Openings and Closings on the Southwest Side

Bansuri Indian Food Corner is currently closed and will be re-opening in Sugar Land.  The way I read the announcement on the website, it seems they're going all brick and mortar on us eventually.

A new truck has been parked in Bansuri's long time spot on S. Wilcrest, Yashoda Chat Express, and has a menu posted that is very similar to what Bansuri offered.  I haven't caught it open yet.

The Chili Shak, Fondren at S. Braeswood has closed.  That is a location that has failed a couple of times now.

Yemeni Cafe, Beechnut at Wilcrest, has closed after only a few months.  The restaurant was a long way from where most of the Gulf States expats reside in Houston and drew little attention, I enjoyed a Fattah Lahm and some Yemeni tea there before it closed.

Mo's Knock-out Grill in the Medical Center area has closed.  I'm very sorry to see that one go.

Edit to add:  Pupusa Baleada Buffet has been open for several months at 7303 Bissonnett @ Lugary, apparently riffing on the success of the Pupusa Buffet restaurants on the SW side.  Actually a baleada buffet sounds like a good idea, I much prefer the Honduran over the Salvadoran specialty.  I haven't been.

Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers

FM 529 @ Highway 6, Copperfield

I was urged by a friend way up north to try this place.  It’s a chain out of Wichita and I found some very favorable comments online alleging  it’s the best fast food burger ever and better than In-n-Out.  I don’t know about that last comparison since I’ve never been to In-n-Out but the website does make it appealing suggesting Freddy’s may be Wichita’s counterpart to our own James Coney Island or Prince's as an iconic local eatery.

They smash the meat down on the grill as it fries like Smashburger, they butter their buns and serve frozen custard like Culver’s, and they call their burgers steak burgers like Steak and Shake - that’s the competition.  It didn’t take much arm twisting by my friend to get me to check this out.  I know Houston is a hamburger mecca and I have my own favorites form Bernie’s and the Burger Guys and old time standbys  like Christian’s, Sparkle’s, Someburger and Cream Burger, but I like the thin, old fashioned patties and in the heat of last summer I was willing to check out some new custard.  I don’t ever go to long established chains anymore, even Whataburger.  That’s not a matter of self-denial or self-righteousness, it’s simply that my life is very relaxed these days and the only reason I ever have to hit a place like that is the need for speed.  But I’ve checked out every other new burger franchise to come to town in recent years (except Carl Jr.’s), just to see if any of them actually have managed to re-invent the wheel and I was willing to give Freddy’s a shot.

The first location of Freddy’s opened in Copperfield almost a year ago and I was there to check it out within the first 2 or 3 days of operation; that proved to be a mistake.  They learn on the job at Freddy’s, apparently; my cashier was learning how to work the register on the job with her manager actually doing most of the tapping of the touch screen.  I also came to the conclusion whoever grilled my burger was learning on the job - the patties were pressed down as thin as tortillas and spread out much larger than the bun, not only crispy but charred around the edges.  I also misunderstood the ordering system and got a dry burger without enough condiments to make up for the well done meat.  I also noted both the meat and the fries were under-salted.

I was sure that’s not what I was supposed to get so I went back a couple of months later and had a much more satisfactory experience.  I also got to try the custard and the chili.  The chili was the most impressive item I’d had.  I got it to go and got hung up on the way home by a plant fire along 529 that had the highway completely shut down so it was just a sludge by the time I got home (all the cheese had melted) but I thought it promising; even at that stage it was better than Wendy’s or Steak and Shake’s chili.

I returned recently for another round but the ordering system continued to confound me.  I’m so used to just being able to say ‘all the way’ if the toppings aren’t specified that I'm afraid I'll forget to include everything I want: on an Original Double - cheese, lettuce, tomato, and grilled onion, plus the pickle and mustard that come as standard.  The grilled onions are necessary to add a little grease to make up for the patties which have little and the others are necessary to add more moisture. They aren't apparent in the picture but they use those elongated, slightly thicker pickle slices so you should get pickle in every bite.   There wasn't enough mustard for my taste but this was a pretty good burger.  Once again both the meat and fries were under-salted.  There are salt shakers on the table and I discovered too late they have shakers of Freddy’s special seasoning on the condiments table.  I had seen the shakers for sale but there are none on the tables and only a few on the condiments table to use - that would probably help the patties and the fries.  There is also a dispenser of Freddy’s special french fry sauce, which seems to be a blend of just mayo and ketchup, to be added to the burgers or the fries for a little more oomph.  There are also bottles of Cholula.   I like the loose texture of the cooked patties and I do like these old fashioned style burgers.  I like the shoestring fries, too.  When they’re hot and fresh they are just a little gummy but as they cool off, which happens very quickly since they’re so thin, they do get gummier.

