The 5 Best Buffalo Burgers in Houston

Many people claim that Bubba’s Texas Burger Shack is the home of the buffalo burger. Others boast that their buffalo burgers are healthier than other restaurants since they only use hormone and antibiotic-free buffalo meat. 

True to the claims, Bubba’s buffalo patties were lean and flavorful by themselves, but the flavors were amplified when topped with toppings like chili, cheese, or bacon. 

On our visit to Bubba’s Texas Burger Shack, we tried one of their popular choices on the menu—the Vegas Burger. The Vegas Burger consists of spicy habanero sauce, bacon, avocado, Monterey Jack cheese, and a fried egg piled atop a luscious, highly meaty buffalo patty. 

All of this sounds unhealthy, but it’s a healthier option due to how Bubba manages to avoid drying out the patties. Buffalo meat is leaner than beef and has a fat content similar to that of turkey, so when all the juices are maintained, you get the health benefits too. 

Moreover, we liked how the Vegas Burger we had at Bubba’s Texas Burger was juicy and rich, and the flavors from the cheese, bacon, and habanero sauce brought the burger to life.

Additionally, the burgers at Bubba’s Texas Burger are enough to fill you up. After all, we needed two hands just to get a bite out of our burger. 

The downside to this is that their burgers get messy, which means some of the toppings fall out. So, we recommend having napkins nearby when eating at Bubba’s Texas Burger Shack.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar takes a modern approach to food by employing a number of methods, including a butchery and bakery on the premises. They use only organic, locally grown ingredients and meat farmed in a humane manner. 

Furthermore, their hand-cut fries and fresh-baked buns are prepared daily from scratch. At least, that’s what we’ve heard. 

Upon arriving at Hopdoddy Burger Bar, there was a free parking garage available for all customers to use. We liked how convenient their location and parking were. 

But when we went inside Hopdoddy Burger Bar, the lines were long, and the wait was over thirty minutes just to get to the front counter. When we got to the counter, though, we liked how you could look at their complete menu, which was made up of traditional and gourmet burgers. 

Additionally, they have a bar menu lined with various Houston brews and house-crafted cocktails. They also serve up classic nonalcoholic drinks to compliment your burger, like a traditional vanilla bean shake or their Nutella and chocolate pretzel milkshake.  

We liked, though, how the staff at the counter were friendly and able to give quick recommendations despite the line of customers behind us. Moreover, despite the lunch rush hour, the staff members sanitized the counters, keeping hygiene in mind. 

We opted for their Buffalo Bill Burger. The Buffalo Bill Burger consisted of a buffalo patty, Blue Jack cheese, hot sauce, and apple-smoked bacon. 

Although the buffalo patty was juicy and flavorful, the lack of a crisp sear left the meat feeling mushy. On the other hand, we liked how crispy their sweet potato fries were and the flavor of their pillow-like buns. 

Sam’s Burgers looked like an unassuming small burger joint from the outside. Yet, the inside of Sam’s Burgers was spacious, as there were plenty of tables and booths to choose from.

The decor is a mashup of urban and rural elements. Still, Sam’s Burgers has a cozy atmosphere due to the wooden tables and colorful accents on the walls.

We ordered the traditional buffalo burger with all the fixings like lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayonnaise, mustard and a side of hand-cut fries. 

One of the things we liked was how the buns Sam’s Burgers use are not traditional white burger buns. Rather they are brioche buns. 

Furthermore, each bun has a large S seared into it, which was a wonderful touch that elevated the burger’s presentation. 

Moreover, we liked how the toppings were fresh and light, not mushy at all. The burger was also easy to hold and eat, as nothing spilled out.

However, we didn’t like how the buns on our burgers were not crispy enough—at least for our tastes. The buffalo burger patties were also not juicy as most of the flavor from the patty came from the combination of toppings. 

On the other hand, their hand-cut fries were crisp and paired well with their fiery ranch sauce that came on the side.

Burger Nation has a reputation in Houston for a diverse menu of burgers with alternative meats like buffalo and elk at their NASA Parkway site. Customers can also choose from half a dozen different types of buns to go with their burgers. 

Well, that’s what we were told. 

To start, on our visit to Burger Nation, we were greeted by the manager, who wasted no time in giving us her recommendations on which to choose from their best-selling burgers and which sides to pair our burgers with.

While the manager was quite knowledgeable about their menu, we chose to try their buffalo burger in two different combinations. The first way we tried their buffalo burger was with their classic wheat bun, cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and pickles.  

For the second buffalo burger, we kept all of the traditional toppings but swapped out the wheat bun for a jalapeño cheddar bun and cheddar cheese for blue cheese. As for our sides, we selected their onion rings and their fried pickles. 

One of the first things we liked about their burgers was that the buffalo patties were juicy and bursting with flavor. Both combinations of toppings only added to the flavors of the burger. 

However, we had to take out the blue cheese as it tasted too sour for our liking. We also didn’t like their fried pickles, as the batter was falling off half of the pickles. 

Yet, their onion rings were golden and crisp on the outside without being mushy on the inside.

OLazy Dog Restaurant and Bar is known by many Houstonians for its laid-back atmosphere and a wide variety of meals on its menu—including a buffalo burger. 

One of the first things we noted while at Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar was their customer service. Both our server and waitress were attentive and continued to check on us throughout the night. 

We started with an appetizer of crispy wings wrapped in maple bacon. Although we thought the wings were a little sweet, the flavors balanced out when paired with the ranch sauce on the side. 

Furthermore, we tried one of the signature drinks on their menu, the huckleberry mule. We liked how it was refreshing and not strong on the alcohol scale. 

We also ordered their buffalo burger. While their buffalo burger was more expensive than their traditional burger, every bite we took out of it was bursting with flavor. 

We liked how the bun to burger patty ratio was not overwhelmed by more toppings than needed. Inside their buffalo burger, they included all the traditional toppings, such as lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese. 

However, they had very few pickles, and there appeared to be only a small handful of fries included with our burgers.