Lankford Grocery & Market
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
10 Reviews for Lankford Grocery & Market
Lankford is pretty amazing. I agree with everyone below who says that while it is not the "greatest burger of all time," it comes pretty close. It's a nice old fashioned restaurant - does not take credit, only open for breakfast/lunch, is closed Sundays (hours are Mon-Sat 7am-3pm), you sit down and order if you're eating there (it's not a fast food joint), payment is more-or-less on the honor system, and it's one of those "regulars" places where everyone knows your name. As far as burger goes - I have only tried the Solider Burger (which is a quarter-pound cheeseburger with a sunny-side egg on top....) - it's damn good as well. It'll more than fill you up and make you snooze all afternoon behind your desk in delicious burger and eggy juice-ness. Highly recommend!!
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Executive Summary: Good burger, but don't buy the hype
Early in my quest to find the best burger in Houston, I kept hearing whispers of one legendary establishment "Lankford Grocery". (I also heard less subtle whispers "You're weird. Just go to Whataburger like a normal person." But I ignored those.)
I finally made the trek to Lankford, and sampled their cheeseburger. I don't know what the fuss is about.
It's not a bad burger. It's hand-formed, seems to be made from pretty good beef, and is cooked on a traditional flat griddle.
But it's also dry and overcooked; not juicy at all. I think those who sing Lankford's praises need to broaden their horizons and sample some of the truly spectacular burgers available in Houston.
The room is unique. A very old establishment, the topography of the floor has more hills and valleys than most of the Houston area.
Worth a visit, but don't expect to be overwhelmed.
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Vegetarians, beware! Your selection here is limited, and if you feel you absolutely cannot eat meat when you are at the top of the food chain, then maybe this place will change your mind.
Essentially, the best burger on earth. I've eaten my fair share of hamburgers from the far corners of this great land called Texas, and add some more from the far corners of the United States - and the glorious burgers at Lankford's ALWAYS come in number one. They may not be the largest, but they're simply the best.
Lankford's sits in that nefarious zone between Midtown and Neartown, where the two meet according to City of Houston official neighborhood association standards. And thus the style contrast is very evident - note the older, quaint buildings buttressed against the new sprawling three story monstrosities. There, in the crossfire, is a restaurant devoted to the old style of cooking - before we became obsessed with nonsense like "good cholestorol / bad cholestorol."
Lankford's is an oasis of simplicity whose structure goes back to a time when Montrose and Westheimer WAS far away from the center of town - and their cooking style is pure Texas warmth - lots of flavor, lots of love, and no matter what the special of the day, you will enjoy it. Watch out on Chicken Fried Steak day - they run out quick as the Texas A&M Former Student Lunch Club will often devour the selection before you can get there at noon.
Appetizers - good luck. This is not your nouveau fancy pants restaurant. No soup d'jour. No appertifs with dessert. Real food, real meat, real fixins. Friendly service, zero pretense, and lots of meat based dishes and cooked with love, care, and a nod to what eating is supposed to be - about the food, not about counting stupid carbs or calories.
You want your veggie fix? Get the Lankford cheeseburger "dragged through the garden" and wait for your taste buds to explode with a firework display of fresh garden goodness. There you go - meat, dairy, veggies - all in the food pyramid. Add their iced tea and you have a balanced Texas meal.
Eat their now and learn what a great burger is.
Knocked a star for the rare few times I did not get the Chicken Fried Steak I was hoping they had available, and also for the bizarre parking situation. But price, cooking, and fun times await at Lankford's. Put down the tofu and hit this wonderful place for delicious food served hot.
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The burger here is very solid, and I think it's fair to call it one of the best burgers in town, although I wouldn't call it the best. Quality meat, good char, and fresh toppings-- definitely a two-hander. The fries were fairly good (as far as I recall-- I'm not really a fry person so I don't tend to eat many or remember much unless they are truly spectacular). Lankford Grocery has a unique, dive-y vibe which is fun and worth checking out at least once.
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a place wherfe the good old boys go
Prepare yourself for a bold burger statement: Lankford's cheeseburger is (possibly) the best burger I've ever eaten. I thought Christian's Totem would be impossible to beat but here I am two weeks later wondering if I've died and gone to burger heaven. (This has also peaked my interest in writing reviews of all my favorite burgers in OK, CA, CO, LA and TX; stay tuned.)
Their burgers are huge and the meat is juicy on the inside and crispy around the edges. When it's served with all the fixings you'll get pickles, lettuce, tomato, sliced red onion, a sesame seed bun and a mustard/mayo dressing that's a perfect combination. My fries were a little cold and soggy but the tots were pretty good and they've also got some decent looking onion rings.
Besides the home-style-tasting burger the joint itself is homespun and quite unique. I don't know what it is about Houston but I've been in more places with slanted-fun-house floors than anywhere else in my life. There are permanently rolled up garage doors making you wonder if someone once parked you car where you're eating. If you go in now the Fall decorations are overwhelming with plastic Fall leaves, laminated tablecloths with pumpkins, haystacks and black cats. The service is slow and we only talked to our waiter once but you're obviously not going for service or decor - unless you like old-lady kitsch.
