Author: Larry Koestler

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.

When is a smashburger not a smashburger?

In fairness, that’s a bit of a misleading question in the subhead. Popular Houston-based multi-location food truck Crypto Burger (with trucks parked in the Medical Center, Sugar Land, Spring, and Clear Lake) most certainly offers smashburgers. However, on my latest visit, their distinctive usage of spices — including the deployment of an unidentified herb sprinkled fairly liberally on the bun and in the burger sandwich itself — brought me to a flavor destination I don’t know that I’ve previously experienced within the realm of smashburgers.

Rewind to 17 months ago — I initially sampled Crypto Burger in February 2024 on the heels of irresistible social media hype, but came away somewhat disappointed. It could’ve been me — I ordered the Bull Run, enticed by the assortment of heat adjuncts laden within the composition, but the overall experience felt a bit lackluster.

The one component that did save the day that afternoon were Crypto’s ridiculous Spicy Metaverse Monster Fries, a gigantic platter that could easily serve as a meal unto its own that is absolutely smothered with ground beef, grilled jalapeños, and Crypto’s signature FOMO sauce. This might be my favorite loaded fries dish in the entire Houston burger game — and that’s saying something given the volume of local patty slingers that also feature comically overloaded and delicious french fried sides.

Clearly I wasn’t racing to get back, but with 2025 being the year where I finally and truly have fallen head-over-heels for the smashburger — again, I’ve never not liked smashes, but I always considered myself a traditional “regular”-sized patty aficionado. I of course still and always will adore a “normal” burger, but the number of outrageously great smashes I’ve sampled during the past year has dramatically increased my desire to consume them — the time was right for Crypto Take 2.

This time I knew I had to try the number-one seller on their menu: The Bunqua Burger, smashed-style. The Double Bunqua Smash comes with 100% Halal patties, jalapeños, fried onions, FOMO sauce, cayenne pepper hot sauce, and pepperjack cheese. (I also of course couldn’t resist another order of the Spicy Metaverse Monster Fries 🙌).

It ended up being the right call — as described above, the flavors in the Bunqua Smash came together in a way I’ve never quite experienced before, with a pleasant (but not overwhelming) amount of heat, solid char on the burgers, and that addition of the unnamed herb — I think it may have been thyme — syncing up nicely.

All in all, a nice bounceback for Crypto after my initial experience. Was it among the very best smashes I’ve had? I’d probably recommend a handful of places ahead of it. I can’t entirely put my finger on the why, but there’s something in the mix that’s keeping it from all-time memorable status — though that may be more of a me thing than a Crypto thing.

Still, I did give Crypto a shout in my Top 30 Hamburgers in Houston Power Rankings this past July, recognizing them as one of the “on the bubble” candidates in which I wrote:

“It’s been a minute since the one time I tried Crypto (a year and a half ago)and I really wanted to love it, but I remember the Bull Run Burger falling just a bit short of expectations for me. However, there was enough promise that I’ve recently returned it to my to-do list, and I think it’s worthy of bubble status. I have a feeling if I order the fan-favorite Bunqua Burger on my next visit, we could see this truck move on up in the rankings.”

I’d say the latter has a fairly reasonable chance of occurring. Bumping from the 4 I gave it in February 2024, to a 4.25 out of 5.0.

Revisiting my number-one burger in all of Houston for the first time since April

Longtime readers know burger-chan has been number-one in my heart for several years now.

Here’s a fun timeline of burger-chan (and Larry) history:

April 2016: Willet and Diane Feng officially open as Kuma Burgers in Greenway Plaza.

April 2017: The dynamic duo changes the restaurant’s name to burger-chan.

August 7, 2020: I get my first taste of burger-chan (delivered — I never actually visited the Greenway Plaza location).

August 28, 2020: Greenway Plaza location closes due to pandemic.

October 16, 2020: I enjoy burger-chan again; this time from its temporary delivery-only outpost at the Click Virtual Food Hall on Shepherd.

2021: I don’t recall ordering burger-chan much during this time period. Willet and Diane are hard at work planning and getting burger-chan 2.0 ready.

January 3, 2022: burger-chan 2.0 opens at its current above-ground home at 535 W. Alabama!

2022: burger-chan once again listed in the Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 Best Houston restaurants of 2022. burger-chan remained on the list for 2023 and 2024. Despite this I somehow go most — if not all — of 2022 without burger-chan in my life. To be fair, while I’ve loved hamburgers my entire adult life, I didn’t become obsessive and cataloguing and chronicling my consumption until…

Fall 2023: I remember that burger-chan rules and finally visit the Alabama St location. It is absolutely outstanding; instantly ascends to its perch as my #1 burger in all of Houston; and makes me question why on earth I went so long in between visits. While I tend to have great recall for this type of thing and/or documentation due to checking in to places / posting about my favorite spots, I believe this is my first time having burger-chan in at least two years. Blasphemy, I know.

