Restaurants

New Burger Pop-Up Takes Over a Showcase Houston Space, Bringing a Venice Beach Vibe — Daddy’s Burgers Takes Root

Homemade Burgers Get a Chandelier Setting

BY // 06.02.20

Clark Cooper Concepts chef Jane Wild loves cheeseburgers. Just witness the imposing burger tattoo on her left arm. So when Concepts co-owner Grant Cooper approached the restaurant team with his idea for a burger joint, she was happily on board. Thus, the transformation of the luxe Dunlavy into Daddy’s Burgers.

Think burgers, beer and chandeliers on Buffalo Bayou.

With the coronavirus putting special events on hold, Clark Cooper decided that the pop-up burger concept would rule at The Dunlavy at least through Labor Day. (It opened last Friday). The concept began at Cooper’s home where his 8-year-old daughter Gjelina and his 13-year-old son Caymus regularly ask for “daddy’s burgers” for dinner.

Cooper’s homemade burgers are filled with grass-fed beef (onions cooked in the beef) laced with his secret sauce, chopped dill pickles and American cheese served on a potato bread bun.

That delight is replicated as Daddy’s Burger on the menu which includes The Classic Single, The Classic Double, a Fried Chicken Sandwich and the Veggie Burger, all topped with Cooper’s secret sauce that comes in a spicy and regular version. You can dress any of those with cheese, bacon, avocado, pickled jalapeno and a farm egg. The tasty toppings can also be added to the Chopped Salad.

“It’s simple. It’s tasty,” Cooper tells PaperCity. “And we have a few secret ingredients on everything from the salt that we use in the seasoning to the sauce and then the blend of the meat, good organic beef, grass fed.”

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What would burgers be without sides? The offerings are Tater Tots (a Cooper favorite), Classic Fries and Onion Rings, (tempura fried Walla Walla Onions).

Likewise, the menu includes to-die-for desserts — milk shakes made with three scoops of ice cream, ice cream sandwiches (house-made chocolate chip cookies with ice cream), and house-made brownies.

In addition to a variety of beers and tequilas, bar offerings include special cocktails and mocktails. Pineapple seltzer, anyone?

Grant Cooper, Chef Jane Wild
Grant Cooper, Chef Jane Wild toast the opening of Daddy’s Burgers pop-up at The Dunlavy. (Photo by Shelby Hodge)

With this reincarnation, The Dunlavy takes on a different ambience. A disco ball has been added overhead in between the dozen or so crystal chandeliers. The red and yellow spotlights are spinning even during the day. And the tunes are hip and cool.

“It’s our kind of vibe,” Cooper says. “To me, it’s more like a skateboarder, Venice Beach kind of vibe.”

On the second day of the new endeavor and with little social media fanfare, Daddy’s Burgers was bustling, indoors and out on the tree-shrouded patio. Tables were spaced with the requisite six feet between them. The staff wore masks and were constantly sanitizing, even the table numbers.

The big neon logo had yet to arrive for the patio but staff and Cooper were sporting Daddy’s Burger T-shirts and caps and the orders were in for T-shirts for sale with “Who’s Your Daddy?” printed on the back. Not limited to burgers only, a variety of brunch offerings are on the menu Saturdays and Sundays, when Daddy’s Burgers opens at 9 am. Weekdays, service begins at 11 am and ends at 8 pm, with closing time extended to 9 pm on Fridays.

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