said they don’t longer have. Bummer, Ok, then just broke down the items We wanted… 2 over easy egg, 2 bacon strips, toast, hash browns and a coffee (x2). (Not to mention that we had to write down our order!!!)… The server had a sweet voice but you can feel her sarcasm and the way she refused to serve us. When we finished, she dropped the check… A breakfast that used to be 4.99 usd per person, went crazy expensive as $ 30 both. That’s insane!!. we totally regret coming to this place, as 24 hrs, counter café, kerbey lane have way better service, attitude and prices! I do recommend not to let the people from there mislead you and you should demand a Menu, with prices and everything. So you are aware at least of this. You would judge about service later…
We went to the cashier to ask him about what was going on on here and why would they not provide us a menu to be aware of the changes. He said: what do you mean?.. We have menus! He walked to the back of the counter and gave us one. Then the lady turned to us and said: «oh thank you!!» In a very very sarcastic way. That was the worst part. I can’t believe why would she simply refuse to provide the basic item that a customer needs!
We came here cause we used to love the place and the ambience. But I’ll make sure not to come back here ever again. So disappointing that this place has changed so much!

This place is like stepping back into time. It is a pharmacy as well as a restaraunt. It does not seem like anything has been updated since the 1950s. The restaruant has that old school diner feel to it. There are tables and booths. We sat in a booth for that true retro feel. I can’t say it was that comfortable, but it sure was hip.
Our waitress promptly waited on us. Not being too hungry, we passed on a meal. I did order a chocolate malt. It has been many years since I have had a chocolate malt. This one was great. They even gave us the ‘extra’ in a steel cup. Love it.
While you are there, go outside and check out the mural. It is a great photo op.

The place makes living in Clarksville even better than it already is! Family owned and operated. The staff is very nice and the pharmacists are knowledgeable and go out of their way to help you!
The grilled cheese is my favorite!

Step into history and have some breakfast or a great hamburger or a old fashion shake or fountain soda. This place is off the beaten path and it’s definitely NOT for everyone. The staff at Nau’s Rx provide and unparalleled style and class of customer service.
I like to come here for a breakfast plate or a couple of made-​to-​order tacos and sit at the counter and read the paper, yes the actual paper and not news on the phone. Talk to your neighbor about what’s going on while the ladies behind the counter keep the coffee flowing.
When you’re done eating stroll around and check the place out. They have autographs from just about everyone on their back wall.
Support Local, Keep Austin Weird!

Their burger, which is the apparent thing to get here, was average at best. It also took a really long time to receive it and they weren’t busy. My buddy who wanted to try this place felt the same about the burger as well. Their hash brown was on par with McDonald’s hash brown which wasn’t a bad thing.
I do like the concept of this burger/​ice cream place being at the back of a drug store. As much as I like a gourmet burger, there is something to be said for just a damn good greasy burger. This unfortunately, for me at least, was not one of them.

Nau’s on a sunny spring Sunday afternoon is simply a delight for this native Texan. We just happened to be passing through the neighborhood when the brilliant idea popped into my head that we (my 3^rd grader and I) must stop and have an old fashioned soda fountain treat. I hadn’t been inside since the 1990’s and as far as I can tell, not a dang thing has changed.
The place is still funky and friendly and slow and cluttered and eclectic in the best way (see Kyle’s review from 2008 — it’s all still true). Imagine a small town drug store being run by your grandparents and teenage cousins, one where all the neighbors occasionally wander in to discuss the news of the day. Tweens who live nearby can ride their bikes over (Unattended, well-​behaved, free range children! In 2016! How wonderful!) and have a burger and chips (not fries, as they don’t have a fryer) in a little booth while debating the merits of Pokemon over Magic the Gathering. Dads and little kids can come by on a «Let’s give Mom a couple hours peace and quiet» outing for lunch and enjoy breakfast tacos at the counter while spinning on the ancient vinyl-​coated bar stools.
We chose one chocolate shake and one cherry ice cream soda (the one with the carbonated water, cherry syrup, vanilla ice cream, and fluffy whipped cream topping). My thick $ 4.50 chocolate shake (served with a spoon, not a straw) was perfect, with a bold chocolatey taste that seems harder and harder to find these days. The boy’s cherry soda (served in a chilled, iconic, tall soda glass) was a blast from the past, a unique combination of flavors (tart, bitter, sweet, bubbly, creamy) that evolved as the ingredients melted and blended together. Even my world’s most picky eater loved it!
Thank you, Nau’s. Don’t ever change.

