National Spotlight on BBQ Burgers at Guy's

BBQ burgers on the smoker

The barbecue burgers at Guy’s Meat Market on OST are remarkable. In a city of great burgers, they stand out because of the smoky flavor. To make them, half pound partially-cooked ground round patties are placed on the rotisserie in the barbecue smoker and smoked with hickory for about an hour. When they come off of the smoker at 11 a.m., there is already a line of people waiting. This Thursday, a famous food writer from New York was one of the guys waiting in line.

George Motz, Hamburger America author

George Motz, author of Hamburger America, is currently working on a second edition of the American burger guide. In preparation, he is traveling around the country checking out burgers that got left out of the first book. Evidently, quite a few Houstonians wrote to Motz to recommend Guy’s BBQ burger.

When I met George at Guy’s I tried to explain to him that you don’t get a Guy’s barbecue burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo and the rest of the usual condiments. It doesn’t taste right that way. (Neither would a sliced brisket sandwich.) You have to order a Guy’s burger with BBQ sauce, onions and pickles. But did George listen to me?

No, of course not. George is a New Yorker after all. He is also the authority of hamburgers. And he always shoots them the same way. So he took a bunch of photos of the Guy’s barbecue burger with lettuce and the rest. Then he ate part of the burger. He wasn’t impressed.

Finally, I got him to try one with barbecue sauce, pickles and onions. His eyes rolled around in his head. “There is no comparision,” he announced. And then he had to order another burger with barbecue sauce and start the photo session all over again.

If you’ve never had a Guy’s Meat Market barbecue burger, you need to go try one. But be advised they are only available Tuesday through Friday and they sell out by noon. There aren’t any tables at the meat market either. You have to get your burgers to go.

Southbound Food Radio Studio

George gave me his photo model burger because he couldn’t eat any more. I took the smoked burger with me to the recording studio and gave it to the Southbound Food Show crew. I couldn’t believe that LIttle Bigs co-owner Bryan Caswell had never had a Guy’s barbecue burger before. He loved it.

Tune in the Southbound Food Radio show at 1560AM on Saturday at 11 a.m. The subject is barbecue this week. And then come see me at Alabama Ice House on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. We’ll be grilling and chilling and I’ll be signing copies of the Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook. See you there!

3 thoughts on “National Spotlight on BBQ Burgers at Guy's

  1. Brazos

    I plan on saying “hi” to you at St. Arnold’s next weekend. Will you be selling your book or should I bring one to be signed?

  2. Toss

    I don’t know, it has been a couple of years since I tried a guys burger and was not impressed with the burger or the service. The birger I had did have a unique and good flavor, but it tasted more like the just seasoned it with deer meat seasoning, the blend they put in most deer sausage. And because they precook them, the time I went, the one I got the patty was cold and dried out. But many many of the people in the area like the place, but on the flip side it is not hard to sell out of 100 burgers when you are situated in the texas medical center with over 100,000 people in a small area. come lunch time you can not find ANY establishment that doesn’t have a line out the door.

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