One of Burgerchan’s burgers. The brand is expanding to the Heights.
Rochelle Abante of Abante Photography
Burgerchan will soon grill its customizable burgers in the Heights.
Diane and Willet Feng debuted the popular burger joint in 2016 in Greenway Plaza as Kuma Burgers before rebranding, closing and relocating to the Galleria area. Their restaurant became a fixture on the Chronicle’s Top 100 Restaurants and list of best Houston-area burgers. Now, new co-owners Roveen Abante and Ryan Stewart will open an offshoot at 506 Yale St., Suite E. They’re aiming to launch in early-to-mid May, and will announce their final opening date later on social media.
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Stewart said he took over the Galleria restaurant from the Fengs about a year ago. When he and Abante met a month and a half ago, they quickly gelled and decided to work together on expanding. The Fengs, meanwhile, are planning a move to Taipei.
“Will and Diane built a great concept,” Abante said. “We want to keep that vision intact. We don’t want to change anything.”
Left: A patty on the grill at Burgerchan. Right: Fries.
Top: A patty on the grill at Burgerchan. Bottom: Fries.
Burgerchan built a name around the number of options on its menu. Customers choose how many patties they want; how big the patties should be; which of four cheeses should go on top; and whether they’d like sourdough, rye, brioche or lettuce buns. Then they add toppings like spam, kimchi relish and charred jalapenos.
If that’s too overwhelming, diners can also order among chef-curated options. There’s a mushroom-swiss. The “Spicy!!!” A signature double-patty burger with brioche, thousand island dressing, lettuce and tomato.
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The food menu at the new location will stay the same, Abante and Stewart said. But where the Galleria-area spot primarily serves beer and wine, the Heights outpost will offer a fleshed-out spirit and cocktail program.
Abante said he’d be focusing on umami-laden drinks to pair with the burgers. Drawing on the brand’s Japanese-style name, he’ll offer yuzu-flavored and sake-based drinks, plus a selection of Japanese beers.
A chef adds cheese to the patties at Burgerchan.
Rochelle Abante of Abante Photography
To pick the location, Stewart ran a poll on social media, asking fans of the restaurant where they’d like to see a new Burgerchan. The Heights came up on top, he said. The store ended up taking over the building of recently-closed Filipino restaurant Be More Pacific, of which Abante was a part-owner.
But Abante didn’t want Burgerchan to look just like the former restaurant, so he and Stewart planned extensive re-decorations. The 3,000-square-foot space — and 900-square-foot, two-level patio — will soon be brightly colored with red, green, blue and touches of gray. The walls will display custom wallpaper inspired by anime and Japanese graffiti.
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Part of the purpose of this location is to create a blueprint for a “modern and scalable” larger chain, Abante said. (Among other changes, they decided to take out the hyphen originally in the “Burger-Chan” name.)
And though the Heights restaurant has yet to open, Stewart is already scoping out a third location. He previously ran restaurants in South Africa, specializing in expanding them into bigger businesses, and he wants to do the same here.
“It’s all about the brand,” Stewart said. “It’s great to have single businesses that have unique concepts. But right now, I really do want to focus on a brand.”
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