The Houston Grocery Store That Became A Beloved Burger Restaurant

Houston, Texas, is home to some iconic food spots, like Guy Fieri's favorite barbecue restaurant, The Pit Room, and the Bib Gourmand-awarded ChopnBlok, which serves Nigerian and West African cuisine. It's a city that's positively drenched in history, too, having been founded in 1836 by two brothers, contributing significantly to the war effort during World War II, and evolving into a medical hotspot throughout the latter half of the 20th century. It also happens that, starting in 1961, a little grocery store opened in the city's First Ward that would, some 60 years later, find itself as embedded in the Houston community as a fossil in stone. Stanton's City Bites made the gradual transition from neighborhood grocery store to beloved burger restaurant, and it's been going strong ever since.

The shift began after 1980, when Theresa Fong immigrated to Houston from Hong Kong to live with her husband and his parents. They owned Stanton's and lived upstairs above the store, but when they passed the grocery store on to their son and daughter-in-law, Theresa knew it was time to shake things up. So she started fixing and selling plates of food, which soon grew quite popular. When her husband suggested she start making hamburgers, Theresa was initially resistant. However, she relented, and the shift from packaged goods to fresh meals became more pronounced. The final push came when the couple added seating for customers, giving them a place to sit and enjoy their meals.

The main draw at Stanton's is, and always has been, the burgers, and it's easy to see why. After Theresa's husband, Arthur, suggested she make these beef patty sandwiches, and she was finally convinced, they worked together to perfect the recipe, which begins with a half-pound of fresh beef. Theresa then labored tirelessly to perfect a griddle technique for the patties that would yield the ideal end product. The menu now encompasses over a dozen different burgers, from the Holy Cow, which comes loaded with five different types of cheese, to the Miss Piggie, which is something of an homage to breakfast foods, topped with candied bacon and an ultra-crispy hash brown.

Stanton's has also expanded beyond burgers to diner-style sandwiches, including a classic smoked turkey with Swiss cheese, tuna salad, and crispy pork chop, as well as three different versions of a club sandwich. You can't skip the sides, either. House-fried pickle chips and onion rings are among the non-potato options, while Stanton's fries up spuds in a variety of forms, including original fries, sweet potato fries, waffle fries, Italian fries, and an assortment of tater tots.