The chili, however, was a disappointment this time around.  There’s just way too much cheese added as a condiment - onions too, for that matter  - and even though not all the cheese has melted this has become a chili flavored melted cheese dish.   Somewhere in rather recent history it has become all the rage to garnish a bowl of chili with a ludricous amount of cheese and what is supposed to be a meat and spices dish has become a meat and cheese dish.  Nothing kills the spices in a bowl of chili, the cumin and the chile peppers and other spices, as quickly as cheese.  Sorry Freddy, but I’m very picky about my chili.  I still think there’s a basic chili here that’s better than Wendy’s or Steak and Shake; next time, I’ll try it without the cheese or with the cheese on the side.

Best fast food burger ever?  Naw.  I'll stick with my old favorite, Someburger in the Heights.  I can't compare this very well to the old standby chains as I haven't been to any of them, including Whataburger, in about 5 years or so.  Of the recent crop of burger franchises to come to town, however, both Smashburger and Five Guys have better meat, I think, but since I don't care for the buns at Smashburger, that leaves only Five Guys. Maybe with a light sprinkle of the special seasoning, Freddy's would edge ahead.

Another location has now opened in Katy and there's one in Bryan.  They're moving into the Houston market slower than they moved into other Texas markets.

Freddy's

Chili Cook-off for Kids

There's a chili cook-off coming up on October 22 that promises to be interesting while also raising funds for a worthy cause. Young Professionals for Children, part of Child Advocates, Inc., is hosting a chili cook-off to raise funds for it's important activities. Several well known restaurants are participating and there should be some goooooood pots of chili simmering on that day. I was invited to be a judge but won't be able to attend.

There's more specific information on their website and there should be more as the day gets closer. There's also contact information on the website.

The Chili Shak

9600 Fondren @ S. Braeswood

CLOSED AS OF SEPTEMBER 2013

Wot?, as my distant (thank goodness) cousin Jim Bob would say. A chili parlor in Texas? Don’t they know every Texan over the age of two has their own SECRET RECIPE for chili that is MUCH BETTER than any other and they won’t order chili at restaurants? And don’t they know Texans don’t like to eat hot and spicy foods except in cool weather? Well, those are some of the excuses I’ve seen on discussion boards or heard from restauranteurs (maybe with a little exaggeration on my part) concerning why there are so few places that offer more than a perfunctory bowl of chili, our official state dish.

As a matter of fact, the proprietors of The Chili Shak are from Los Angeles so maybe they haven’t heard all those excuses, and I’m glad they haven’t. But this is not some West Coast la-la-land chili, it’s all beef and no beans. It’s a family recipe, too, not out of a can. There is only one variety and one spice level but chili is in or on everything on the menu including Chili Rice, a family favorite that seems to have inspired the business, Chili Nu Nus (chili on spaghetti but not Cincinnati style chili), chili fries, chili dogs, chili burgers, chili nachos, chili fritos, chili on baked potatoes and chili on tamales and burritos plus a chili sausage dog. One thing that is missing curiously - and it was my first clue the owners are not from Texas - is a chili pie; maybe that’s what chili fritos refers to. If so they might want to consider changing the name so Texans aren’t completely lost when looking at the menu.

The chili is a little lacking in heat and cumin for my tastes but I know there will be some people, including some Native Texans, who will find it too spicy. As someone who has perfected my own SECRET RECIPE for chili that is MUCH BETTER than anybody elses, I could gritch about this or that but the fact is I'm tickled to have an honest-to-goodness chili parlor in the neighborhood. I really liked the Chili Dog - a bun-length all-beef skinless weiner, split and grilled, on a grilled bun, with a smear of mustard and a generous ladle of chili plus onions and cheese. Jalapenos are available as an extra. It was very messy but it was possible to pick it up and eat it out of hand, one of the requirements of a hot dog as far as I’m concerned.

The proprietor says he thinks their best offering is the Chili Burger, but I haven’t tried that.

The website gives the history of the enterprise but isn't about the restaurant. They're closed on Sundays.

H-TownstrEATS - Mobile

Get Thee some of These:


Pork Belly Taco with lightly pickled cucumber and Butternut Squash Taco with cilantro yogurt dressing. Incredible. Best street food I've had in Houston and I've had some very good stuff from the competition.

This is a very promising new truck, chef-driven as they say, with a varying menu (I've only seen these two items a couple of times). They're doing it right in my book: moving around instead of picking one spot (Montrose, Village, Greenway, for instance) and making good use of Twitter and Facebook to keep fans apprised of where they're going to be and what they're going to be offering. Not to mention serving up some great food.


