Address: (Bellaire) 5407 Bellaire Boulevard and 2643
Commercial Center Boulevard #320 in Katy
Vegetarian? Considerate. Offers a veggie burger option, fries options, and a
salad but is not a vegetarian restaurant.
What better way to start a new food blog about
restaurants on Houston’s bus routes than with a restaurant that started out as
a food bus? Yes, you read that
correctly. Not a food truck, but a food
bus—a school bus, to be exact, which gives this restaurant its theme.
History
Chef Justin Turner began his food ‘truck’ business
in 2010, cooking food out of a school bus.
All of his food, including the breads and the condiments, is made from
scratch, either by himself and his staff or by local people. He has even begun bottling small batches of
his condiments and selling them at Whole Foods.
In 2014, Bernie’s moved into its first brick and
mortar restaurant, located on Bellaire Boulevard, and they have been serving
scratch-made burgers and fries there, ever since. They opened a second location in Katy in the
fall of 2015 and plan to open a third location in The Heights. In March of 2016, Turner won during an
episode of Chopped on The Food
Network that featured four contestants from Houston. He hopes to someday open a restaurant that is
not focused on burgers, but that’s a bit down the road.
The
Ambience
Bernie’s Burger Bus honors its roots by using its
original food bus as a kitchen in its restaurant. So you enter the restaurant, which is on the
south side of Bellaire, and the first thing you see is a big, yellow school bus
behind the tables and chairs, parallel to the bar.
Bernie's Bus
The hostess at the front door will offer you the
choice of sitting inside the restaurant at a table, in the screened-in, open-air
patio, or at the bar. In the summer, you
will naturally want to sit inside. If
you sit at the bar, the bus/kitchen will be to your back. Along the far wall you will see a row of school lockers, covered with stickers. There are also stickers all over what would be the front door of the bus, most of them related to food in some way.
School lockers at Bernie's
Door stickers on Bernie's Bus
You’ll get a laminated menu that looks like the black
and white cover of one of those school essay notebooks that are now in vogue,
and then it’s drool to your heart’s content.
This place sells burgers, one sandwich, and eight varieties of French
fries. Note—The French fries alone can
comprise a meal. The burgers and fries
served here have been voted among the best in Houston. I came here because I had to try that out.
I was served by the lovely and friendly lady who
works behind the bar. She took my order,
and I was promptly brought a plate of Lunch Lady Fries and a Recess (grilled
cheese) sandwich with two Electives (additional fillings), along with a Coke.
I was so hungry that I dived into my food before remembering to take a picture of it, but the next time I visit Bernie's, I will photograph my meal and add it here.
What I Ate
Lunch Lady Fries come smothered in brown gravy and
are topped with aged white Cheddar cheese, green onions, cheese curds, and bits
of roast beef. The first thing I tasted
was the brown gravy, and it was perfect—with that browned-buttery, slightly
peppery taste that makes your mouth water.
The cheese curds were Cheddar, and larger than I expected. I had figured they would be like cheese
crumbles. No, these were gobs of cheese
about the size of my thumbs. Delicious!
The Recess was made with substantial sourdough
bread—larger bread than your usual store-bought kind—and Swiss cheese, filled with
caramelized onions that had been braised in Jack Daniels, and burgundy
mushrooms. The bread is made by Slow
Dough, a local bakery known for its breads.
Hint: Be
careful of what kind of Electives you order.
While the tipsy onions and burgundy mushrooms I ordered were delicious
and added to the sandwich, they also made the sandwich very heavy and, after a
few minutes, a bit soggy. I would
recommend ordering these two Electives, at least, on the side and eating them
with bites of your sandwich or burger.
To each their own, though.
This is very filling food, and I could only eat
half of my meal. I plan to return here,
and when I do, I will probably just order fries, because I like to nibble. I’ve also found that I prefer grilled cheese
sandwiches made with plain old, store-bought toasted white bread with American
cheese to gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches anywhere.
House
Specialties
Frankly, most of the items on the menu are house specialties. Bernie’s is known for its Lunch Lady Fries,
Honor Roll Fries, and for its Detention Burger, which consists of two patties
covered in Cheddar cheese, with caramelized onions and normal hamburger
fixings, between two bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. This whole enormous thing is served with a
knife stuck in it to hold it together.
It costs $17.00 and is a real Dagwood sandwich. Also check out their Mascot, a bison burger topped with goat cheese, arugula, and pickled red onions.
Salads
Bernie’s offers only one salad, to which you are
invited to add electives.
Beverages
The beverages offered at Bernie’s primarily
consist of typical soft drinks, specialty lemonades, and wine or beer. Their draft and canned beers are all local. If you prefer imported beers or domestic beers
from more distant places, they offer those in bottles. Their happy hour is held every day, from
3:00pm-6:00pm.
Desserts
Primarily, Bernie’s desserts are shakes, which
cost between $5.00 and $7.00. They also
do an ice cream sandwich and a root beer float.
They are fond of adding mix-ins to their shakes, something that I’m not
a fan of. But I suppose I shouldn't knock it until I try it.
Price
Bernie's is somewhat pricey. A meal for two people could easily cost in the range of $45.00-$50.00 if they both order the full beverage, burger, and fries.
