Today, we're excited to introduce you to Alex and Jessica Moghaddam, the astute business owners behind Burger Vibe in Houston, Texas. With their secret formula for creating a sensational restaurant experience, Alex and Jessica have carved out a unique niche in Houston's culinary scene.
LN: What inspired you to combine New York City flair with Houston charm in your hamburgers, and how did Burger Vibe come to life?
AM: So my wife and I are both Food lovers, we believe that food brings people together regardless of their differences and backgrounds. The lack of healthy dishes with mouth watering flavors and absence of organic and natural food in most restaurant communities has always been bothersome to both of us. Since we love burgers, we both became more inspired when we came across a classic New York burger recipe which sounded amazing and we loved it because everyone was offering the smash burger these days and we just found that to be too greasy and the other issue was that it all tasted either similar or not good, there was no other category.
We also noticed that most burger restaurants do not offer different culinary preferences, like most burger places do not offer a veggie burger or a vegan burger and gluten-free option on their menu. So considering that Houston is one of the most diverse food cities of the world and New York is considered the second Burger capital of the world, combining the two sounded like great idea and soon it felt like a match made in heaven. Wanting to create a healthy, organic, fresh and juicy burger with burst of flavors in every bite just inspired us to go ahead and try things out and resulted in the birth of Burger Vibe!
LN: Can you tell us more about the international influences in your menu?
AM: So coming from a diverse history of backgrounds and traveling the world I just felt combining the different styles of cooking that are unique and popular in the world would be something new and unique and that is why we chose to go down this path. I just didn't want to be one of the "usual suspects" or just another burger place.
I come from a multicultural background myself and having traveled the world, I have noticed that there are some great cooking techniques in every culture that makes their cuisine unique and realizing that no cooking style is perfect, I felt if we combined most of the good things from different cuisines into one simple menu it would not only create a very unique Burger experience but it would be an adventure that would be both fun for us and for our customers while also enjoying some delicious, healthy and unique burgers that you can't find anywhere else in the world. My Italian/Persian heritage and growing up in middle-east and Europe and having lived in different states and cities in the US for decades, definitely inspired my cooking style and helped me create a very different taste for a unique cuisine.
LN: Are there specific regions or cuisines that have significantly shaped your burger recipes?
AM: Absolutely, Persians are masters of handling and cooking of the meat, they have unique style of taking away the smell of the meat and replacing it with a very well balanced flavor additionally many of their meat dishes are Char grilled which was very helpful in the process of getting away from the regular smashburger served in most places. The Europeans of course have a very skillful way of balancing out the flavors of the food by using a mild Touch of different spices. The North American love for food diversity and the United States love for burgers and BBQ combined with those two styles of cooking was just a no brainer when you have that kind of culinary cultural knowledge.
LN: How has being based in Houston influenced your business and menu? What aspects of the local culture do you think shine through in your offerings?
AM: I consider being in Houston, to live here and to start a business here as an enormous privilege, you get to meet people from diverse backgrounds, different interests and a unique sense of connection that you don't get anywhere else in the United States and top that with the famous southern hospitality, bit with more knowledge about International Cuisine than most other cities in the United States. I'm surprised that the love of Houstonians and Houston for burgers hasn't put us on the map as the first Burger capital of the world. Combining all of that interest and love that the Houstonians share with one another and putting out into one unique dish is one of the things that makes me love Houston and Houstonians more than any other part of the world and I think that shows through our burgers which are made strictly through our love for burgers and this great City.
LN: What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a family-owned restaurant in Houston, and what have been your most rewarding moments?
AM: As a family owned business obviously one of the biggest challenges has been to run a new restaurant, parallel with leading a functional and successful family life, my wife and I are each working 7 days per week sometimes between 80 to 90 hours per week, at the same time having a 3-year-old baby and an almost two year old grandson that lives with us has been extremely challenging, just to balance our time to spend time with our family while not being over exhausted! The calendar days that are considered as family days such as Sundays and holidays those are our opportunity days at our business and unfortunately every moment that we take away from our family to invest it in our business is time that you lose with family which you will not get back, with the current state of the economy especially post covid we are financially not where we need to be at all and that requires us to work longer hours and try to catch up. In the old days being in a prime location would have been a key to your success but these days with everyone being on the social media, prime location is not necessarily the only key factor in your success anymore your presence in social media is the biggest factor.
The one thing that gives us inspiration is the amazing people of Houston, especially the absolutely awesome people of our neighborhood we get encouragement from every single one of them and their support and that has been the the motivation for us "to keep pushing forward" even during our hardest times. We are not nearly where we need to be to break even but with the support that we have seen from the amazing people of our neighborhood we believe that we will get there soon with their continuous support.
LN: What are your future plans for Burger Vibe? Are there any new menu items or expansions in the works that we can all look forward to?
AM: So understanding that going to the same place eating the same thing and having the same old options gets boring after a while especially in a city as diverse as Houston and with so many options out there, therefore we started this business with the policy that we will always provide a unique experience for a customers, so we have a base menu just like any other Burger restaurant but additionally we will provide a menu that is continuously changing and evolving, in the past several months we have introduced our "Oriental Burger" which is a combination of different ingredients along the Silk Road and some of the Asian Cuisines combined into a burger and "The Italian Burger" which has had an enormous positive feedback by anyone who has tried it, I have heard the question more often than not that "why didn't anyone think of this before?" which I consider a great compliment, we just recently introduced our "Texan Burger" and coming soon will be the "New Yorker" to be followed by "The Southern Burger" to complete our unique value combo meal menu, in addition to that we will have burgers that will come out on monthly or seasonally basis just to keep our regulars interested in coming and trying the next Burger without getting bored with the same old Burger over and over again.
Where to Find Them
Address: Burger Vibe: 3730 Washington Ave, Ste B, Houston, TX 77007
Phone: (713) 864-0000
Website: https://washingtonpatio.com/burgervibe/
