Smack dab in the middle of what seems like a nationwide search for "Who has the best burger?" a newbie — Chopping Block — has opened its doors along the Washington Avenue corridor.
Located at 5317 Washington, Chopping Block plans to compete in the burgeoning high-end burger market with reasonable prices (burgers ranging from $9.95-$12.95) and bar food geared to curing pesky late-night munchies.
A week after Chopping Block's official opening, CultureMap made an initial reconnaissance. In addition to attentive service, we found a generous menu with more than a dozen choices of burgers as well as a wide selection of "Not Burgers."
Before realizing how large the portions were, we decided to do it big that night and ended up with enough food to feed about five additional people.
My dining companion tried the Farmer, a stacked-tall beast, sure to make you full just looking at it. The use of Limburger cheese was a great add-on, layered with bacon, crispy hashed browns, grilled onions strings, topped with a fried egg on a jalapeno mozzarella bun and served with your choice of regular or sweet potato fries.
Before realizing how large the portions were, we decided to do it big that night and ended up with enough food to feed about five additional people. To start, we ordered fried pickles, fried asparagus, and cheese fries — heart attack alert. I'm a big fried pickle fan and it got my vote. It's served with a tangy chipotle ranch that is also finger-lickin' good.
Having made room for no more than six more bites of any kind of food, I went of one of the Chopping Block's "Haute Dogs." I was intrigued by the "Mexican" — an all-beef link wrapped with bacon, smothered with tomatoes, onions and jalapenos, and topped with a chipotle mayo. The heartiness of it all absolutely took my breath away. If only I had waited, I could have finished it . . . maybe.
Not be missed are Chopping Block's “summer stimulations” offered on the drink menu. I sampled three. The Pyrate Summer Tea was different at best, but if you’re looking to cool off and get tipsy fast, this cola and dark rum concoction is your drink. Next up, the pink and refreshing look quickly faded when I tried the Chopping Splash, a mixture of grapefruit and aperol liqueur. Lastly, the Pineapple Lime Cilantro Margarita made everything all right. Delicious, adding mint to the mix offset the herbiness that is cilantro and proved to be a great finish to my meal.
New kid on the block, Chopping Block is still working out the kinks, but a co-owner and creator of Chopping Block's menu tells CultureMap that he is confident that with its reasonable rates and new late night hours coming soon (there is talk of staying open as late as 4 a.m.), the restaurant is looking to remain on the Houston burger map for some time.
. . . in burgers and everything else.
Five new Houston restaurants earned Bib Gourmand designations. Courtesy of Houston First Corporation