This post was updated April 2 at 8:06 p.m.

NADC Burger proves to be nothing more than an overhyped patty with a price tag richer than its flavor profile.

The highly anticipated burger restaurant arrived in Westwood with the swagger of a must-try classic. A collaboration between professional skateboarder Neen Williams and Michelin-star chef Phillip Frankland Lee, the new location of Not a Damn Chance Burger opened Feb. 27 along Broxton Avenue. The duo debuted its simple menu, featuring a burger and fries, to Austin residents at its first restaurant in 2023. NADC Burger has since expanded to 11 locations from New York to Nashville and has amassed a loyal audience of 170,000 Instagram followers.

The Westwood location offers NADC’s signature items: a double-patty Wagyu burger and beef tallow fries – made “beast mode” with the addition of cheese, diced pickles, “slightly tamed” jalapeños and a special sauce. The menu also features a kids burger – a single patty with cheese and a bun – along with a brown butter chocolate chip cookie. Although offerings are limited, the chain does allow modifications.

Williams and Lee sought to feature nostalgic ingredients and high-quality, 100% Wagyu beef. Yet, their creation – consisting of two three-ounce patties, American cheese, secret sauce, onions, pickles and jalapeños – fails to justify the $16 price. Similarly, their beast mode fries, at $8, feel out of place in the fast-casual setting.

The restaurant’s exterior features a few red metal tables and the chain’s logo on glass trimmed with black metal accents. The interior of the space is similarly minimalistic: a few skateboards with the NADC logo on relatively blank walls and a singular TV that shows clips of skateboarders – a likely nod to Williams. The menu hangs above the ordering counter, where a to-go station featuring ketchup and secret sauce is also situated.

Everything about the restaurant suggests a certain informality. Customer service was pleasant. One staff member donned a green and fuchsia dinosaur-covered apron. Dine-in orders are called out and placed atop a red plastic dining-hall-reminiscent tray for people to pick up and take back to their tables. Fries arrived in a paper saucer. The burger was covered in wrapping with “Not a Damn Chance” plastered across it inside a disposable box. With the red and white color scheme of the fry container, it was difficult not to draw parallels with the California classic In-N-Out Burger a few blocks away. Only the palm trees seemed to be missing from the otherwise nearly identical packaging.

[Related: Restaurant review: Despite quality ingredients, Bread Head’s sandwiches fail to live up to prices]

During a late-afternoon weekday visit, there was no line. The order, composed of the NADC burger and beast mode fries, was prepared in around seven minutes. Admittedly, the fries looked decadent, crispy and golden garnished with pickles and jalapeños. However, the burger seemed lackluster in comparison – somehow smaller than an In-N-Out Burger’s Double-Double despite being over twice the price. Though the visible layers of sauce and beef were enticing, a quick glance prompted the question: for $16, will this really be worth it?

The central disappointment was that the burger was good. It was simply … good. Nothing great. Nothing terribly special. Yes, the beef was luscious. The sauce was tangy. There was a pleasant flavor – a subtle heat of the jalapeño and the gentle sweetness of the onions. Yet, because of the viral hype surrounding the smashburger spot and the exponentially high price tag relative to the Westwood area, the product fell below expectations.

The beast mode fries looked like an elevated version of In-N-Out Burger’s famed animal-style fries. The sauce was nearly the same in color. Although the NADC Burger version swapped grilled onions out for pickles and jalapeños, the offering felt eerily similar. Even the name echoed the California chain: beast versus animal.

[Related: Restaurant review: PopUp Bagels brings delicious schmears, ‘rip-and-dip’ bagels to Brentwood]

While the taste of the burger itself satisfied, the flavor of the fries felt like a search for something more. With each bite, a quest for the jalapeño spice began. Such a heat was never found. Still, like the burger, the beast mode fries were fine. The cooking of the potatoes was undoubtedly flawless: a crispy exterior and a soft interior. Especially when soggy fries are common among fast food restaurants, customers can appreciate the immaculate texture of NADC Burger’s fries. But, again, for $8, cheaper alternatives could likely satisfy to a similar extent.

The issue with NADC Burger was not the taste. Everything was enjoyable. It was the price – the meal of a burger and beast mode fries totaled $24 before tax and tip – that makes the spot impractical for students. The meal was too expensive for an everyday outing and too lackluster to be worth the occasional splurge. With Fatburger and In-N-Out Burger – even De Neve Residential Restaurant – also offering burgers in comparatively convenient locations, it is difficult to justify paying such a cost for a small portion and unremarkable flavor.

In a neighborhood full of cheaper, better-known burgers, NADC Burger’s Westwood debut shows that hype alone cannot carry a $16 patty.