Eaten at Nau’s since 1970, but the last time there was horrible. 30 minutes to get two tacos and an order of eggs and bacon. A larger, later table was fed before us. No explanation or apologies were offered. The long-​time cooks (20 plus years?) were let go and service and quality have suffered greatly. Sorry, but the seventh time is the charm; I give up.

I’ve been here since ’72 but I’ll never set foot in this place again
the food is nasty «fresh can soup»? the skinny mexican cook with the gap always reeks a marijuana, i saw him in the back of the stor smoking with a weed pipe, nasty guy to have in a kitchen

Don’t be fooled. Anybody who gives this place more than one star hasn’t been there in awhile. At one point, Nau’s was a great throwback — not anymore. Now’s it’s just a sad hole. Most of the shelves are empty of merchandise. The magazine rack where diners could thumb through mags while waiting for their food is empty. The food is abysmal, and the service non-​existent.
My daughter and I stopped in for a milkshake after school in the fall. The helper (I would not compliment her with the term waitress) eventually wandered over and simply stared at my daughter. No «can I help you?» or, «what can I get you folks?» — nothing. My daughter, confused, turned to me, and I said, «tell her you want a milkshake.» She did… and the woman then turned to me with the same treatment. She NEVER spoke. When she brought my daughter’s shake it was completely runny, not like the wonderful photo you see here. What a joke.
I’ve been here since ’68, but I’ll never set foot in this place again. In fact, I signed up for Unilocal just so I could write this review and maybe save some poor out-​of-​towner a horrible taste of Austin. Shut it down, and tell all the hipsters to quit beating a dead horse.

This is a classic experience! Real drug store, real drug store burgers! Welcome to the 1950s! Thank goodness not all of Austin has been torn down and rebuilt!

I wish I could give this place a better review.
I had some breakfast tacos that pretty much sucked. And it’s kinda hard to ruin a breakfast taco. I’ve had a burger here before and thought it was quite horrible. (The people who rave about the burgers here… I don’t get it.)
I then went to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy after my taco disappointment. The always-​dressed-​in-​black lady with the red, red lipstick was not helpful at all. This is the third time I have found her to be surly and generally not helpful.
Unfortunately, I plan to take my business elsewhere.
I really wanted to give the place a better review.

I had the highest of hopes for Nau’s Enfield Drug. I happened to be staying just a couple of short blocks away in an AirBnb, and each time I walked past Nau’s adorable exterior, I yearned to try it out.
Eventually we stopped in for an old-​timey milkshake. Upon entering the place, the locale completely lost its charm. I had hoped for a drugstore stuck in time, but instead I found a discombobulated, dirty place that happened to serve both food and drugs.
That didn’t stop us from cozying up to the bar to get our milkshakes. After having to flail our arms about and raise our voices, the young servers/​cooks finally acknowledged our presence. As we say in the South, «Bless their hearts.» They were inexperienced and looked like they honestly couldn’t care less about our orders or ensuring we left as happy customers.
Adding fuel to the fire, it was confusing as to if we were supposed to pay at the bar or at the central cash register. Judging from other reviews, other patrons had the same issues. Like I said, I had really high hopes for Nau’s but unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver.

Everything here was a letdown. The atmosphere is neat in the sense that you get to see everything happening in the kitchen right next to you, but not cool to see the cook picking up a raw patty to put on the grill and then using his hands to put lettuce and tomato on an already cooked burger. There were also several flies that were landing on the burgers waiting to be plated. When we went the service was chaotic and slow, even with only five groups in the seating area. We weren’t acknowledged for awhile and had to flag someone down to order.
The food was not impressive either. The hamburger patty was very dense and not cooked enough. It reminded me of something that I would eat in elementary school. With all of the burger joints in Austin I will not be going back to Nau’s.

