Houston’s fourth Trill Burgers is ready to make its debut. Over a year after announcing it had claimed a former Boston Market at the corner of Westheimer and Hillcroft, the restaurant will open its doors this Friday, September 25.
Like its siblings in Montrose/Upper Kirby, Spring, and Missouri City, the new restaurant will serve Trill Burgers’ familiar menu of beef or vegan smash burgers alongside fries, lemonade, and milkshakes. The burger’s classic formula — one, two, or three patties topped with cheese, pickles, onions, and Trill sauce, a tangy, Thousand Island-style dressing — earned a prize on Good Morning America when the restaurant was still a pop-up.
Drawing on co-founder Bun B’s relationships, the restaurant has drawn a steady stream of celebrities such as Drake, Mike Tyson, Cardi B, Texans legends Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt, and countless others.
The opening provides a good opportunity to catch up with Bun B about the new location, where Trill Burgers might go next, the company’s chicken tender concept, and more.
CultureMap: How did you identify this location on Westheimer as a good fit for Trill Burgers?
Bun B: I’ve been looking at that location for awhile. I used to go to that Boston Market. I thought that was a great place to put a store.
This area has a lot of active nightlife. While we were canvassing the area, we were talking to other stores about how long they stay open. They said, ‘we’re here until at least 3 am.’ When those nightlife spots close, people start looking for something to eat to offset the liquor in their belly.
The hardest store we’ve ever had to open. This one took considerable time and expense.
Luckily, the interest hasn’t been lost. People are reaching out to us all the time. I have a lot of friends who live on the southwest side. One of my good friends is a barber. He said, my customers keep asking me cause they know I know you
We want to get the word out that this store is opening so people can let their friends know that Trill Burgers is on the southwest side of Houston. We’re excited about the potential.
CM: Tell me about the switch you made a couple of years ago to serve halal beef.
BB: We went halal a couple years ago. We didn’t make a public push, because we didn’t want to politicize the brand. It definitely helps from a cash standpoint, because it’s a little cheaper.
For many of us, our Muslim friends wouldn’t frequent the restaurant because it wasn’t halal. We attended the Halal Festival last year. That was our debut to that community. We had a huge turnout. Now everyone has gotten the word out that Trill Burgers is now halal
As far as the quality of the burger, no one has noticed. The flavor is the same. It’s just as good as it has ever been.
CM: Now that you have four Houston locations, are you ready to open stores outside of the city?
BB: Now that we feel like we’ve done a good job at spreading the brand around Houston, we are looking to branch outside of the city.
Dallas has been a big dream of ours. They’ve been begging for the burger since its inception. We’ve never even been able to do a pop-up in Dallas, because we know the demand will be huge.
It would be a dream of mine to open a Trill Burgers in Port Arthur. I think its due.
A good friend of ours had some prime real estate, but we weren’t ready. If we can get somewhere near the central mall area, we can get Port Arthur, Port Neches, Nederland and even Beaumont.
We’re trying to find that right central location that wouldn’t take a lot of time to build out. It’s s dream of mine, and I know Port Arthur would love to have one as well.
CM: What is the status of Trill Tenders? Will it be added to Trill Burgers or be its own concept?
BB: To do Trill Tenders at Trill Burgers would complicate the kitchen. We don’t have enough space.
We believe it’s a separate concept that can stand on its own. It allows us an opportunity to do some different things with the brand. We could do salads and sandwiches. We’re trying to be very smart about it.
We had two locations we thought would work, but when we started to go through the logistics, it worked against us. We’re trying to be very careful about how we bring this company to life. It’s ready to go.
We’ve had two Rodeos with good numbers on our sales. The Rodeo is a great place to introduce new concepts and utilize it as a testing ground. It’s obvious that the tenders are a bit of a hit.
Everyone eats chicken tenders. Even more than burgers. We’re trying to find the right location to be the first location. We want to make sure we pick the right spot. We believe the location is key.
You saw Layne’s working, Cane’s working, obviously Chick-fil-A. There’s more than enough room in Houston for a chicken tender location. Once we find the right one, as a company, we are ready to go.
CM: How do you maintain quality as the brand grows to more stores?
BB: We try to do a really good job on consistency. Having a celebrity name attached doesn’t do all the work. I can’t be in that building every day, especially now with four stores, plus Rice University and the football stadium.
The burger has to stand on its own two feet and be representative of a great experience by itself. If I’ve got to be there to sell Trill Burgers, I don't know how long this company would’ve lasted.
We’ve lasted for four years. People still appreciate the burger. We are proud to say we believe we have arguably the best burger in town. There’s a lot of competition. Guys like Burger Bodega, and obviously Five Guys, we just got to make sure we stay on our toes.
