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    Sneak Peek at Bernie's Heights

    Sneak peek: Beloved burger joint's new location adds boozy milkshakes, chicken sandwiches and more

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 21, 2017 | 11:34 am

    For burger lovers in The Heights, the waiting for one of the neighborhood’s most eagerly anticipated new restaurants is almost over. Bernie’s Burger Bus will open its location at 2200 Yale Street on July 31.

    Almost two years in the making, the Heights location of the food truck-turned-restaurant applies the lessons learned at the Bellaire and Katy locations to make it the most fully-realized version of chef-owner Justin Turner’s concept. Of course, all of the classic Bernie’s burgers and fries are present and accounted for. The Study Hall, a pork belly-topped burger inspired by the McRib that's an off-menu favorite, has returned. Bernie’s recently-launched breakfast menu and an all-new lineup of chicken sandwiches will also be available from day one (Update 8/8: Bernie's no longer serves breakfast).

    The Heights location sets itself apart from its siblings in a number of ways, starting with a full bar (dubbed “The Teacher’s Lounge”), which will feature boozy milkshakes, frozen cocktails, and bourbon cocktails developed by local bartender Linda Salinas (Anvil, Upstairs at Hungry’s, La Grange). Beer and wine will also be available.

    “We have eight boozy shakes that we’re going to do. Stuff like The Dude, so we’re going to pay homage to the Big Lebowski with a White Russian milkshake with Kahlua and vodka in it. We’ve got an amazing strawberry rum that we’re going to add to our strawberry shake,” Turner tells CultureMap. “Everything we’re doing is super tasty . . . We’re doing a rotation of frozen cocktails. We’re starting off with a blackberry bramble and a froze kind of deal, but she’s come up with six or eight that we’re going to rotate.”

    A daily happy hour from 3 pm to 7 pm will offer $5 frozen drinks, $1 off boozy shakes, $4 draft beers and $5 glass of wine. Even during the other hours of the day, Turner says the pricing will be a little less expensive than nearby options.

    But alcohol isn’t the only feature that sets this Bernie’s apart. The new location is also the final resting place for Turner’s first bus — the lights up top still work — which now houses the restaurant’s kitchen. It's been freshened up with the bus's original logo and slightly widened to make moving around in the kitchen easier.

    Other improvements at the Heights store include expanding the seating area in front of the bus to allow bigger crowds at Turner’s Bernie’s After Dark and Cool Kids Table pop-ups. The dining room itself seats about 100, and the covered, dog-friendly patio seats 20 more. Expect area burger lovers to claim those seats quickly.

    Since Turner was in such an ebullient mood about his new restaurant, it seemed like a good opportunity to ask the Chopped champion five big picture questions about Bernie's present, his future plans, and where the restaurant stands with the recent influx of so many new burger joints.

    CultureMap: Why did you decide to introduce fried chicken sandwiches?

    Justin Turner: I felt like it was time to do something new, to challenge ourselves. I knew that a chicken sandwich in theory is easy, but for us there’s a lot of challenges . . . In theory, chicken at 350 degrees (for french fries) is very difficult where you get the inside perfectly cooked but the outside isn’t too dark. . .

    I never wanted to create something that was just easy and thrown together. I wanted it to be something we were proud of . . .

    It started with where we were going to get the chicken . . . I thought that was going to be easy, but it turned out to be the hardest part. To find something that’s consistent in size and for us to get on a regular basis if it takes off.

    A lot of research went into the brine . . . We ended up using our leftover pickle juice. Now we get a multiple use of out of it, which is awesome.

    CM: Do you think you’ll open a fourth location in Houston?

    JT: I’m looking for a fourth. I look at sites all the time. The awesome thing about Houston and the people who live in this city is they want to see places like us succeed and come into their neighborhoods. We don’t even look as much as we’re offered (places). We get emails from developers, ‘this would be great for you. We would love to see you in our neighborhood.’

    CM: What’s the timeline for the next location?

    JT: Nothing this year, obviously, unless we walked into a space that was already built out.

