Month: August 2025

Friday, August 29, 2025 —

Checked off a couple of new ones this week:

B.B. Lemon – Downtown. Despite the shuttering of its namesake restaurant, I was not aware that the well-regarded burger joint had an outpost in the Downtown Tunnels at 1100 Louisiana St until reading Dining Out Houston’s recent list of its Top 10 Houston Burgers (I’d been to 7 of the 10 prior to this visit to B. B. Lemon — still need to check out Graffiti Raw and Jethro’s).

I ordered the Washington Double Smash Burger, and added jalapeños, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and aioli sauce. The first bite or so tasted dry, but this thing really revealed its flavors as I dove further into it. In particular I enjoyed a really pleasant heat afterburn which I assume was due to the aioli (unless they found the spiciest jalapeños ever — much as I love jalapeños on everything, I seldom find they lend a kick that lasts well after you’ve consumed your meal).

Maybe not the most memorable of the many burgers I’ve enjoyed over the years, but a very solidly executed vehicle with little to really quibble with. That heat bumps it from a 4.0 to 4.25 out of 5 patties.

Lone Star Market. This was put on my radar a while back by Houston food influencer thehtxhost and it’s been in the back of my mind to try, though it being so far east at the intersection of 45 and 610 kept me from jumping over there.

Turns out that was my mistake. This little gas station mini market is indeed flipping some of the tastier patties around. I ordered their TX Double Stack, and added lettuce, cheese, egg, pickles, mushrooms , jalapeños, onions, mayo, tomato, and bacon. I have to say — I’ve missed mushrooms on my burger. Not many places offer them these days.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something really familiar about the composition and taste of this burger concoction. The egg reminded me of the fluffiness I enjoyed from Stacked Burger, while the overall flavor profile of the beef and cheese reminded me a bit of some of the classic old school joints everyone loves — Stanton’s and Lankford — meshed with the newer school excellent of Narwhal Jousting Club.

Don’t misunderstand — I don’t know that this burger tasted specifically like any one of those three. But there were aspects within my consumptive experience that harkened back to specific things I’ve enjoyed about each of those burger experiences. And with each rating at a 4.5 or higher, that means Lone Star Market’s burger is in good company, and worth going out of your way on south 45 for.

4.5 patties out of 5.

Tuesday, August 26, 2025 —

Had three distinct burgers this past weekend:

Smashed Society. New food truck in Conroe on Highway 105 (near Walden); this was even better than I had expected — then again, it does have a 4.9 on Yelp and a perfect 5.0 on Google with 50(!) reviews. I ordered the triple smash with bacon egg, and chopped peppers, and this thing absolutely slapped. Juicy goodness, and charred smash excellence.

Bamburger. I had higher hopes for this than Smashed Society, having seen a good bit of excitement around it in the various Houston-area foodie Facebook groups I inhabit, but my Bamburger experience was just OK. Patties were very dry, and the giant lettuce leaf has no place on a smashburger.

Larry’s Latest Homemade. Organic grass-fed 80/20 beef, sharp cheddar, cherrywood smoked uncured bacon, jalapeños, habañeros, pickles, red onion, tomato, runny egg, spicy mustard/spicy mayo special sauce on a brioche bun

Much as I adore spice, I’m considering holding off on habañeros next time — they really do end up overpowering a lot of the other flavors. We shall see.

Friday, August 15, 2025 —

Mini-review: Enjoyed the juicy Double Cheeseburger at newcomer USA Burger on Kirkwood in the Westchase District. Beef was cooked well and the bun stood out, though I’d love to see them coax more flavor from the toppings.

4.00-4.25 out of 5

Saturday, August 9, 2025 —

Bellaire’s Wagyuru is having a moment. The purveyors of premium 100% Wagyu beef experienced a dramatic uptick in interest in their curated smashburger program following a Houston food influencer’s viral video.

This isn’t just any Wagyu. Owner Anthony’s family owns two farms within 100 miles of the city, ensuring a level of freshness few others can offer, and he says that most places that offer Wagyu are really offering a product that’s part-Wagyu, part-Angus. Wagyuru very proudly only serves 100% Wagyu beef that it raises on its own — I’m not aware of anyone else in the Houston beef game that can make the same claim.

Which brings us to their smashburger. They only started offering it this past March, and it’s only available on Saturdays and Sundays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (or until they sell out). Despite its increased popularity, Anthony is disinclined to expand the smashburger’s availability for now, as its limited nature only enhances its appeal.

And wow, does it ever impress. The construction is no frills, featuring two 3-oz smashed 100% Wagyu patties, cheddar, caramelized onions, and pickles on a potato bun. The secret sauce is a combo of mayo, mustard, ketchup, worchestershire and other proprietary spices, and is excellent in its own right. And the beef itself — Wagyuru’s 80/20 is among the juiciest, most tender beef I’ve ever had. The type that melts in your mouth and goes down so quickly that you’ve inhaled the sandwich before even realizing it’s gone. The beef is so juicy that my hand got drenched trying to hold it up to take a decent photo 😂 There are two other Houston smashburgers that spring to mind that offer a similar level of juiciness — Clutch City and Proper Burger.

Lastly, while I don’t know that this exquisite beef even needs it, the seasoning was exceptional as well, with a heavy dose of  pepper and a very tasty spice blend courtesy of Houston’s @cookinwithswiss (you can buy the rub at the store).

I know I end almost every review saying the same thing, but good grief — Wagyuru’s smashburger is yet another exceptional entry in Houston’s absurdly delicious hamburger cannon. 4.75 out of 5.

Friday, August 8, 2025 —

Q’s Deli in Sugar Land is a recent entrant in my to-do list, having seen it increasingly appear within my Instagram burger ecosystem.

With dual 4.9s on both Yelp and Google — and apparently the former is about to recognize Q’s as among the Top 100 sandwich shops in the entire country! — technically that makes Q’s the 3rd-highest-rated hamburger in all of Greater Houston (!), and so I knew I had to ratchet it to the top of my “next-up” adventures.

And boy does it live up to the hype.

I ordered a Triple Q Stack featuring 73/27 beef, jalapeños, chopped onion, bacon, American cheese, and their signature delicious and spicy Q Sauce on a jalapeño cheddar bun. The only other burger slinger I know of purveying that beef/fat ratio is Gastrocraft’s Dennis Feray, and so I knew I was in good company right out of the gate.

The Q Stack is a near-perfect meat delivery concoction, with the beef perfectly cooked and the cheese and onions folded seamlessly into the proceedings. The seasoning is no frills — just salt and pepper — but the Q Sauce, featuring a proprietary blend of jalapeño, cilantro, and presumably a few other tasty ingredients, imparted just the right amount of heat to the experience.

Owner Ali told me the Q Stack was created as his homage to the classic Whataburger double cheeseburger, and I can see that from a composition perspective — but the flavor of the Q Stack of course annihilates Whataburger’s serer-than-the-Sahara cook on its patties.

Yet another ridiculously great entrant in Houston’s beyond-overflowing burger scene. Highly recommended; 4.75 out of 5.