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    buzzy burger pop-up

    Underground smashburger pop-up serves up Houston's next must-eat bite

    Eric Sandler
    Aug 18, 2021 | 10:30 am

    Smashburgers are having a moment in Houston. Consider that Houston hip-hop legend Bun B’s has built his Trill Burgers pop-up around the style, or that Night Shift, the city’s most exciting new cocktail bar, serves them every Monday night.

     

    Burger obsessives have been quietly making their way to The Tipping Point, a coffee shop and vintage store downtown, to sample Joseph Boudreaux’s take on the trend. A barista at The Tipping Point by day, Boudreaux fires up his griddle on Saturday nights for a smashburger pop-up that’s attracting major buzz.

     

    Boudreaux tells CultureMap that he began developing his smashburger recipe after trying a few during a visit to Los Angeles. He began experimenting with the genre, which, as its name implies, features a beef patty that’s pressed flat onto a griddle to get crispy edges while cooking quickly enough to stay juicy. Other benefits of the cooking method appealed to him, too.

     

    “I like the meat to cheese ratio,” Boudreaux says. “Overall, it’s a better tasting burger. No knock to thicker patties.”

     

    Boudreaux’s burger features a 50-50 ratio of chuck and short rib that he grinds himself with a little fat for extra juiciness. It gets topped with a slice of American cheese, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, pickles that Boudreaux makes himself, and a burger sauce that uses barbecue sauce as its base.

     

    For a review, let’s turn to acclaimed Houston chef Dawn Burrell (Kulture, Late August). The Top Chef Season 18 finalist and James Beard Award semifinalist hailed Boudreaux’s work in a recent Instagram post.

     

    “There is not another burger in this city that has my love and affection such as this one,” she told her 25,000 followers. The video concludes with a simple message. “All I can tell you is, don’t miss it.”

     

    That's quite an endorsement — certainly enough to inspire curious burger fans to pay $15 for a taste (pro tip: spend the extra $5 on a second patty).

     

    “I know Dawn. I would say we’re friends,” Boudreaux says. “I was very surprised by the glowing review she gave me.”

     

    Word is spreading. Available via pre-order from The Tipping Point’s website, half of last week’s production sold out in the first 24 hours. Still, Boudreaux, who graduated from the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, wants to be deliberate in how he grows. His next step is adding a second pop-up during the week that would be accessible to people in the service industry. From there, who knows what the future holds?

     

    “I want to do more of it and see where this thing goes, maybe explore what else I can bring to the table other than smashburgers,” he says. “I think there’s more people who can find out about the burger before I venture off into something else.”

    Behold the Bourdeaux burger.

    Joseph Bourdeaux smashburger
      
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    Behold the Bourdeaux burger.
    news-you-can-eatburgersdowntown
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    What's Eric Eating Episode 476

    Award-winning Houston chef dishes on season 4 of hit show The Bear

    CultureMap Staff
    Jul 15, 2025 | 6:00 am
    The Bear cast photo
    The Bear/Facebook
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    On the most recent episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss season four of The Bear, the FX series set in a Chicago restaurant. It’s become an annual tradition for the two men.

    (Spoilers ahead for all episodes of season four of The Bear.)



    In season four, which debuted on June 25, the show’s eponymous restaurant is struggling to find its footing after a review in the Chicago Tribune criticized the inconsistencies of chef Carmy Berzatto’s constantly-changing menu. The stressful environment leads chef de cuisine Sydney Adamu to contemplate leaving for a new restaurant. Yu relates to the other chef’s desire to hire Sydney away from The Bear.

    “This constantly happens in the restaurant business. We become both friends with and fans of people working under other people. You envision opening something new and having that person work for me. How do we get them to move over,” Yu says. “The ability to create is one thing. Money is a big thing. The promise of work-life balance is one thing. Those are ways to get people to move from one place to another.”

    The duo also take up the topic of sous chef Tina Marrero’s struggles to get the timing down on the pasta course that’s part of The Bear’s tasting menu. Sandler asks Yu about encouraging cooks to improve their skills

    “It’s trust but also training and the ability to have them understand what each dish means, the way it should taste and why, and how fast or slow it should go. A long time ago when we were being trained, we were told to cook the food and not given a reason for why it should be done that way. Whereas, we try our very best these days to explain the reasoning behind having a dish with fewer components so it can be plated up more quickly to get another turn on a table.”

    Listen to the full episode to hear Yu’s thoughts on Carmy’s decision to step away from The Bear. He also provides an update on some big changes come to the menu at Theodore Rex, his restaurant in downtown Houston’s Warehouse District that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.

    chefsinterviewjustin yupodcaststhe beartv
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