Don’t Call It a Kum Bak

Despite the afternoon deluge, generations of Dirty Martin’s faithfuls turned out to the little white burger joint at Nueces and Guadalupe Saturday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of just a few old Austin fixtures left standing. 

Founded in 1926 by John Martin as Martin’s Kum Bak Place, “Dirty’s” – nicknamed affectionately after the dirt floors of its early days – has served as a staple for University of Texas students for the past century. Saturday’s daylong festivities, which included live music, mountains of greasy food, vendors, and family-friendly activities, brought plenty of parents – and grandparents – in burnt orange with young kids in tow, passing on the tradition. 

“To be a generational place, you need generational customers,” said owner Mark Nemir, who bought Dirty’s from his grandfather when the restaurant was a spry 63. 

Dirty’s staff also tend to stick around. Will Colvin originally intended to join the kitchen crew for 90 days to help with child support payments after a divorce. He didn’t have a car, and UT football legend Earl Campbell would drive him to work. That was 29 years ago. 

“They have definitely put something in my coffee,” Colvin said. “There’s no way I was supposed to stay this long.” 

Now, Colvin considers Dirty’s his home, and its people his family. He got a car, and said people often ask if he’s a lawyer or a doctor based on his lifestyle. Nemir was the best man at his wedding. 

“I owe Dirty’s my life,” Colvin said. “It was a beacon in the middle of an oasis.” 

Since Colvin started in the mid-Nineties, the restaurant has added a bar, seating, menu items, and plenty of TVs. The table Janis Joplin carved her name into isn’t there anymore. The floors haven’t been dirt in decades. The changes, however, are purely cosmetic. 

“It hasn’t changed one bit, and that’s the beauty of it,” said Witt Duncan, a fifth generation Austinite who started going to Dirty’s as a young child and then as a UT student in the late 2000s.

As we talked, his son, covered in face paint, interjected to sing the praises of the restaurant’s milkshakes. Duncan’s mother, Mary, came during her time at UT in the late Seventies, taking after her own mother and grandmother, who she said had both made memories at the restaurant before her.

When Project Connect, CapMetro’s voter-approved light rail, threatened to take out the 96-year-old haunt in 2022, she was devastated. “You can’t do that to us and to Austin,” she remembers thinking.

The “Save Dirty’s” campaign that followed brought cosigns from celebrities of all stripes while “Save Dirty’s” banners became unavoidable in West Campus. By the time a revised light-rail design eased concerns in 2024, the petition had reached nearly 25,000 signatories. 

“It was a big reinforcing moment in history,” Nemir said.

But Nemir said the drama with the city is “not a done deal.” According to him, the revised plan does not guarantee safety for the restaurant, and relocation is not an option, especially with current real estate costs in the area. 

“This place is not movable,” said Nemir, who bought the property in 2001. He said he would not have been able to afford the same real estate today. 

If Dirty’s ever shuts down, lack of enthusiasm likely will not be the culprit. On Saturday, people lined up for 90 minutes before doors opened. Colvin said the kitchen is busier than ever.

“This is an institution,” Colvin said. “This is a historical monument, and it needs to be preserved.” 

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