burger-chan revived
Cult-favorite Houston burger joint makes beefy comeback after recent shutter
Food lovers no longer need to mourn the loss of burger-chan, the cult-favorite burger joint that closed its Greenway Plaza location in August. The restaurant has partnered with Click Virtual Food Hall to serve its signature burgers and tots.
Burger-chan will become Click’s ninth concept beginning Monday, October 5. Founded by chef Gabriel Medina (Kata Robata, Aqui) and Steven Salazar (The Kirby Group) in 2019, Click now serves a diverse array of options that covers everything from sandwiches and tacos to poke and Filipino food — all available for either pickup or delivery within an 8-mile radius of its location near Durham Drive and Washington Avenue.
For burger-chan owners Diane and Willet Feng, the decision to partner with Click evolved out of their respect for and friendship with Medina and Salazar. Over the last year, Medina and his fiancee became burger-chan regulars, and the Fengs frequently ordered from Click.
“One day in August of 2020, we started to think about how we could promote Click Virtual,” the Fengs tell CultureMap in an email. “We thought it'd be fun if we threw a few burger-chan burgers on their menu so that people wouldn't be too sad once we closed our Greenway Plaza location. . . We pitched the idea by Gabe, he ran it by his business partner Steven, and then we went from there!”
Click will offer five burger-chan burgers along with a build-your-own option — served on the same bread (Sheila Partin's sweet sourdough and Breadman Baking Company's artisan hamburger buns) — plus tater tots. Medina staged at burger-chan to learn the restaurant’s recipes for items such as pickles and scallion aioli; Willet Feng provided additional training, including the proper way to wrap the finished burger in red-and-white checkered paper. The chefs even collaborated on a new Tejano burger that comes with queso fresco, ranch dressing, avocado slices, pickled jalapeno, and bacon.
“The most important thing for us is we respect everything burger-chan has done up to this point,” Salazar tells CultureMap. “You bite into that burger, and it’s a burger-chan burger.”
Partnering with Click will undoubtedly mean a wider audience for burger-chan’s dishes. Whereas the Greenway Plaza location only offered breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday, Click is open for lunch and dinner every day.
Click will remain the exclusive delivery option for burger-chan at least until the restaurant opens its new location near The Galleria in early 2021.
“Given the uncertainty of COVID-19 spread going into the fall and winter months, we are in no rush to open,” the couple write. “Next year, once everything is built and we're staffed up, we'll evaluate the state of things to figure out how we can safely operate.”
