Pioneering restaurateur Frances 'Fran' Junk of Fran's and Dan's Hamburgers dies at 89

Matthew Odam, Austin American-Statesman
Fran Junk, seen here at her restaurant in 1990, opened Dan's Hamburgers on South Congress Avenue in 1973 with her husband, Dan Junk.
Fran Junk, seen here at her restaurant in 1990, opened Dan's Hamburgers on South Congress Avenue in 1973 with her husband, Dan Junk.

A pioneer of the Austin dining scene who for decades oversaw South Austin, both literally and figuratively, Frances Junk died from cancer Nov. 27. She was 89.

If you drove down South Congress Avenue in the early part of the century, you probably caught a glimpse of the restaurateur known simply as “Fran.” A 9-foot statue of Junk stood atop her eponymous restaurant from 1998 until the restaurant was demolished in 2013 to make way for a Torchy’s Tacos.

Junk opened the restaurant in 1973 with her husband, Dan, whose name originally graced the restaurant, and retained it and a location on Cameron Road (which closed in 2015) in the couple’s 1991 divorce, renaming them after herself. The restaurants were known for their classic burgers, friendly service and host of regular customers who felt like an extended family.

2022 Austin360 Dining Guide: Dan's Hamburgers named to the Austin360 Restaurant Hall of Fame

The iconic restaurateur was born Frances Maldonado to parents Maria and Eduardo Maldonado in Cedar Creek in Bastrop County in 1934. She moved around with her family in her youth, following her father's work in local dairies, before settling down in East Austin.

Junk’s early career included time waiting tables at El Gallo in South Austin and the Plantation restaurant near the University of Texas. It was at the latter where she met customer Dan Junk, a salesman who came in for coffee one day and eventually married the woman he called “the best waitress he’d ever seen.”

The Junks worked at King Burger on South Congress Avenue before opening their own restaurant, Dan’s Hamburgers, nearby at 1822 S. Congress Ave. Fran was the heartbeat of the restaurant for decades.

A 9-foot statue of Fran Junk overlooked South Congress Avenue for decades.
A 9-foot statue of Fran Junk overlooked South Congress Avenue for decades.

“She was very involved in operations and she was very particular about recipes in the kitchen. The know-how was from her,” the Junks’ daughter, Katie Congdon, who owns Dan’s Hamburgers, told the American-Statesman. “Prepping ingredients and making the burgers. Always reminding everyone how it was originally done.”

Despite working at her restaurants daily for decades, Junk always made time for her seven children (two of which came from a relationship before meeting Dan). She dropped the kids at school each day, went to the restaurant to work the lunch shift, picked the kids up from school, headed home to prepare dinner for the family, then returned to the restaurant for the night shift.

“Everybody listened to her and she was the glue that kept us all together,” Congdon said of her mother, who somehow found a way to balance full-time parenting and work. “She was absolutely a trailblazer, especially for the Hispanic community.”

Fran Junk, the namesake of Fran's Hamburgers, walks with her daughter Katie Congdon at the 2015 demolition of the restaurant where she worked for more than four decades.
Fran Junk, the namesake of Fran's Hamburgers, walks with her daughter Katie Congdon at the 2015 demolition of the restaurant where she worked for more than four decades.

Dan kept three locations of the couple’s burger empire following the Junks’ divorce in 1991, and while the rhyming monosyllabic restaurant names led to some confusion at times for the public, the backstory wasn’t as juicy as one of the couple’s burgers.

Fran and Dan still went to movies together after their divorce, and the family continued to spend holidays together. Frances even went over to Dan’s house and made him dinner on occasion.

“We still had Christmases and Thanksgivings together. We were still a family, just separate,” said Fran’s granddaughter Jennifer Tello, a longtime veteran of both Fran’s and Dan’s whose mother, Mary Bialaszewski, is the matriarch’s oldest child.

"She was the strongest woman I know," Jennifer Tello said of her grandmother Frances Junk, seen here with some of her 47 grand and great-grand children.
"She was the strongest woman I know," Jennifer Tello said of her grandmother Frances Junk, seen here with some of her 47 grand and great-grand children.

Fran’s closed on South Congress Avenue in 2011, making way for a Torchy’s Tacos, and Junk continued working at her Cameron Road location into her 80s, when she sold the restaurant in 2015.

All of the Junks’ children worked for their parents at one time or another, and the restaurants have also employed several of the Junks’ 24 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

“We’re a family. That’s something our mom and dad instilled in us,” Congdon said. “We all work together elbow to elbow. We know each other. We take care of each other.”

Frances Junk is survived by her brother, Fernando Maldonado; daughter, Mary Bialaszewski; daughter, Katie Congdon and son-in-law Philip Congdon; daughter, Yvonne Wilson; daughter-in-law, Lore Harkrider; son, Leon Junk; 24 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

A visitation for Frances Junk will be held Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish South Chapel, 2620 S. Congress Ave. A recitation of the holy rosary will occur Tuesday at 7 p.m. A mass of Christian burial will occur Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Saint Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church, 126 W. Oltorf St. An interment service will occur Wednesday at Assumption Cemetery, 3650 S. Interstate 35.

Correction: An earlier version of this story’s headline referred to Frances Junk by her maiden name, Maldonado.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Frances 'Fran' Junk of Fran's and Dan's Hamburgers dies at 89

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