burns bbq on the move
Beloved BBQ favorite fires up third Houston-area bistro at Katy Kroger
Acres Homes staple Burns Original BBQ is conquering Houston one Kroger at a time. The barbecue joint will celebrate the grand opening of its third Bistro location this Saturday, September 3 at the Kroger location at 2700 W Grand Pkwy N.
Burns already has similar locations in Pearland and Humble’s Summerwood neighborhood. Co-owner Cory Crawford tells CultureMap that the restaurant selected these locations based on sales data and customer feedback from a pop-up tour the restaurant did in 2020.
By parking a food truck in the grocery store’s parking lot, the new location is able to serve an identical menu to the restaurant, which means diners can expect their favorite stuffed baked potatoes, ribs, and other Burns classics.
“We love the brand. We love taking it from Acres Homes — next year will be 50 years,” Crawford says. “This has been the time to spread our wings and let more areas of the city know about Burns Original BBQ.”
The original location has earned considerable acclaim. Author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain featured it on a 2016 episode of his CNN series Parts Unknown. Crawford says the restaurant still sees a steady stream of customers who saw it on the show.
Opening the new Bistro location deepens Burns' ties to Kroger. Two years ago, the grocery store provided the restaurant with an venue to sell its dishes when restaurants were closed for dine-in due to the pandemic. Subsequently, the store started carrying the restaurant's barbecue sauce, which is now available in more than 20 stores. Expect more Burns Bistros in the future.
“We don’t have a specific target, but we’ve had some conversations with Kroger. The partnership has been amazing. They’re pretty much telling us as much as we can scale they’ll scale with us,” Crawford says.
“We’re having those internal meetings. This is the last one for 2022, but in 2023 I can say they’ll definitely be more.”