    We’re very selective on how we look for spaces. Real estate moves up and down in Houston. Price-wise, we’ve seen big peaks, and we’re waiting on a valley.

    We’ve been looking in East Downtown, and the prices are really high right now. We’re hoping things level off, because, from a restaurant standpoint, the price increase from 2013 to now is pretty incredible. That scares us. We want to make sure it’s the right lease and the right terms.

    CM: Do you still intend to open a location in Austin?

    JT: Yes, because my son is there, and he’s important to me. I would hate to say it’s a short term goal, because it’s all about the right space. The one difficult thing about going to Austin is being in the right place first. If I were trying to grow it there like I did here, I’ll have to start over in terms of building a crowd.

    I want to, for sure, more selfishly than anything else, because I want to be by my son more.

    I love Houston. I will always live here. So, I just happen to have a life where I live in multiple places.

    CM: A lot of new burger places have come to Houston since your first location opened in Bellaire. Have those new arrivals affected your business?

    JT: No, I think we might have seen some dips during openings, but very minimal. During the election was the hardest time, from August to November, but we heard that from tons of people.

    Since then, we’ve come back to where we were. Katy has been identical, within $100 per day. Bellaire a little more fluctuation percentage-wise.

    I think Hubcap Grill, Lankford Grocery, Stanton’s, they’re successful because they are who they are. That’s why we can continue to be who we are.

    When people are craving a Shake Shack burger, they go to Shake Shack. When they’re craving a Bernie’s burger, they come to Bernie’s. I think people are not so focused on just one restaurant, where they only go to one place. I think they have a top three, and my hope is I’m always in the top three.

    For me, it’s not about better or worse. I’m not worried about Hopdoddy or Shake Shack. If we focus on what we do and (continue to) make everything from scratch, we’ll have people who love what we’re doing and our happy to say ‘this is a Houston brand that’s made here.’

    As long as we stay true to who we are, I don’t think that’s going to change. We have to be innovative. We have to grow with what people want, but we have to stay in the framework of who we are. As long as it stays that way, I want to keep exploring and giving people new experiences. But we have to stick with the classics. If I took away the Principal or the Cheerleader or the Homeroom, people would be upset.

    -------------------

    This interview was edited and condensed.

    The Heights location features a full bar.

    Bernie's Burger Bus Heights interior bar
      
    Photo by Sydney Arceneaux
    The Heights location features a full bar.
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    Where to eat lunch now

    7 new luxe Houston lunch deals that make the midday meal memorable

    Brianna Griff
    Apr 25, 2025 | 4:00 pm
    hamsa lunch houston
    Kristen Gilliam
    At Hamsa, diners can select two salatim to begin their prix fixe lunch.

    A luxury lunch doesn’t always require a splurge — at least not a major one. These Houston restaurants’ prix fixe menus and bento boxes allow diners to sample curated, high-caliber cuisine for a fraction of the cost of a full dinner. Whether someone is entertaining a client, catching up with a colleague, or simply treating yourself to something special midweek, these prix fixe offerings deliver flavor, efficiency, and just the right amount of indulgence.

    Barbacana
    The downtown endeavor by chef-owner Christian Hernandez serves a prix fixe lunch that leans upscale at $50, but also delivers a quick introduction to his mashup of Houston’s diverse cuisine scene. Begin with a jicama or cauliflower salad, followed by a choice of a fried grouper sandwich, a veggie sandwich, or a mushroom donburi with confit egg yolk. Pair it with a creative side of Greek potato pave, crispy sunchokes, or brassica pickle chips. The price includes a glass of wine, beer, or a non-alcoholic beverage. Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday from 11 am-3 pm.

