Crystal Wise
J's Burgers
Stretching from the front door to the counter, the line forms, like clockwork, around 11 a.m. and doesn’t let up until after 1, sometimes closer to 2 p.m. Most days at J’s Burgers N’ More are like this, busy beyond belief. The wise and anti-social wait until after 2 to snag a table at this charming downtown restaurant, a low-key café that’s been serving, as its name implies, burgers and more for 30 years.
J’s fanbase isn’t made up of snobby foodies. Rather, the following that wife-husband owners Dee Chirabandhu, 65, and Pinai Tawanron, 64, have cultivated over the course of three decades is made up primarily of downtown office workers, local police and fireman who are stationed nearby, and those who crave simple, good food served without any fanfare.
“We know most of our customers, and most of our customers know us,” she says. “Some have been coming for years, since we opened.”
Many come for the burgers — there are 12 in all, topped with ingredients such as bacon, mushrooms, and various types of cheese. Smoky and juicy, the thin patties will remind you of summer cookouts and Dairy Queen and life before adulthood and hardship. The burgers have a good crunch, thanks to fresh veggies.
Elsewhere on the main menu — a plastic sign with removable letters, like you used to see at roller rinks and roadside diners — you’ll find hot dogs, with or without chili, sandwiches, and salads.
To get the full scope of J’s, though, you have to take the “and more” part of its name literally. In addition to burgers and hot dogs, the restaurant serves a full menu of Chinese and Thai dishes, from standards such as orange chicken and egg rolls to original dishes dreamed up by Pinai.
“At first, we just did burgers and sandwiches,” says Dee. “But my husband is an incredible cook, and he loves to cook Chinese and Thai food. At the time, no one else in downtown was serving those types of food, so we decided to try it and see what happens. Now we’ll sell as much Chinese food as we do burgers.”
J’s is also open for breakfast.
Opening a restaurant wasn’t a part of Dee’s original story arc. If all had gone according to plan, she’d be somewhere in Thailand, her homeland, teaching. At the urging of her family, she came to Texas to go to college. Over time, she earned a bachelor’s, a master’s and a Ph.D.
To help pay for college, she worked in various restaurants in the North Texas area, working her way up from being a server to a manager. While working at the Las Colinas Country Club, she met her soon-to-be-husband, who is also from Thailand. First, they fell in love with each other, then the restaurant business; the two soon hatched out a plan to open a restaurant.
“To be a teacher was more of my family’s plan,” she says. “I liked it over here, in the United States. I wasn’t ready to go back. I had started my own life here.”
The couple quit their jobs and began searching for a restaurant or a restaurant space. A broker pointed them in the direction of a small restaurant at 804 Houston St. called J’s Burgers and More. At the time, it was owned by Tom and Julie Tunprasert, who were looking to sell.
“It was fate, I know it,” Dee says. “We became instant friends; then we became best friends.”
Dee and her husband took over the restaurant, keeping the name since Dee’s nickname begins with the letter J. But a few years into running J’s, the two were told they’d have to move; the building was being razed to make way for a parking lot.
At the time, the occupancy rate in downtown was extremely high. Sundance Square was blossoming; the economy was booming. Times were so good for downtown businesses, Dee thought they’d have to look elsewhere.
But they got lucky: The owner of downtown European restaurant Blue Danube was looking to retire. His space, at 905 Throckmorton St., was perfect, Dee says, just the right size and perfectly located among dozens of offices and buildings. “He told us he was going to use the money he got from selling the restaurant to pay off his debt,” Dee says. “After we bought it from him, he came in with a bottle of wine and said, ‘I paid off my debt; let’s celebrate.’
“So, we kept him from going bankrupt, and we started our business,” Dee says. “It was all just meant to be.”
J’s Burgers N’ More, 905 Throckmorton St., 817.332.5609
