Month: October 2025

Sampling limited edition burgers from Proper and Stuffed Belly; and a discussion on hamburger/smashburger specialty spots vs. the “restaurant hamburger” experience

Proper’s Blue Cheese Burger, which really didn’t have much Blue Cheese at all

Stuffed Belly’s Hellfire Burger, which packed a LOT of heat

While I don’t know that I’ll ever tire of trying something I haven’t previously had, during the last few weeks I’ve made a deliberate effort to return to burger joints I’ve already been to during my Friday Burger Adventures.

This is due in part to a desire to revisit places I adore (and others that perhaps didn’t wow me the first go-round but that I’ve been meaning to give a second chance) but also the fact that my “must-try” list has been thinning out.

Don’t get me wrong—there are still TONS of burgers in Houston I haven’t tried yet, but the number of exceptional (what I would generally consider 4.5 and above) hamburger / smashburger / food trucks I haven’t sampled is actually pretty small right now (while my spreadsheet does have many “restaurant with notable burger” entrants on it, I don’t find myself craving the restaurant burger experience the same way I do pursuing locations that primarily specialize in hamburger sandwiches, and so my desire to check those establishments off the list isn’t as compelling).

With that in mind, the 4.5 and higher (on Yelp) hamburger / smashburger / food trucks I’ve yet to try include:

• Burger Boss to Go
• Busta’s Burgers (multiple locations, though all are a bit further flung that I’d like)
• O My Burger (Missouri City)
• Superburgers (Magnolia)
• Burgerhouse (Willowbrook)
• Umbrella Fellas (I’m probably never getting here since they are Downtown and don’t open until like 6 p.m.)
• Burger Truck 2020
• Kabab Shako Mako (I’ve been meaning to try, but their online ordering website gives zero information about the contents of the burger; however; its presence on this 5 Must-Try Houston Halal Burgers Instagram post — of which I’ve had the other four — has kept it on my radar
• Shawarma Hub (food truck that recently introduced a smashburger)
• Kitchen Rumors’ Paratha Burger. This JUST dropped this past Sunday and so I don’t actually know what it’s rated but the hype is already out of control so it’s in my orbit. The Paratha Burger is only available on the restaurant’s happy hour menu which doesn’t start until 4:00 p.m., which will make my securing it a bit of a challenge since I intentionally limit my burger consumption to Fridays at lunchtime. We’ll see if I can make an exception.

If anyone has any experience with any of these and thinks it’s crazy that a burger fiend such as myself hasn’t tried it yet, please shoot me a note at the Musical Box Instagram account or larry dot koestler at gmail dot com.

Anyway, as for the two latest burgers I tried upon revisiting places I’d been —

Proper – A Burger Spot debuted at Finn Hall in Downtown this past March, and I immediately fell for its incredibly juicy take on the smash. One of my favorite burger experiences of the year; they recently checked in at #9 on My Top 30 Power Rankings list. With Proper introducing a limited-time Bacon Blue Cheese burger—one of my all-time favorite topping combos—the time was right for a revisit. Somewhat unfortunately, I can’t say I was wowed by their take on the Bacon Blue. The excessive juiciness from my original sampling was nowhere to found, and I also wasn’t wild about the sesame seed bun. Overall the flavor was muted, which is not something one typically says about blue cheese anything. Honestly, I struggled to even find the blue cheese on this thing. A bit of a miss for me, unfortunately.

I made my maiden voyage to Stuffed Belly back in April, and came away thinking that it was maybe a cut above McDonald’s, and nothing to write home about. Regardless, I was excited to see their announcement of the limited edition Hellfire Burger, just in time for spooky season.

First, the positives: this thing has legit heat! The Hellfire features Carolina Reaper cheese, a 4-chile sauce with habanero, arbol, Serrano, and ghost pepper, plus Sichuan chile oil, pickles, and pickled jalapeños. I would consider getting it again for the blast of fire alone. On the flip side, the burgers themselves remained underwhelming, with minimal-to-no flavor, and kind of a sad, slightly soggy construction overall.

While I don’t think Shake Shack is elite or anything, as a fast food-esque smashburger purveyor, I assume that is the level of quality that Stuffed Belly is going for, and they are still not there yet. Though the Shack does not have anything as hot as the Hellfire, so there’s that!

