Best Burgers in Montrose, Houston: 8 Spots Worth the Walk

The best burgers in Montrose, Houston are at eight spots that span nearly nine decades and every style of patty: Lankford Grocery & Market (open since 1937), Trill Burgers (Good Morning America’s pick for best burger in America in 2022), The Burger Joint, Southern Yankee Crafthouse, BunSlut, Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge, State of Grace, and The Toasted Coconut. All eight are within the Montrose neighborhood, defined here as the area bounded by Allen Parkway to the north, Shepherd Drive to the east, the Southwest Freeway to the south, and Greenbriar Drive to the west. Every pick was confirmed open via its own official website or official social presence in October 2026.

Lankford Grocery has been flipping burgers on Dennis Street since 1937 — before NASA’s Johnson Space Center existed, before most of Houston’s freeways were built, and before the city crossed one million people. That kind of history, in the same neighborhood as a celebrity smash joint named the best burger in America, is why Montrose is where to start a Houston burger argument. See the best restaurants in Montrose and the Montrose area guide for the broader picture.

How we chose

We limited this guide to spots with a street address inside the Montrose neighborhood (zip codes 77006 and 77098, within the boundaries described above). Each spot was confirmed open on its own official website or official social account in October 2026. We left out recent closures — Hay Merchant, Good Dog Houston, and Paulie’s all shuttered in 2025 — so everything on this list is actually open when you get there.

The picks

Lankford Grocery & Market

Lankford Grocery & Market, at 88 Dennis Street in Houston, TX 77006, is the place to start. A fruit stand opened by Aubrey and Nona Lankford in 1937, it became a full grocery-turned-burger diner and has been run by three generations of the same family ever since. The Firehouse Burger is the one to order: a patty basted in cayenne butter and doused in house hot sauce made from serranos, jalapeños, and habaneros. A Food Network Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives segment brought it national attention.

Hours are typically Monday–Wednesday 11am–5pm, Thursday–Friday 11am–8pm, Saturday 9am–8pm, Sunday 9am–5pm. Check midtown.lankfordsburgers.com before you go. Weekend waits can run 30 minutes or longer — a weekday is your best shot.

Best for: the one Houston burger that has no real substitute anywhere else in the city.

Trill Burgers

Trill Burgers, at 3607 S Shepherd Drive in Houston, TX 77098, is the neighborhood’s celebrity pick. Houston rapper Bun B (Bernard Freeman) co-founded it in 2021 as a pop-up with restaurateur Andy Nguyen and Nick Scurfield. Good Morning America named it the best burger in America in 2022, a year before the brick-and-mortar on South Shepherd Drive opened with a drive-thru. The OG Burger uses two 44 Farms Texas beef patties, smashed thin, with caramelized onions, crinkle-cut pickles, and the patented Trill Sauce on a potato roll.

Hours: Monday–Thursday 11am–9pm, Friday–Sunday 11am–midnight. See trill-burgers.com or the full guide at Trill Burgers Houston.

Best for: the most photographed, most talked-about burger in Montrose.

The Burger Joint

The Burger Joint, at 2703 Montrose Blvd in Houston, TX 77006, opened around 2014 and has anchored the late-night end of the neighborhood’s burger scene ever since. It grinds 100% Angus beef in-house and builds every order fresh: the Classic with special sauce and shaved lettuce, the Mexi with roasted peppers and queso, or the Opa! with lamb, tzatziki, and Greek herbs. Friday and Saturday it runs until 4am, putting it in a very short list of Montrose kitchens still cooking after 2am.

Hours: Sunday–Thursday 11am–midnight, Friday–Saturday 11am–4am. Confirm at burgerjointhtx.com.

Best for: late-night eating. More options in the cheap eats in Houston guide.

Southern Yankee Crafthouse

Southern Yankee Crafthouse, at 1312 W Alabama Street in Houston, TX 77006, opened in 2021 and earned a spot on Yelp’s Top 100 US Restaurants list. The Southern Yankee Craft Burger is the move: a 7-ounce chuck patty on a Slow Dough challah bun with jalapeño bacon jam, pimento cream cheese, crispy onion straws, lettuce, tomato, and house pickles. The combination of jalapeño bacon jam and pimento cream cheese on a single patty is the kind of detail that earns a repeat visit. The tap list runs 15-plus rotating craft beers.

Hours typically run daily 11am–10pm. Check crafthousehtx.com for current hours.

Best for: a proper sit-down lunch or dinner where the burger is unmistakably the main event.

BunSlut

BunSlut, at 515 Westheimer Road in Houston, TX 77006, is veteran-owned and uses all-natural halal beef for its smash burgers — an unusual combination at a street-level spot on the Westheimer strip. The Double is two smashed patties, American cheese, grilled onions, pickles, and the house sauce on a potato bun. Hours run until 2am Sunday through Thursday and until 4am Friday and Saturday, making it one of the few Montrose kitchens still serving at 3am.

Hours: Monday–Thursday 11am–2am, Friday–Saturday 11am–4am, Sunday 11am–2am. Menu at eatbunslut.com.

Best for: late-night halal smash burgers. See more bar-hour options in the best happy hour in Houston guide.

Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge

Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge, at 95 Tuam Street Suite 102 in Houston (at the Montrose–Midtown edge, which the Houston Chronicle has called part of the Montrose scene), opened in April 2024. The menu is essentially two items: an Angus smash burger ground from a brisket, short rib, and chuck blend, and a plant-based version. The room is mid-century modern — black leather booths, warm wood finishes — and the cocktail list runs $12–16 a drink, with $8 happy-hour versions Tuesday through Friday. Before 7pm any day it is open, the burger and fries are $7.

Hours: Tuesday–Wednesday 4pm–midnight, Thursday–Friday 4pm–2am, Saturday noon–2am, Sunday noon–midnight. Closed Mondays. Follow @jethroscktllounge on Instagram for any updates.

Best for: a weeknight session where the cocktails and the $7 burger deserve equal attention. More serious drinking at the best cocktail bars in Houston.

State of Grace

State of Grace, at 3258 Westheimer Road in Houston, TX 77098, is chef Ford Fry’s Southern coastal restaurant at the western end of Montrose near Lamar. At lunch and brunch, the Butter Burger — two 5-ounce patties, American cheese, and caramelized onions — runs around $19. At dinner, the dry-aged burger with frites runs around $31. Prices change seasonally; check stateofgracetx.com before you go. Neither is the kind of burger you eat at a counter, and both are worth the table.

Hours: Lunch Wednesday–Friday 11am–3pm; Dinner Monday–Saturday 5–10pm, Sunday 5–9pm; Brunch Saturday–Sunday 10am–3pm. Reservations recommended for dinner. See stateofgracetx.com.

Best for: a date night where the burger is the treat, not the fallback.

The Toasted Coconut

The Toasted Coconut, at 1617 Richmond Avenue in Houston, TX 77006, describes itself as “a beach vacation in Montrose.” It is a tiki cocktail bar with a covered patio and a kitchen that makes a double-patty cheeseburger with bacon jam and pickled jalapeños. The combination of bacon jam, pickled pepper heat, and a double smash build is not obvious from a tiki bar, which is exactly the point — this is the burger you find when you are not specifically looking for one. The patio fills up Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons.

Hours: Tuesday–Wednesday 4–10pm, Thursday–Friday 4pm–midnight, Saturday 10am–midnight, Sunday 10am–10pm. Closed Mondays. See gettoastedhtx.com.

Best for: a tiki-patio evening when you want the burger to hold its own against the cocktail list.

Save this: the Montrose burger walk

All eight spots are within about two miles of each other. Never drive between restaurants after drinking — walk the neighborhood or call a rideshare.

Lower Westheimer to Montrose Blvd (an evening)

1. Start at BunSlut (515 Westheimer Rd) for a smash burger.
2. Walk east to The Burger Joint (2703 Montrose Blvd) for a Classic and late-night fries.
3. End at The Toasted Coconut (1617 Richmond Ave) for a tiki cocktail and the second burger you did not plan on ordering.

The W Alabama daytime loop

1. Lankford Grocery (88 Dennis St) — Firehouse Burger, weekday morning or early lunch.
2. Walk to Southern Yankee Crafthouse (1312 W Alabama St) — pimento-and-jalapeño burger, rotating craft tap.

For the full Houston burger map or the best smash burgers in Houston, those guides cover the rest of the city.

Before you go: save this checklist

• Lankford: go on a weekday to avoid 30-minute waits on weekends.
• Trill Burgers: the drive-thru moves faster than the walk-in line on busy Saturdays.
• The Burger Joint: kitchen stays open until 4am Friday–Saturday; things can slow after 2am.
• Southern Yankee Crafthouse: parties of six or more should call ahead.
• BunSlut: the most reliable 2am option on this list.
• Jethro’s: closed Mondays; confirm hours on Instagram before a weeknight trip.
• State of Grace: dinner reservations are worth making, especially on weekends.
• The Toasted Coconut: arrive by 5pm on Thursday or Friday for patio seating.

More to eat in Montrose

The best restaurants in Montrose guide covers the neighborhood from tacos to fine dining, and the Montrose culinary tour maps a longer day of eating around the same blocks. For Chris Shepherd’s own picks on classic Houston burgers, see his Houston burger guide.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest burger restaurant in Montrose, Houston?

Lankford Grocery & Market at 88 Dennis Street, Houston, TX 77006. It opened as a fruit stand in 1937 and has been run by three generations of the Lankford family ever since. It describes itself as having served authentic American burgers since 1937.

Who founded Trill Burgers in Montrose?

Trill Burgers at 3607 S Shepherd Drive was co-founded in 2021 by Houston rapper Bun B (Bernard Freeman), restaurateur Andy Nguyen, and Nick Scurfield. It started as a pop-up before the Montrose brick-and-mortar opened in June 2023.

Which burgers in Montrose are open late?

BunSlut at 515 Westheimer Road is open until 2am Sunday through Thursday and 4am Friday and Saturday. The Burger Joint at 2703 Montrose Blvd stays open until midnight most nights and until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Is there a halal burger in Montrose, Houston?

Yes. BunSlut at 515 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77006 uses all-natural halal beef in all its smash burgers. It is also veteran-owned and operated.

What is the best cheap burger deal in Montrose?

Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge at 95 Tuam Street offers a burger and fries for $7 before 7pm any day it is open. It is closed on Mondays. BunSlut’s base burgers also come in under $12.

Which Montrose burger spot was named best burger in America?

Trill Burgers at 3607 S Shepherd Drive, Houston, TX 77098. Good Morning America named it the best burger in America in 2022, a year before the Montrose brick-and-mortar location opened with a drive-thru.