Danny Boy’s is an oldtime burger joint

Fresh beef, toasted buns, but no fries

The white crackerbox building with red trim in the Deco District along Fredericksburg Road could be a number of things: an abandoned service station, a curio shop, a small-town diner on a Netflix show where stranger things happen.

But Danny Boy’s Hamburgers is a burger joint, the kind where the buns are toasted on both sides, the beef’s good and greasy and the cheese is American. French fries? What are you, a fancy pants? You get chips, any bag you want.

Daniel Uranga will be there. Owner, head cook and cashier, he wears all the hats, including a little white paper one like a burger-flipper in the ’50s. He opened Danny Boy’s in 2011, taking over the home of the old Halisco Cafe.

Before Halisco, the building hosted a couple of “burger and beer joints,” as Uranga says. Danny Boy’s is a callback to those days, except without the beer. But everybody’s cool if you bring your own.

Best burger: Danny Boy’s starts with 8 ounces of fresh beef from Bolner’s Meat Co., smashed on the flat-top and cooked all the way through. The bun’s toasted in butter and houses mayo on top, mustard on bottom and an avalanche of chopped tomatoes, iceberg and pickles in between. Simple enough, and good enough.

But the best way to experience Danny Boy’s is to double-down, with two patties, white American cheese, all the trimmings and — and this is key — a pile of grilled onions and jalapeños to moisten things up and turbocharge the taste ($10.25).

Other burgers: Uranga seasons the beef so thoroughly with salt and pepper that even a single-patty cheeseburger’s a satisfying handful ($7).

Throw two slices of sweet, crisp bacon into that mix ($8.75), and Danny Boy’s could be one of those high-tone burger places, if you closed your eyes. But don’t, because the red-checked tablecloths, the long Formica counter with hamburger piggy banks and the walls of Fiesta medals are part of the charm.

Fried sides: Asked why he doesn’t sell french fries, Uranga put it plainly: “I didn’t want to mess with all that grease.” Fair enough, but little bags of Cheetos and Fritos or even bougie salt-and-vinegar chips have a hard time filling the void.

Mavericks: Like one of those old country bars with peanut shells all over the floor, Danny Boy’s gives you peanuts for free, the kind you have to shuck yourself. But keep them on the table. That’s what the little red bowls are for.

Mike Sutter / Staff A double-meat burger can be ordered with white American cheese and a mix of grilled onions and jalapeños at Danny Boy’s Hamburgers.

Free peanuts are part of the experience at Danny Boy’s Hamburgers.