December 2023: burger-chan tops my list of Best Burgers in Houston for 2023. Yelp rates burger-chan as one of the top 100 restaurants in the United States, ranking #47 out of 100. It also ranks #13 among the Top 100 places to eat in Texas.

October 2024: I enjoy burger-chan with much more consistency throughout 2024, and after getting to know Willet and Diane, they go the extra mile and release a limited-edition Bleu Cheese Burger at my request! The burger is exceptional of course, and to this day has yet to return.

December 2024: burger-chan once again tops my list of Best Burgers in Houston for 2024—a list that just keeps on growing. Yelp also again rates burger-chan as one of the top 100 restaurants in the United States, this time rising to #27.

April 2025: After nearly 10 years of incredibly hard work, Willet and Diane partner with chef Ryan Stewart and his Silver Linings Hospitality company to take over day-to-day operations of the restaurant. They of course remain involved, but not at the daily cadence they once were. Thankfully, quality-wise nothing skips a beat (other than getting to see their smiling faces upon walking in).

July 2025: I publish my first-ever Houston Hamburger Power Rankings, featuring the Top 30 hamburgers in the city. burger-chan retains its lofty perch at #1.

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And what did I order today? So glad you asked. I call it the Larry Classic: it’s the Spicy!!! Burger—which comes standard with pepperjack, charred jalapeños, pickled jalapeños, soy serrano peppers, and sambal mayo—on a sweet sourdough roll modified with three 2-oz patties, 1x Smoked Ghost Chili Pepper Flakes, fried egg over easy, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles, mayo, mustard, and ketchup.

Utter saporous bliss.

Pincho’s revives a Bernie’s Burger Bus classic; while Boom Baam—located inside a gas station mini mart—underscores the Houston burger scene’s dedication to innovation

Sometimes your algorithm knows you better than you know yourself. I’m not sure I would’ve become aware of Boom Baam (13905 Westheimer Rd) had Instagram not started feeding me videos featuring the venue’s stacked-a-mile-high burger compositions. As a lover of piling everything-and-the-kitchen-sink on top of my beloved patties, Boom Baam ratcheted its way up to the top of my to-do list.

Located in a gas station mini-mart — this is now the third instance of such I’ve encountered this past year, along with Lone Star Market and Fresh & Furious — Boom Baam owner Chef Roberts is whipping up some of the tastier beef concoctions in Houston.

I ordered the “Build a Tower,” comprised of double beef, cheese, lettuce, pickles, grilled jalapeños, onions, and Boom Baam sauce, plus beef links, bacon, egg, and avocado. For the ridiculous number of hamburgers I’ve consumed in my life, I’m not sure I’ve ever had one topped with sausage, and I have to say—I dug the addition. The composition was expertly assembled (look at my photo!), and overall flavor terrific. Juicy and delicious, this is worth your while and an easy 4.5.

Next up: the Pincho burger chain—which, sad to say, severely underwhelmed me during my birthday burger weekend trifecta back in February—has a limited-time special collaboration available with none other than Justin Turner of the legendary Bernie’s Burger Bus.

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. The family and I ate at the La Centerra location at what felt like a monthly cadence (it probably wasn’t, but we definitely made our share of visits), and it was beloved by all four of us. Much to the sheer horror of beef lovers citywide, closed all of its locations early on during the COVID-19 pandemic. Something else (that was clearly memorable 😂) briefly occupied the old Bernie’s space but it has largely sat vacant ever since, and to this day I am saddened whenever I pass by the old orange-hued storefront.

This was The Substitute burger at Bernie’s—a blue cheese bacon burger with what they called “tipsy” onions and burgundy mushrooms. This burger is truly GOATED, as the kids say (editor’s note: do they?), and if it were still around would easily occupy a slot in my top 5 of all time.

Unfortunately Pincho only brought one Bernie’s burger back: The Cheerleader (pictured above in daylight), comprised of a black angus patty topped with pepper jack, beer-battered jalapeños, slow-roasted garlic tomatoes, lettuce, and cilantro-jalapeño aioli. I modified it with a fried egg, applewood smoked bacon, pickles, and Texas-style double smash patties. Smashes weren’t really a thing—or at least, definitely weren’t what they are now—during Bernie’s’ heyday, so I thought it’d be fun to try ‘em on this Bernie’s re-creation.

