The Burger Joint — Restaurant in Houston

(Posted 02/16/2024): After hearing great things about The Burger Joint from friends, I finally decided to give this burger spot a shot. Safe to say, I was not expecting what I walked into, in more ways than one. Here is my honest review.

Firstly, I will say that all their staff were great and displayed a great level of enthusiasm and energy, despite what time I walked in, (Roughly 11PM On A Friday Night) regardless of the fact that they were all probably dog tired. After looking over the menu, I settled on ordering the Smoke Stack burger, their Queso Fries, and an Oreo Milkshake with added Caramel Syrup (It was an extra dollar to add, so why not, right?).

Regarding my order, the food wait wasn't crazy, I believe I had mine within 10-15 minutes of finishing with the cashier and sitting down. The Oreo/Caramel Milkshake was excellent, one of the better ones I've had in a while. Would absolutely recommend, and although the Queso Fries were decent, I have had better. They did give a pretty large portion, which helped, my personal opinion notwithstanding that 6 dollars for a side of what is essentially cheese fries is pretty pricey, regardless of portioning. Now that I've discussed the side and the shake, I'll move to the actual reason I'm posting a review about my experience here and why I rated it at 3 stars overall, despite what I've said above.

Going back to when I ordered my burger, the cashier had asked me how I wanted the meat cooked and I told him I wanted it medium rare, as that's how I always ate burgers at home when I was younger, and it's moreover just what I'm used to. When the food came out and I bit into the burger, it initially tasted fine, though the pulled pork had a somewhat sweet barbecue sauce flavor that I wasn't the biggest fan of, but that's just me. As I continued eating, I soon realized the entire burger was quickly coming apart which I didn't see as a big issue as it had a lot of stuff in it. It was only once the burger had deconstructed itself on my tray that I realized that the patty, though it appeared cooked from the outside, looked pretty raw on the inside. At that point I wasn't sure if this was how they cooked their medium rare burgers and what I had was supposed to be the finished product, or if I had been given a patty that wasn't fully cooked all the way through, but I had a feeling it was the latter.

I ended up speaking with the manger on shift about my suspicion and she NOT ONLY CONFIRMED that the patty was way undercooked, she also told me the reason for said patty being as raw on the inside as it frankly was was because their kitchen had been having issues recently with cooking any burgers ordered medium rare or rare, as they had been struggling to get the burgers right was due to some sort of grill malfunction.

At this point, I could no longer eat the rest of the burger (clearly), as consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry and (sometimes) seafood is an almost surefire way to get food poisoning, and as such I asked that the cost of said burger be refunded to my card. The manager was completely apologetic about everything and immediately refunded my card, even giving me a free milkshake voucher for the next time I decided to go back, which I appreciate.

Now here's my criticism. If you are aware as a manager in the past that your staff have been struggling to prepare meat a certain type of way, leading to them being pretty undercooked or, in my case, raw, then WHY in the world wouldn't you tell your FOH (Front Of House) employees so they are aware of this so if someone like me were to come in and order a burger medium rare or even rare, the cashier would know to inform them that they've been having issues with their equipment, that way they don't order a burger with a patty that's bound to give them food poisoning, and even if it isn't, let them know anyhow so they don't serve raw meat.

Overall, I mostly liked this place, and I am willing to give them a second chance because people are human and make mistakes and...

I rarely write reviews, but I am taking the time for anyone that's contemplating going to this restaurant that's coming off of the Baybrook Mall strip.

This is genuinely one of the best burger places I've ever had, and I rave about Whataburger to non-Texans, I've had Mexican burgers from Mexico, and I've had countless of burger places around Texas.

First off, they are a burger shop that focuses on Steak patties. This means that you get to choose your level of rare-ness, meaning the burger you get can be as juicy and umami flavored as a medium rare steak that you'd get from a steakhouse across the street. But the even more incredible thing about the "steak-house" level of the Burger, is that you get to choose different styles. I came here with my girl, she got a "Classic", and I got the "Mexi."

She liked the classic, but I LOVED the Mexi. That burger had jalapeños that added spice to the umami, beautifully steak juice filled avocado that made the avocado even more savory, and a sauce that I'm assuming is the base sauce for all burgers. That seriously was some of the most intensely good flavor combinations I've ever had for a burger.

On top of that, we ordered the "Chili Queso Fries" which were beans + meat + chili sauce + actual queso on the fries. Pretty good, we were both very happy with the results and it was satiating and very savory, sort of like a really good Frito Pie you'd try at a big festival.

Lastly, I had a vanilla shake before I left and they serve it with Whip Cream, and I can say without a doubt, it beats most places you can go to for $3.45. Straight from the machine, it has this extremely smooth, creamy, ice cream and milky flavor that is the definition of what a shake could be. My girl was very happy with it as well. Just to note, they also have Coke products, which is a big deal for most Texans, and they have a lot of to choose from, including Dr. Pepper.

Outside of this, they also have, from what I saw, about 10 different beers on tap and they have multiple TVs layed out around the whole restaurant for you to have a possible sporting viewing event at, that makes this seem like absolute heaven for any American guy that wants to relax and enjoy S-Tier food.

Lastly, I want to say that the staff is very kind, brings you your food, they had a manager (I'm assuming the guy in the Black Shirt) constantly check on the quality of people's experience and make sure things were coming out in a timely fashion. This place is run like a full-staffed Michelin restaurant and I hope they know they're doing great work.

Burger Joint didn't disappoint and I'll be back to bring more friends to try it with. Please come here if you're thinking about it, it's great burgers and a great...

Updated I stopped by, especially today, for their fish n' chips Friday lunch after spending lots of money at Lenscrafters. I chose to eat hearty after full use of my credit card. They bring you a heaping basket of fish for $13.99, with an abundance of large chipped potatos or chips. House tarter sauce and malt vinegar. You'll have to ask for ketchup because they don't display it out on the tables as normal condiments.

The thing is, I didn't eat all the large chips. Because it's unhealthy to overdo it with that much fried potato. Believe me, they do. I would have offered fewer chips and more condiments like malt vinegar. Because I ended up throwing half the basket of chips out.

My first times experience after their grand opening. Expanding on their roaming hunger brand, with their successful Food trucks with pub type fare in Htown, check out their latest and greatest new restaurant brick and mortar chain restaurant on 1350 Bay Area Blvd in Webster, Texas.

My second time visiting within a week, to frequent this particular establishment at this location! It's time to review what I've experienced. The first thing is my goto's are the chili by cup or bowl. It tastes unlike any chili at Wendy's you have ever tasted. Or ever will unless your family came to Texas in a chuckwagon and cooked it suspended on camp fires in a steel pot without one bean, range style. Whereby, your great great papaw gave his sons the family recipe to guard and pass down in the will of each family, as if their lives depended on it.

My second goto is their Big Frank with pulled pork and slaw, German style which is best and better than most I've ever had. Try a spoonful of that chili on it and just see how it tastes.

I love spicy food. It is all about a nose drip brought on by me. Another goto is their fiery and spicy ketchup. I dip their onion rings in every time now.

I love a hearty breakfast, so a must-have when you happen to catch it here is the off the menu item, breakfast burger cooked medium. Dang it’s really good with bacon for...