Overall, I still don’t have Stuffed Belly in My Top 30, and while I don’t love the idea of one unmemorable experience dragging an establishment I like down, I don’t know that I’ll be able to keep Proper at #9 on the Top 30 with such a middling showing the second time around. There are too many elite burger spots in Houston vying for the Top 10. Will be interesting to see how the list shakes out when I update it next (probably in a month or so).

My Top Burger of 2024—and #4 burger in all of Houston—continues to prove its otherworldliness

I’ve spilled a lot of digital ink on Clutch City Grill: first in my original gushing review in April 2024; then selecting it as my #1 new-to-me burger in all of Houston for 2024; and again this past summer anointing it as the #4 burger in H-Town in my inaugural Houston Burger Power Rankings list.

Despite the heaping praise, it’d been a hot minute since I’d gotten over to Clutch—my insatiable thirst for what I haven’t yet had continues to compel me, which unfortunately results in occasionally overlooking my faves in search of whatever’s new—and I knew I finally needed to rectify that.

And boy was I glad I did—with a triple smashburger, naturally. While the entire composition is exquisite, owner Omar Shaikh’s beef is truly the star of the show. There’s melt-in-your-mouth, and then there’s melt-in-your-mouth, and I’m hard-pressed to think of too many other Houston burgers that are this delicious and also barely require chewing—the beef is so soft it’s almost velvety. The only other spot that immediately springs to mind with beef like this is Q’s Deli.

The Clutch Burger comes standard with lettuce, tomato, onion and their signature clutch sauce, and I (naturally) added jalapeños. If I had to pick nits, I’m not sure the clutch sauce hit me quite as hard as it did that first time—still delicious, but the beef truly stole the show.

Oh, and you can’t have a conversation about clutch without a shoutout to the bun, an incredibly delicious sweet sourdough concoction baked by Sweet Mesquite Bakery. They’re essentially classic dinner rolls split in half—between its heft and the way Clutch toasts the bread, this bun is the tastiest (and most durable) I’ve ever encountered.

One thing I’d love to see down the line at Clutch is an option for more heat. The Clutch Burger itself is a masterpiece and I wouldn’t change a thing, but one or two additional menu selections—I’d LOVE to see something akin to Lankford’s Grim Reaper or Moon Tower’s Grim Creeper at Clutch—would help generate even more repeat business.

The Vegas Burger features the outfit’s trademark beefy, juicy deliciousness with a pleasant if not overpowering spiciness

Last week’s Friday Burger Adventure™️ took an unexpected turn when I drove 30 minutes out of my way to food truck The Stack Attack only to discover that no one was there at 1:30 p.m. (despite its posted hours claiming to open at 11:00 a.m.). This was disappointing, to say the least, given that (a) their smashburgers look on point; (b) I was hungry; and (c) I ultimately wasted an hour roundtrip on the road with no burger deliciousness to show for it. I DMed the owner on Instagram, who later apologized, but it really goes to show the importance of making sure to check your IG constantly (or set up notifications) when running a small business — in this case they missed out on both a substantive order and happy customer. Alas, even with that frustration, I am nothing if not the occasional glutton for punishment, and their burgers look excellent enough — coupled with my insatiable desire to try what I haven’t yet had — that I’ll likely give them another shot soon enough.

With that, the Adventure™️ wasn’t a total loss. I’ve been meaning to start doing a better job of revisiting old favorites, and this presented an ideal opportunity to finally show Bubba’s Texas Burger Shack (a top 15 spot in the city for me) some love again.

I ordered the Vegas Burger — double patties with Monterey Jack cheese, fried egg, bacon, avocado, & Bubba’s Hot Sauce (mild habañero), and also comes standard with mayonnaise, mustard, onion, lettuce, tomato, and pickles — and as far as consolation prizes go, this was top-notch. Wouldn’t have minded even more spiciness, but the mild habañero sauce offered a pleasant enough kick.