The Pincho/Bernie’s Cheerleader was good! Substantially better than whatever I’d ordered at Pincho during my original disappointing experience. Was it Bernie’s good? Well, no, but it was satisfying enough in its own right and played all of the heart-tugging nostalgic notes that I’m glad it exists, and hopefully is successful enough for them to revisit additional items from Bernie’s’ back catalog. If a revival of The Substitute is announced at some point, that sound you’ll hear immediately after is me spontaneously combusting in excitement.

The third new burger to me I recently consumed was Stafford’s Tornado Burger. An old school burger joint to the hilt, I loved everything about its no-frills aesthetic (though talk about well off the beaten path, at least for this Katy resident). I ordered their triple spicy hamburger, and…it was fine. No major complaints, but nothing particularly memorable about it, either. My main takeaways were that I felt like the flavor was pretty subdued, and it definitely wasn’t notably spicy. Beef was fine; but overall this left something to be desired. Then again, at only a 4.0 on Yelp (4.5 on Google), this is one of those semi-rare occurrences where I agree with the wisdom of the crowd.

The rich get richer as yet another exceptional smashburger joint opens up in Houston, a.k.a. Hamburger City

2025 has been some kind of year for my endless pursuit of the finest hamburgers known to man. There were 12 new-to-me burgers on my recently published Top 30 Hamburgers in Houston list — many of which will make my annual year-end Best-of list, which in and of itself is getting crowded (here’s the 2024 wrap-up).

Proper. Gastrocraft. Boo’s Burgers. Wagyuru. Q’s Deli. Smashed Society. Lone Star Market. Narwhal Jousting Club. Moon Tower. Bad Buns.

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All enjoyed by me for the first time in 2025, and all uniformly outstanding — and somewhat absurdly, 50% of those names listed above opened in 2025.

It’s one thing for a city to enjoy one or two world-class additions to its hamburger scene in a given year. But five new spots, all boasting burger offerings rating between 4.5-5 out of 5, is wild, and further cements my contention that Houston is the Best Burger City in America, and by a wide margin at that.

With that, I suppose it should come as no surprise that the latest entrant to the scene — Smash City, which, like many of its smashburger brethren began life as a food truck — has come out of the chute on absolute fire.

Smash City delightfully hit my radar in ideal fashion: posts featuring the truck suddenly started appearing in my Instagram feed out of nowhere, touting the food truck’s upcoming new brick-and-mortar location, on Westheimer in Uptown/Galleria. It literally could not have been better situated for me.

In some regards the marketing plan was eerily reminiscent of Juicy Joint’s entry to the market, with multiple videos from both the company and local food influencers hyping the brand spawning seemingly overnight, which is clearly the playbook for getting in front of your desired audience. It got my attention and I subsequently decided to eat there less than two weeks after learning about its existence, so the plan appears to have worked.

But enough with the preamble. You’re here to know what I thought about the burger.

I ordered the Jalapeño Jackpot, which comes with two smashed Angus patties, melted American cheese, grilled jalapeños, smoky beef bacon, signature sauce, and grilled diced onions, on a very tasty (and sturdy) potato bun branded with their logo. Noting the heft of the bun is important, because I also added a third patty (of course), an egg, bacon, truffle mayo, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and pickles, and oftentimes my custom burger towers overwhelm their foundation. I did find it slightly silly that the latter three fixings aren’t standard issue, but a minor quibble. I also enjoyed how I was lamenting that I seldom see mushrooms as a topping option after enjoying them on Lone Star’s Smash last week, and now here we are with our favorite fungi two visits in a row.

From the moment I sank my teeth into it to prevent the burger from toppling sideways — I recogize that I just lauded the bun, but trying to hold these overflowing beef towers up with one hand for the photo while sauces and hot juice are dripping down my hand is quite a bit more difficult than it looks — I knew I was in for something special.

I am well aware that Wagyu is all the rage (and rightly so), but these classic Angus patties sang all the savory beefy flavor notes I could want.

Sometimes my abundant topping selections can overwhelm the flavor of the beef, but everything was perfectly in sync here. Just delicious, well-prepared and thoughtfully cooked on the execution.

Those that have broken bread with me know I am the fastest eater around, so my consuming something quickly isn’t necessarily notable in and of itself — but I literally inhaled this thing, and given its generous proportions, that’s among the highest compliments I can pay a burger.

So there you have it — Smash City out of the gate with a no-doubt Top 15 and possibly/probably Too 10 smashburger in all of Houston. The rich get richer, indeed. 4.75 out of 5 patties.

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.