M & M Hamburger fails to “meat” expectations

Friday, February 14, 2025 — When I originally compiled my massive compendium of every burger place conceivable in the greater Houston area alongside their Yelp and Google ratings, there were two establishments with very similar names that both had high ratings: M & M Hamburger (210 Wayside Dr), and the former M & M Grill (6921 Almeda Rd). Even more confusingly, they were both located in parts of town I don’t often traverse.

Thankfully, the latter opted to rebrand to the far more Google-friendly Loaded Burger, and readers may recall I checked it off the list last fall (and enjoyed it!).

As I surveyed the Hamburger Joint category for my next Friday Burger Adventure, I discovered that M & M Hamburger was the highest rated I hadn’t yet tried (4.6 on both Yelp and Google), and so it was finally time to give it a go. Unfortunately, this was the first local burger expedition in a minute that failed to live up to expectations.

For starters, the menu is seriously confusing and there are a lot of options. The three that struck my fancy were the Bacon Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger, and Crazy Burger, though the descriptions were all virtually identical, and so it wasn’t clear what the differentiators were—especially with regards to what made the “Crazy Burger” deserving of that appellation.

I opted for their double cheeseburger—which comes standard with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo, and added bacon and jalapeños. I’m sad to report that while the meat was substantive (no smashburgers here!) this was a rather dry affair and didn’t taste particularly well-seasoned to me. There was a sauce of some kind dripping from the sandwich, but because the descriptions were so minimal I have no idea what it was. Additionally, the toppings weren’t evenly spread out—I finally got a taste of jalapeño about 3/4 of the way through, but it was too little, too late.

While this is more of a me problem than an M & M problem, it also didn’t help that it’s located close to 30 minutes east of Uptown. I’m not shy about driving far to experience greatness, but when the destination is a bit of a hike and also carries robust ratings, there’s an inherent assumption that it will be worth the ride.

Despite my quibbles, I actually think M & M Hamburger probably does put out a fine burger sandwich. Appearance-wise it looked tasty. Maybe I went on an off day. This one’s a 3.5 for me.