Houston's most-loved gravity burger: a 1/3-pound hand-formed beef patty seared on the griddle, lavished with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, mustard, and mayo on a toasted sesame bun.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Aubrey and Nona Lankford opened the Lankford Grocery & Market on Dennis Street in 1939 as a Fourth Ward mom-and-pop grocery; the family started cooking lunch for the neighbourhood and the burger became a fixture from the 1970s, with daughter Eydie Lankford Prior taking over operations. Anthony Bourdain featured the Lankford Burger on No Reservations in 2008; the line has not shortened since. Houstonians regularly call it the city's defining burger.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Tip from the editors. The Lankford bite is mustard-first, mayo-second; do not switch the spreads or you get a different burger. Iceberg, not gem lettuce; American cheese, not cheddar.
Lankford Grocery & Market in Houston is the 1939 Midtown corner-store-turned-burger-shack on Dennis Street, with the Grim Hatch-chile burger under $15.
Try: The Grim Hatch-chile burger
Tip: Get the Grim with sweet potato fries. Closed weekends. Counter and outdoor picnic tables only.
Goode Company Barbeque on Kirby Drive in Houston is Jim Goode's 1977 mesquite-smoked barbecue room, the city's introduction to commercial Texas barbecue.
Signature: Brisket, Jalapeno pork sausage
Order: Brisket and a jalapeno pork sausage link. Jambalaya. Pecan pie to close.
Tip: Multiple Goode Company locations across Houston exist. The Kirby flagship is the original and the only one with the screened porch.
Eight Row Flint in Houston is the Heights icehouse from Agricole Hospitality in a converted Citgo gas station on Yale Street, with brisket tacos.
Signature: Brisket tacos, Margarita
Order: Brisket tacos, the frozen-tied-with-Topo-Chico margarita, queso fundido.
Tip: The patio under the old gas station canopy is the seat. East End second location for a different crowd.
Tiny Boxwoods brunch in Houston is the garden-cafe on West Alabama in the Thompson + Hanson nursery, with brunch plates, the Tiny chocolate chip cookie.
Order: Tiny Cake (the chocolate chip cookie), pancakes, the garden frittata
Tip: Walk-in only. Get there by 9:30am Saturday to beat the 90-minute wait. Tiny cookies travel home; order extras.
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