This place is a old classic of Austin, as told to me by my dad, who was born and raised in old Austin, circa 1950s ish. The burgers are juicy and delicious, I think they are some of the best in town. The shakes are great. I like coming here with my dad and he can reminisce about this little pharmacy and burger spot while we enjoy lunch.

In a burger mood today and not particularly interested in long lines so opted to hit up Naus. Reviews looked decent so thought we’d give it a try. Service abnormally slow on a Saturday afternoon when not many people were there. Started with a soda that was flat so I asked for a iced tea! After 10 minutes my food came and I still didn’t have my drink and no one mentioned where it was. I assumed the were brewing but when I finished my burger ad still didn’t have my drink, I went to the counter to ask for one. The young lady told me she had to brew it. Sigh… we waited and waited for the check and it never came. Asked for it from a guy helping out and he shrugged his shoulders. We went to the front to check out. :-(Wait, I didn’t even mention the burger… Wanted to love this place but too many other great places to go in town.
I did like looking at the drugstore items for sale and the old school candy! That’s worth a couple of stars! Keep Austin weird right?

Nau’s is a neighborhood institution with an old lunch counter and great burgers and milk shakes. It is very charming but, honestly, highly random. Do not bother if you are in a hurry or need anything specific, but if you have time to kill and a generous spirit, come on in. This place is supported by its loyal and almost cultish following of old Austinites, but the store could really use some managerial life breathed into it. Random, dusty inventory, long wait time for food, and double check your prescriptions if you get them filled here. It’s part of the charm… if you have the patience.

A time warp… easily one of my favorite places in Austin! An old school pharmacy with the best breakfast tacos around and a homemade Dr. Pepper. What’s not to love?

This is a damn good burger at a fair price. I got the booth next to the griddle where bacon was continually cooking. My patty tasted of salty pork. I was in heaven.

I’ve heard such good things about Nau’s so I took my two school aged children there for floats. Unfortunately they were out of ice cream. It was disappointing because they’re whole lure is the kitschy diner thing with 50’s style floats, malts, and shakes. We will try again sometime and hopefully it will be the experience I was hoping for.

We came over here around 1 p.m. today and found the diner in the back bustling. We stood around lost for a few minutes because we’d never been there before and you have no way of knowing what to do.
We sat at a table for a few minutes and no one came to us, so we moved to the counter in hopes of being noticed sooner.
I’d say after about fifteen minutes our order was taken, we had a root beer float while we waited. How wonderfully nostalgic. It came in the tall, tapered glass. Heavy on the ice cream, delightful.
Twenty minutes pass.
I’m getting a little bit nervous because I have to be back at work at 2, and thought that arriving somewhere at 1:10 for a to-​go burger would leave me plenty of time.
We get our order at 1:45 and race back to the office, open the bag — no chips. Coommmme on, they don’t have fries so your option is chips which we bought but didn’t get.
Here comes the part where it’s worthy of three stars. THE BURGER. It is not for the faint of heart that’s for sure. It’s a thick patty loaded with LTM and onion. We put bacon on it which was an excellent choice.
So, the young high school waitstaff still seems to be an issue based on another review that I read, but if you’re not in a rush, I would certainly try it.

THIS PLACE NEEDS A GROWN-​UP IN THE KITCHEN
First of all, this place is confusing logistically: Is it seat yourself? Where do you pay? Where are the menus? Counter service or table service? I understand this is an old-​fashioned place, but a few signs would help.
Onto the service:
I’m all for businesses hiring high school kids, but they need guidance and training; i.e. a manager. I don’t know if our server didn’t like us, or was just so bad at her job that she ignored us for THIRTY minutes, but that was the case. The only interaction I had with our server was asking for waters, which she never brought. Despite me politely signaling her multiple times, the server (a young Hispanic girl) just straight-​up ignored me. Instead, she occupied herself with tasks that were of laughably less priority than attending to us. Although this could be excusable due to this girls lack of experience, it is completely unacceptable to ignore a customer at a restaurant for thirty minutes, no matter how busy it is.
The kitchen: If you read the Stephen S. review on this page, many of my observations about the chaos of the kitchen overlap with his. Like the service, there was clearly nobody with experience overlooking the kitchen. The burgers took longer than they should have, the server girls were handling food, money, and picking up trash using the same gloves; the kitchen was dirty.
I didn’t even get to try the burgers because we never got any service. This is the first time I’ve been to a restaurant and have received no service. I tried to complain to the manager, but there were no adults in the kitchen and I would have had to wait too long in the drugstore line for it to have been worth it, because we were starving at this point and were going to eat across the street.
I hope you get your kitchen issues worked out, Nau’s.

