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Hat Creek Burger Company is planning to bring its family-friendly burger concept to Leander, with a new ground-up restaurant slated for Crystal Park Trail.
A new state filing lists a 3,438-square-foot Hat Creek Burger restaurant with an estimated construction cost of $1.5 million. The project is expected to begin November 1, 2026, with completion targeted for April 1, 2027.
An Austin-born burger brand heads to Leander
Hat Creek has deep Central Texas roots. According to the company’s history, the business started in Austin in 2008 as a food truck serving burgers, fries and shakes before growing into a restaurant brand with locations across Texas.
The Leander restaurant would fill a noticeable gap in Hat Creek’s Austin-area footprint. The company currently lists nearby restaurants in Georgetown, Round Rock, Lakeway, Dripping Springs and several Austin locations, but not Leander. Hat Creek’s current location directory shows the brand stretching from Central Texas into the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas.
Hat Creek has built much of its identity around families as well as burgers. Many of its restaurants pair dine-in and drive-thru service with patios and playgrounds, while the menu centers on burgers, chicken, fries and hand-spun shakes. The company also highlights all-natural, never-frozen beef sourced from Goodstock by Nolan Ryan.
Hat Creek joins the Crystal Village lineup
Current leasing materials provide a much clearer picture of where Hat Creek is headed. The restaurant is planned for Crystal Village, a 65-acre mixed-use development at the corner of 183A Toll and East Crystal Falls Parkway in Leander. The development’s current tenant list identifies Hat Creek Burgers on Lot 8.
Hat Creek will be joining an increasingly packed restaurant lineup. Current Crystal Village materials show Texas Roadhouse on Lot 7, Hat Creek on Lot 8 and Willie’s Ice House on Lot 9. Other planned or committed tenants include Culver’s, Southside Market and Estancia Brazilian Steakhouse.
The TDLR filing still lists the project address simply as TBD Crystal Park Trail, so a final numbered street address has not yet surfaced. But paired with the Crystal Village leasing materials, the filing now gives a much clearer picture of where Leander’s new Hat Creek is planned.