I was a little less thrilled with a couple of other offerings I tried, the Korean style sirloin beef taco with onions, cilantro and queso - this was not bad but a little unimaginative, perhaps in the toppings. I was hoping for another something mind-blowing but this was not that much different from other beef tacos. And the grilled chicken burrito/wrap (forget just what they called it) - this was very promising to behold but wraps always seem to me to be less than the sum of their parts and that was the case with this.

Both of these might have benefited from the application of some of the condiments available on the truck but I had already driven away. There are several bottled condiments and a couple in squeeze bottles, plus some chopped peppers and possibly some relish?

I've seen a great looking Ancho Chili Frito Pie, a pretty regular offering I think (glad to see somebody offering chili on one of these trucks). The bacon-wrapped hot dog looked over-dressed for my taste but I plan to give it a try. When I tried to move in on someone who'd chosen those two items to get a better look, he got very protective.

If you've been holding back from trying street food for some reason, one visit to this one will likely change your mind and it's a good place to start, but there are already several others of the same caliber and there have been several new ones hit the streets in just the last few weeks.

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Pete's Fine Meats

5509 Richmond

Pete’s has been one of my favorite eateries for a number of years but unfortunately I have to emphasize the ‘has been.’ My most recent visits, over the past year and a half or so, have resulted in some disappointing fare.

I liked the burgers at Pete’s even before I started trying to carefully downsize the portions of food that I ate; it was a modestly sized burger, freshly ground meat (it is a butcher shop after all), fresh buns and fixings (yes, that’s a whole wheat bun). I also enjoy the ambiance of eating in a real butcher shop/grill and the array of sides that are available; given my french fry fatique I’ve never even tried the fries. But recently I tried their new home-made jalapeno bun and was disappointed both in the bun and the burger, which seems to have been up-sized and was simply a melange of flavors, none distinct. I like the contrast of tastes, textures and temperatures of a well made burger, the sizzling hot patty contrasting with the chilled fixings, etc., not one where everything seems to comes together as one flavor at room temp.

Other foods I’ve tried at Pete’s have not been as dependable. I used to go often for the chili which I regarded as among the best in town but a year ago, every time I tried it, it was insipid. Like many places in Houston it’s only prepared when the weather is cold - there’ll be a sign on the door when it’s available. One time I had it there was very little cumin or chili powder; another time a surfeit of black pepper and perhaps no red pepper (I was perplexed by the grittiness in the bowl until I figured it out). Another time there was so much cheese piled on top that it made me realize cheese is a mistake on chili unless what you really want it chili pie. I never even got around to stopping in this most recent winter to have a bowl.

Over the years I’ve become more and more of a purist about chili and this was the bowl that killed the idea of cheese as a condiment on chili; the only thing I add now is chopped raw onions.

The Steak Hoagie with Cheese likewise has been very good in the past but the last time I tried it the girl at the counter added a huge glop of mayonnaise and it was awful. The Chicken Fried Steak sandwich I tried one time was made with a frozen pre-fabricated patty and had a lot of gristle - not what I expected from a butcher shop.

They offer Hank’s and Jones sodas, Coca Cola Mexicana and Dublin Dr. Pepper and a good selection of different brands of chips. The store has recently been remodeled and expanded. Beyond the cash register in the picture now is an expanded convenience market and there are in store made jellies and salsas and more.

There is barbecue available and sausage on a stick - under heat lamps in a meat case. Sometimes the chickens look pretty good but other times they look very dried out. I’ve never tried any of these offerings.

Until I recently tried the new bun, the burger has never disappointed.



Pete's Fine Meats

Stanton's City Bites

1420 Edwards at Houston Ave., just north of Washington


I heard the buzz about Stanton’s a couple of years ago and had to make my way over there to try it. It’s great how people are always coming up with new finds and I try to do my part by trying lots of new places myself in hopes of striking gold.

Stanton’s has got probably the least street appeal of any eatery I’ve seen in Houston; you’d hardly know it’s a convenience store, much less serves food. Inside the faded lavender doors, the floors are worn, the lighting dim, the convenience store racks poorly stocked, boxes and crates, etc., blocking access to much of the space, a barren meat/deli case, but at least the food prep and serving area that can be seen is spic and span.

Like one of our newspaper reviewers recently wrote, I prefer to order a burger the way a place serves it on the first visit, to get a sense of what they think is a great burger. It reveals a lot to me and, sometimes, I pick up on something new I’d never thought of before.

Stanton’s serves a humongous burger; it barely fits in the Styrofoam box and that’s a problem since there’s no place to eat except in your car (I’ve since learned there’s a small, tree shaded city park about a mile north on Houston Ave.) But it’s a bit of a hassle trying to eat that burger in the car.