There's a little patio and you'll find a lunch crowd of regulars and business men (and women) inside and out. I went for the burger but was tempted to to try the chili relleno lunch special. They were bringing out burgers and relleno in equal measure and they looked pretty amazing too. Lankfords is cash only and they also serve a basic bacon and eggs breakfast and are open M-S until 3:00 p.m.
Basically, if you like burgers and you live in Texas (or the tri-state area) this place should not be missed.
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Every time I think I am ready to make the plunge to pescetarianism, someone invites me to Lankford's, where I drown in red meat iniquity. Say yes when they ask if you'd like to "drag that burger through the garden" as it creates the perfect combination of juicy meat and veggies.
Lisa A describes the atmosphere perfectly in her review (though she fails to mention the year-round Christmas lights!). They have great specials (enchiladas on Wednesday and dinner plate sized chicken fried steaks on Thursdays are two examples), but I can't understand why anyone would deviate from the thing that makes Lankford's great. Save some room for dessert, as I have friends who have composed poetry to describe the cobbler.
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The Lankford burger is easily one of the top five burgers I've had. I met up with my old roommate for lunch one day, and he suggested burgers. I was actually kind of in the mood for something a bit more baller, but he was raving about the burgers here. fine. After turning at Texas Art Supply, we wove through the back streets of upper Montrose for a bit and wound up at a small wooden grocery store that looked like it predated the industrial revolution. The proprietors were friendly, and my burger and rings combo didn't cost that much.
I'm going to admit that I wasn't expecting a very exciting burger. The price was suspiciously low, and the restaurant was filled with older folks and dudes wearing ties. I don't know what kind of people I expected in a legendary burger joint, but those were not them.
Anyhow, I really don't remember how my side tasted, it was completely overshadowed by my burger. Good sized ground beef patty, just a charred enough to hold the meat together. juicy goodness.
Most definitely a prince among burgers. Perhaps a lost son of the Burger King, born out of wedlock when he forgot to wrap his whopper during a tryst with the neighboring kingdom's Dairy Queen. wow that joke just bubbled up from 4th grade.
pros :
in addition to the great burgers they have a different special every day. The chicken fried steak is apparently very popular.
two or three outdoor tables, nice for sunny days.
.
cons :
I think this is one of those restaurants that keeps weird hours (ie they close at three on weekdays). Unsure of that, I'll correct this when i find out for sure.
Also, their 'parking lot' is probably about six spaces total. There seems to be plenty of street parking, though.
I'm going to plug Texas burger guy again, because he has great burger reviews and reminded me to swing by lankford's again -
http://www.texasburger...
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Went here with high expectations thanks to other yelpers. Best burger on earth? No, but it's quite a good burger. Excellent homemade bun, generous portion of quality beef, and very generous and high quality toppings. The single cheeseburger was large. I couldn't imagine getting the double here, unlike most places, let alone the triple. The main reason for not seconding the very high praise of others was the meat - although reasonably tasty, my burger was very dry, not a trace of juice. To be the best burger it would need to be juicier and ideally also to have that nice charcoal-grilled flavor. Instead of fries I got tex-mex, and interesting blend of fried bell and spicy peppers and green onions (I think). It was done well, but a little odd, which made me wish I'd tried the onion rings instead. The setting is great, a slightly ramshackle building, looks like it has been there forever, with a few outdoor tables under an awning. Service was pleasant, but spotty. Once our food was delivered, we never saw anyone again till we got up to pay the bill. Maybe worth another visit, but didn't quite meet the high expectations.
After hearing others rave about Lankford, I decided to see for myself. Visited on a Wednesday around 1:30, well after the usual lunch rush from 11:30 to 1 pm. Keep that in mind as the traffic and parking may be a bear.
I was greeted by Charles, who asked if this was my first visit. Upon confirming, he laid down the two rules of Lankford. In his words, "One, we don't do anything small. Two, we don't do anything healthy." I knew instantly I was in the right place. Chuck also said, "We don't bring you a bill, but that doesn't mean it's free."
As you can see, this is a fun place. The lunch menu had various old fashion sandwiches / burgers, as well as a couple of note - the firehouse burger, which comes with their spicy homemade mustard (I got a sample and it definitely packs a delayed kick!), and the solider burger, which is a hamburger with an egg.
I ordered the bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Both were excellent. The rings had crispy breading (not beer batter, sorry I don't know what it's called). It was fresh and the onion sliced through, unlike the nasty store bought type that won't break. The burger came on a sesame seed bun with everything on it. Bacon was nice and crispy. The other server, Mindy, was quick with drink refills. The cashier, Robin, was very nice.
An overall enjoyable experience and highly recommended!
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