Grub Burger Bar

Grub Burger Bar

Grub Burger Bar hosted its official grand opening Black Friday, but a few of us stumbled into a soft opening the day before Thanksgiving, delighted with our luck and feeling like school kids who’d discovered the hiding places of our gifts on Christmas eve eve.

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Grub, which started in Aggieland and now has a spot in Houston, serves upscale burgers ground daily from brisket and Angus chuck served on buns baked in house every hour. Homemade toppings and sauces include peanut butter Thai, tequila lime aioli and ghost chili pepper.

Grub is located on the ground floor of Energy Square on Greenville at University. The setting is cool casual, with rusted wire light fixtures, black subway tiles and raw wood 2 by 4s made elegantly chic. The joint’s best features are its epicenter square bar and its giant glass windows overlooking Greenville Avenue goings on. Though it wasn’t official, the line was out-the-door on day one.

My hubby had the Front Porch, Grub’s standard house burger, and proclaimed it juicy and delicious ($6). His fries were crisp and thin, almost shoestring. One home-from-college son loved his Guacapotle burger, topped with chipotle aioli, guac and an added fried egg ($7.50 plus a buck for the egg). Our other collegiate returner termed his Lockhart Legend, complete with Applewood smoked bacon, Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce and Shiner Bock battered onion rings, “legit” ($7.75). I opted for the Burger of the Sea, Ahi tuna with sprouts, arugula, pickled ginger and wasabi-teriyaki dressing ($11). Yum. (I wiped out all that healthy ordering with a decadent salted caramel shake, one of several don’t-miss flavors.) You can view Grub’s full food menu here.

Grub has a happenin’ bar area with Texas beer and wines, signature cocktails, spiked milkshakes and most-of-the-day happy hour. You can view their bar menu here.

One of the toughest things about visiting Greenville Avenue bars and restaurants is usually parking, but Grub seems to have resolved that – they’ve reserved lots of free spaces in the Energy Square surface lot. The bar area had a constant line of office building to-go orderers, and the daytime crowd was an eclectic mix of mommies lunching with little ones, office mates celebrating a deal and onesies eating in front of sports TV.

You won’t have to hassle with the office building – Grub has its own entrance and a nice patio. Even with a line, Grub is worth a go.