    Doko
    One of the newest establishment on this list, Doko is Duckstache Hospitality’s intimate Japanese concept in the Autry Park mixed-use development. A midday visit invites diners to explore the creations of chefs Patrick Pham and Daniel Lee through three sushi sets. Set A ($19) has a makimono roll of your choice and three pieces of nigiri—akami (lean tuna), masu (trout), and hamachi (yellowtail). Set B ($25) expands the nigiri selection with madai (sea bream) and kanpachi (amberjack), while Set C ($32) adds the popular chicken fat rice with jidori chicken and a fried egg. With just 50 seats, reservations are recommended. Lunch is served daily starting at 11 am.

    Hamsa
    This Rice Village restaurant’s $25 prix fixe lunch menu highlights the bold, colorful flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. Start with two salatim, such as baba ganoush, shaved tomato and feta, or classic hummus. For the main, choose from entrees like a falafel sandwich with tahini, or a chicken thigh skewer served with a parsley-red onion salad and a side. It’s $10 more to upgrade that chicken thigh to ribeye. End on a sweet note with one of three desserts: basboosa malabi (a cake-pudding hybrid), petite beurre shortbread layers, or dark chocolate halvah. Add a glass of wine for $10. Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 am-2:30 pm.

    Kata Robata
    Chef Hori-san recently updated the lunch offerings at this Houston institution, including changes to the restaurant's popular bento boxes. Featured main options are shrimp tempura ($19), miso-marinated Alaskan black cod ($25), or Texas wagyu ($23). Each box comes with miso soup and a choice of chicken teriyaki or crispy karaage. Round out the meal with optional add-ons such as sashimi ($6), kakuni pork belly ($5), or a snow crab California roll ($4). Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 am-3 pm.

    Perseid
    Hotel Saint Augustine is already racking up the accolades, with that excitement extending to Perseid, the first all-day concept from Bludorn partners Aaron Bludorn and Cherif Mbodji. The French-inspired menu reflects the hotel’s proximity to the Menil Collection, with a Gulf Coast influence woven through every dish.

    “From the outset, we wanted to create a neighborhood restaurant in a hotel, rather than a hotel restaurant, and that means making it accessible to neighbors and businesspeople in equal measure,” Bludorn tells CultureMap. “You can come for a lunch meeting with a colleague and be finished in an hour, or you can come for a leisurely birthday party and stay all afternoon.”

    The $35 prix fixe menu starts with an appetizer: Caesar salad with boquerones, carrot soup with falafel, or a smoked salmon dip served alongside homemade potato chips. For the entrée, choose from potato gnocchi with asparagus, steelhead trout with Romano beans, or chicken paillard with fingerling potatoes. Desserts are either a trio of sorbets or a chocolate entremet with salted caramel. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, from 11:30 am-2 pm.

    Tavola
    This Uptown spot from the company behind Michelin-starred Le Jardinier offers a $28 executive lunch that’s both polished and efficient. Start with the baby spinach salad with walnuts and shaved pear, the house Caesar, or the soup of the day. For the main course, choose from one of four entrées: spaghetti cacio e pepe, a spicy cavatelli in arrabbiata sauce, crispy chicken parmigiana, or — for a lighter option — the avocado cucumber salad with either salmon or chicken. Cap it off with tiramisu or creamy vanilla gelato for an additional $8. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, from 11:30 am-2 pm

    Tony's
    Fans of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion will get a chuckle when they order lunch at this fine dining institution in Greenway Plaza. Chef Kate McLean’s Romy and Michele’s Business Woman’s Special ($35) is a playful nod to the cult film with two Tony’s cheeseburgers with double 44 Farms patties, fries, and Diet Cokes. It’s available for dine-in or to go.

    For more variety, try the Greenway Express prix fixe ($35), which includes soup or salad, a main dish (chicken sandwich with French onion dip, short rib cappelletti, or roast hen salad), and a scoop of the day’s gelato. Pair it all with one of Tony’s lunch spritzes, such as the Front Porch Swinger ($15), a mix of Amaro Montenegro, St. George’s NOLA, and lime. Lunch is served from Tuesday through Friday, from 11 am-3 pm.

    hamsa lunch houston
      

    Photo by Kristen Gilliam

    At Hamsa, diners can select two salatim to begin their prix fixe lunch.

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