National Burger Day Alert! Chris Shepherd’s Doing a Burger Place!

National Burger Day Alert! Chris Shepherd’s Doing a Burger Place!

JUST IN TIME for National Burger Day — have you put up your National Burger Day tree yet? — comes breaking burger news from Houston's most prolific chef and celebrated restaurateur, Chris Shepherd.


Shepherd's Underbelly Hospitality will open Underbelly Burger at an unspecified time this summer in the Houston Farmers Market, right next door to Wild Oats, which is also among his company's concepts. The new eatery, in the refurbished market center, will also be near RC Ranch's butcher shop, which will supply some of the beef, along with Shepherd's longtime supplier 44 Farmers.

Per a release from Shepherd's office this morning, the 1,200-square-foot, 12-seat restaurant, which will also have a pickup window, will tout as its flagship sandwich something similar to one of the chef's most famous dishes at another of this popular restos. "The standard burger will be a slightly updated version of Hay Merchant's Cease and Desist burger — double meat, double cheese with lettuce, pickles and tomato on a potato bun," said the statement.

"The small menu will also feature Chris Shepherd's bacon sausage — both on burgers and in hot dog form — chicken sandwiches and special burgers driven by the seasons," it also noted. "The sidewinder fries are soft in the center and crispy around the edges." Pastry Director Victoria Dearmond's milkshakes will also be on offer, as will a boutique selection of wine and beer.

Underbelly Hospitality's Wild Oats is set to be a "fresh take on traditional Texas," with items like shrimp-and-grits but with masa, as in tamales, per a CityBook report in January.

Food
Leadership in Action: John Kuykendall Traded Newcaster Dream for Success in Luxury Retail

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

Keep Reading Show less

Kendall and Susan Plank, Noel Wise, Anna Osborn, Michelle Koskie

MORE THAN 140 lovely ladies showed up at Tootsies to shop, sip and celebrate Dec My Room, the local nonprofit responsible for personalizing and decorating hospital rooms for pediatric and young-adult patients.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

Salted Coconut Latik Ice Cream Sandwich at Lil' Koffeteria

THERE'S SOME INTERESTING news coming out of The Quad at Britmoore, the adaptive, mixed-use development fashioned of repurposed industrial warehouses in Spring Branch near Memorial.

Keep Reading Show less