Despite looking awesome I was disappointed in the burger on two counts, first, the meat was quite flavorless. I thought they could have either used a better quality of meat or at least added a little seasoning mix to it. Secondly, and more importantly for me, the main flavor that hit my palate on my first bite was mayonnaise, the burger was swimming in it. An all-the-way cheeseburger was supposed to have both mustard and mayo but the mayo stood out over everything, even the bacon. Overdoing the condiments is a sure sign of a bad burger to me and as much as I wanted to like that gorgeous looking burger, I was unhappy.

On a second visit I told them to hold the mayo, thinking that might do the trick, but in it’s place they used a surfeit of mustard. Now there should never be more than a smear of mayo on a burger IMO but a mustard burger is fine - so long as it’s not overdone, as this one was.

Two strikes and yer out. Well, here’s the deal: within less than 10 minutes of Stanton’s are three of my favorite burgers in Houston, at Christian’s, Lankford’s and Someburger. If I have to drive that far, I’ll go to one of them. Now if Stanton’s was close to me - I live in a part of town devoid of good burger joints - I’d probably hit them regularly and learn how to cope with the way they fix the burger and order it so I got it the way I wanted it. (And I wish I had a gallon of gas for every time I’ve thought about a Houston eatery “if it was in my neighborhood I’d probably be a regular, but it’s not worth driving half-way across town for”).

Besides, though there was a time, only a year and half ago, when I longed for these over-sized burgers and thought it was a sign I was living the good life by polishing one off, I no longer like to stuff myself when I eat and I much prefer a burger only about 2/3s the size of Stanton’s at most. You know the Surgeon General has determined if you eat biggy-sized portions, you will become biggy-sized, and dang if it didn't happen to me. I'm working on it, diligently, though.

This is not just a burger joint, there are lots of other items on the City Bites menu but I’ve tried only one of them, the chili. I asked about it on several visits but they had none to serve. It’s listed as chili and rice and besides not having a pot of chili simmering on the stove, the owner told me she didn’t have any rice ready to serve either. Like many places that serve chili, they say they get too little demand for it in warm weather to keep it ready so I made a point of going in on a very blustery day and they did sell me a container of chili, although they still had no rice. It was quite a wait and what I got was perhaps the worst excuse for chili I’ve ever encountered in Houston. Unfortunately, Stanton’s has taken their cue from Wendy’s; the chili consisted of chopped up, cooked hamburger patties in a very, very tomato-y soup with almost no taste of chili powder or cumin. Strike one and yer out.

Guy's Meat Market

3106 O.S.T.

Guy’s serves one of my favorite burgers in Houston. They’ve been in business since the 1930s and once, several decades ago, somewhat on a dare as I understand it, participated in the BBQ cookoff associated with the Rodeo and won second place. They were already well established as a meat market purveying choice Northern beef (my Mother bought beef from them in the 1950s) but they’ve added to the legerdemain with barbecue and their smoked burgers. They also make some of the city’s finest chili, available only frozen in bricks, not served in the store, and they make some very credible sausages. In fact, their all pork with garlic sausage is one of my favorites. And they also have their own seasoning blend which is used on the burgers and barbecue and is quite good, available in shakers and pint jars.

Guy’s is open only Tuesday thru Saturday and serves the burgers only Tuesday thru Friday, starting at 11am. Only 200 are smoked each day and when they're gone, usually by around 12:30 or so, that’s all she wrote. You’ll likely encounter a line when you go but it moves surprisingly fast; it seems the whole crew of butchers is dedicated to moving the lunch line and there’s an assembly line just behind the barbecue display case. My favorite way to get the burger is with just barbecue sauce, onions and jalapenos but you can get it dressed with lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc., if you like. A drawback is that it's not hot and fresh off a grill which just makes it more important to get there earlier to get one.

The barbecue is just okay; I don’t think they use enough of their own seasoning blend as a rub and it develops only a minimal smoke ring. I get a plate sometimes with chicken and sausage (they serve their all beef sausage with the barbecue) or sandwiches.

The chili - or chilley as they spell it - is all beef chuck, cubed, and with nothing but beef and spices, the way chili should be. It’s one of my favorite chilis in the city, second only to the venison chili at Armadillo Palace. It’s in the freezer cases to your right as you enter, frozen in one pound bricks, hot or mild (neither one of them really hot). I’ve nearly always got some in my freezer for emergencies.

They also carry the Boutte brand of boudin, which is made in Lumberton near Beaumont. It's available in regular or crawfish varieties in the fresh meat cases.



Guy's Meat Market, with more on their barbecue, seasoning and history.