This month, our Burger Journey took us to Scarsdale Boulevard in far southeast Houston, home of Perry and Sons Market and Grille. Perry's is a familiar name to Houston restaurant goers: the family runs a very popular chain of steakhouses, famous for their marinated pork chops. The Market and Grille is the original iteration of the family business, a combination of casual eatery and premium butcher shop, set between a down at the heels clock repair shop and a Vietnamese tapioca joint in a slightly rundown strip mall just off the Gulf Freeway.
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| Perusing the Menu |
The emphasis here is on the meat: a glass fronted butcher's case runs the length of the restaurant, packed with ribs, steaks, roasts and those famous marinated chops. The cuts are beautiful, and pricey.
Surrounded by all that expensive meat, the burgers are surprisingly affordable. A half pounder, cooked to order, runs $6.99, a real bargain. The bun is fresh baked and toasted, the toppings are fresh and delicious, and the condiments come in tiny plastic containers, just like room service at a nice hotel. Everything is served on white china plates; this is nothing like grabbing a Quarter Pounder at McDonald's.
Everything was delicious. Our waiter couldn't have been friendlier, or more helpful. There was only one drawback to our visit to Perry's: nearly forty-five minutes passed between placing our order, and our food reaching our table.
It wasn't particularly busy on this mid-afternoon Saturday: there were a couple of patrons, most notably a group of four middle-aged diners, laughing loudly and speaking in Spanish, and drinking copious amounts of imported beer. One of them, a grizzled older fellow, wore a strange black headset, glowing with electric blue lights. It was either the largest Blue Tooth device in history, or he was a Time Traveler, sent to investigate early 21st century dining habits.
Time travelers aside, the restaurant was mostly empty, which made our wait especially vexing. We found ways to pass the time. The tables are covered in white butcher's paper, and each place setting comes with a small container of crayons. Erin, our resident art teacher, created an elaborate, colorful design, all jumping fish and geometric shapes. It looked like something one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers would have tattooed on his back, and our waiter pointed to it and said, "Oooh! That's so cool!"
It didn't make our food come any quicker.
From our table, we had a clear view of the serving area. Our order -- admittedly, a large one; there were ten of us, after all -- dangled from the silver order wheel, all alone. The cook would peer at it for a few seconds, perplexed, and disappear into the hidden recesses of the kitchen. A few minutes later he'd return to our order slip, lips pursed, eyes squinted, shaking his head ever so slightly, an archaeologist gazing upon a newly excavated plinth, inscribed in some weird, forgotten runes, then disappear again.
Meanwhile, the natives grew restless.
Finally, our hamburgers arrived. They were juicy and perfectly seasoned and delicious, so delicious that, given our hunger and impatience, we gobbled them up without bothering to take any photos.
Trust me. They were as beautiful as they were delicious.
First up, Grandma (who goes old school, and chooses "Catsup" over the hip and modern "Ketchup"):
Well,
the negatives first. When I think of grabbing a burger, I don't think of
traveling 35 miles to get one. Nor would I think of waiting 45 minutes
for my order....especially since there were only three other tables that had
customers.
Now
onto the positives. The dining area was clean, and had nice cloth
tablecloths and napkins. The waiter was young and inexperienced, but very
nice and polite. The burger was just wonderful...juicy and cooked just
right. The bun was great also. I liked the fact that you could
control your amount of catsup, mustard, and mayo with the little individual
cups served on the plate with the burger. The fries were good, but didn't
eclipse the burger at all.
I would have to give
this burger a ten...it was just great!!!!
Aunt Deb agrees with Tom Petty: The Waiting Is The Hardest Part...
The
restaurant is very nice. It is half meat market and half restaurant.
Quaint and not too crowded. The wait was extraordinarily long. And
we were all hungry. So it got a bit difficult. Maybe if they had had a
club cracker to gnaw on or something, it might not have seemed so long.
But then the burgers arrived. And oh the joy. They were well worth the
wait. The meat was cooked to perfection. The seasoning was simple but so
very tasty! The bun was out of this world. It was rich but not overpowering and
it complemented the burger perfectly. I loved how the condiments came on the
side. And for my side dish, instead of french fries, I had grilled vegetables.
They were perfectly seasoned and absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend
this restaurant, especially if you're not in a rush. The burger is
outstanding.
I give it a 10.
Aunt Lyn, meanwhile, appreciates the perspective of Sly and the Family Stone: Fresh is where it's at:
Perry's Market and Grille sells a terrific burger: the made to order patty, and the moist firm
bun with fresh toppings. The only regret
I have was not ordering the 1/2 pound instead of the 1/3 pound. It was a long wait, but it was worth it. I loved my grilled vegetables also. I would like to include three cheers for
Bamboo Desserts and Drinks and the delicious fruit smoothies! It was a tasty way to end the outing.
Mo was hoping for more, and has regrets....
The wait was too long. They were slow. The meat was good and flavorful, but could have been bigger, even though I got a half-pounder. The bun was good, but it was a little bigger than the meat. I should have gotten two burgers. The fries were good, too. I just wanted more of the burger. Overall, I give the burger a 7.
Henry, meanwhile, invokes the plaintive memory of a troubled time:
We had to wait like 30 minutes for your burgers. The fries were pretty good. The burger was awesome! It felt like the Great Depression before I got my burger, though, because I was so hungry. I finally got it and it was worth the wait because it was great! It filled me up, too. I rate this burger a 10 on taste, but a 6 if I include the wait.
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| Waiting.... |
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Jacob takes a contrary stance on the Perry bun, and adds a sense of mystery to his rating:
First I will start with the negatives, i did not like how
it took so long and i would not go to a place so far away, the bun i did not
like to because of the powder on top. Besides that i loved the fries and are
waiter (he was nice) and I liked the burger except the buns. I would give this
a 7. Or would i :)
Erin believes that patience pays dividends, partly in the form of delicious Asian dessert beverages:
I ate the third pound regular burger which was full of
delicious flavor. The meat was medium
well done and the bun was crisp on the edges yet soft and chewy in the
middle. A very nice complement to the
meat. The condiments served in little
containers added a nice touch. The fries
were especially tasty, possibly due to my not having eaten fries for a long time.
Our waiter was friendly despite the long wait for the
food to be done. The location did not
bother me at all. I enjoyed getting
away. I also loved the Bambu shake
afterwards. That was a fun ending!