BLEH!
Ignorance is bliss. So many restaurants have the kitchen far removed from the dining area where there is no visibility of the food being prepared, dished, stored, etc. That’s one of the good or bad, depending on the place, things about old-​fashioned diners.
In the case of Nau’s, this is a potentially life-​saving feature. Thankfully because we could see everything being done we were able to just have a coffee and tea and spend some time watching the chaos behind the counter before ordering (or more accurately, not ordering). So many ungloved hands would wipe across an employee’s nose before grabbing silverware or putting a banana split together, a chunk of raw ground beef sat oozing onto the vegetable cutting board for who knows how long, far more coughing and sneezing than I like to see in a kitchen, garbage all over the floors of the kitchen and dining area. It was also a chaotic and confusing experience, we left still being uncertain if there was a printed menu of any kind, whether or not you seat or self, and where to pay.

I believe i just had the best burger in Austin, omg i am coming back!!!
Meat was juicy and tasty, bun was soft and warm, service was a plus!!!
Definitely love it here!!!

Classic drug store breakfast and lunch counter! It’s been open in the same location since 1951 and not that much has changed! The food is classic and not complicated, but it’s worth a stop for the novelty alone!

This place is an adorable little blast from the past! It is a convenience store, a pharmacy, a diner/​soda fountain and a time machine to a the 50’s.
I was in search of bfast and didn’t want to spend the $$$ that Zocalo or Galaxy Café would cost, so I came here for the super cheap bfast specials.
Don’t expect abounding gourmet options, but sometimes simplicity is all you need. And, for less than $ 5, you get a notch above Jim’s, but again, for the price, you really can’t complain. I got the cheese omelet, toast, and coffee breakfast special for $ 4.75. I added some Sriracha to my omelet and some grape jelly to my eggs and voila, instant NOM for not a lot of $.
The service is counter and you pay at the register in the front of the store, but I was well attended and had no complaints.
I would definitely recommend a stop here for a quick, no frills, value breakfast! Also, in order to tip your attendants, leave cash on the counter as there is not a tip line on the receipt.
The only issue could be the parking as there are spaces in front and along the side, but beware a majority of the spaces in the front are towable if you are not going to Anthony’s next door.

Today we were going to see a musical at UT’s Bass Concert Hall and always want to eat something before the show. So, in one of the local Austin magazines they rated the top burgers in the city and Nau’s Enfield Drugstore was on the list.
I had to get the address and find it on my map on my phone. Turning off of Enfield into the neighborhood was a new experience and did not know there were small businesses in this old neighborhood. But I was able to spot this drugstore and for a distance it was like I was back in time.
Walking into this place was definitely stepping into 1950 where the décor was still unchanged except new products on the shelves. However I still did not see where you order burgers and walked past the pharmacy and see the small diner in back. There is an old fashions counter and a few small tables, so we found a table and waited for a waitress to come by.
Everything here is kept the same just like the customers want it. Some were older and reading the paper in a world where the phone provides the news. The regular menu is on the wall and the breakfast, mostly tacos, are on another. So I ordered a large bacon cheeseburger where they also have small. They serve no fries here so I got a bag of chips and a water. My wife got the same and a coke. Even the coke is original where is tasted less carbonated and more syrupy.
Our burgers arrived and they were huge and after one bite I was intrigued. It tasted quite well with nice flavor to the meat. After eating we were giving our check by the nice staff and were told to pay up front.
Added to our experience was the wait in line. Getting there you walked by a trinket of holiday items and candy, and ones you have not seen in years. I was behind a lady who had to be 80+ years old and not sure how she was paying for her item, but enjoyed chatting to what looked like the owner of the place. She told him and another person some old stories from the past, and I was not too much in a hurry so I patiently listened and waited. Soon she was done and I paid my bill, and on our way to the show.