Upon first juicy bite Bubba’s immediately reminded me why it was one of my top 5 favorite new-to-me burgers of 2023, with delectable and tender beef and an overall sandwich composition that demands a gluttonously expedient chomping. I’m amazed I even snapped this photo before basically inhaling this thing. There’s a reason the classics are designated as such, and Bubba’s continues to throw down with Houston’s best 🙌

The genius behind Bernie’s Burger Bus is back with a delicious new burger concept

Not three weeks after enjoying Pincho’s’ revival of Chef Justin Turner’s Cheerleader burger from his beloved Bernie’s Burger Bus (RIP) days — see my write- up here — comes outstandingly incredible news.

Chef Turner — who has somewhat quietly had a burger on the menu at Lupo Caffe (for those of us on the west side this is quite a bit far flung on the northeast side of town at Redemption Square at Generation Park) for a minute — announced the launch of Lupo Burger inside Lupo Caffe literally yesterday.

As I wrote in the Cheerleader review last month, “For those unfamiliar, Bernie’s Burger Bus was an institution and one of the absolute best burger spots in all of Houston in the late 2010s. My family and I ate at the La Centerra location at what felt like a monthly cadence, and it was beloved by all four of us. Much to the sheer horror of beef lovers citywide, it closed all of its locations early on during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The opportunity to revisit the legendary hamburgers from Bernie’s Burger Bus from the one-and-only Chef Turner? 🤯

Answering the Burger Signal’s call, I instantaneously knew what today’s Friday Burger Adventure™️ was going to be.

I raced up to Generation Park (which is nowhere close to any of the weekday or weekend geographies I inhabit), and thrillingly ordered up Chef Turner’s new Jalapeño Burger, topped with beer-battered jalapeños, jalapeño ranch, lettuce, garlic-roasted tomatoes, and pepperjack cheese. In a throwback to the Bernie’s days, I had to make it a double.

This was, in short, everything I’d hoped it would be and then some. The beef was, as always, exquisite and lush, and the assorted jalapeño treatments provided just enough heat without being overwhelming (even though I do love spice).

I asked Chef Turner about his beef, and he was kind enough to share that he sources through Creekstone, using a one-to-one brisket-to-chuck blend that nets out to an unheard-of (at least for me) 68/32 lean-to-fat ratio. The closest I’ve had is Gastrocraft’s Dennis Feray’s 73/27 blend, and given that Feray’s smashburger is a guarantee for my upcoming year-end Best Burgers of 2025 list, clearly I also like ‘em on the fattier side as well as spicy. The seasoning is straightforward and minimal (a trend I’ve noticed among elite burger purveyors) — salt, pepper, and MSG; and the burger sauce is comprised of horseradish, ketchup, dijon mustard, capers, cayenne, smoked paprika and onions.

I wish I had the stomach capacity to try everything on the menu, because Lupo Burger naturally doesn’t offer only one option: there’s also a Basic Cheeseburger, Salsa Verde Burger, and a Breakfast Burger; PLUS new smashburger options (which were nowhere near as popular back in the late 2010s the way they are today) including a Double Smash and a BBQ Smash.

Given my increasing appreciation of and desire for smashes over the last few months, I was tempted to go smash, but felt like I had to go traditional in this initial rekindling.

Oh, and if the initial nostalgic overload of a refreshed Bernie’s-style burger wasn’t enough, Chef Turner was kind enough to share that in November he is in fact bringing back an updated version of one of my absolute all-time favorite Houston hamburgers: The Substitute.

(The OG Substitute. Dear God).

Lastly, I of course had to ask whether he had any plans to open anything burger-related just a wee bit closer to my west-side-of-town stomping grounds. While nothing is imminent, Chef Turner did tease that he’d love to open a 24/7 burger concept in the heart of Chinatown. Let’s PLEASE make this happen, folks.

It’s quite the dopamine rush when something you are incredibly excited about not only meets but exceeds expectations, and if you are a fellow burger obsessive, do yourself a favor and make the journey out to Lupo Burger. I guarantee you will thank me later.

4.75 patties out of 5 (saving my 5 for the return of The Substitute 😁).

Recommended Additional Coverage

After this, make sure to also read John-Henry Perera’s “Houston burger legend returns behind grill with brand-new concept” in The Houston Chronicle.