Dallas’s best burger joint has great news for hungry fans. Burger Schmurger is planting permanent roots in a new brick-and-mortar location on Buckner Boulevard.
Owner Dave Culwell will begin flipping patties next year at 718 North Buckner Boulevard, #100, in the old home of BarNone. Culwell explains to What Now Dallas the long and winding road to the space-something of a dream spot.
“It’s such a great location.” he says. “We actually had a spot locked in and I’d been watching the BarNone space for awhile. We’d been negotiating this other spot for months and then we saw that BarNone closed, and we called but they couldn’t show it because there were still things there from previous tenants, so we went forward with the other spot.”
However, Culwell couldn’t shake BarNone and when he and his partners were able to visit the location: “We were like ‘this is the spot’. We really have become a staple in Dallas, it’s minutes away from where I live, we’re more East Dallas. It’s great, it’s all right there.”
Culwell started Burger Schmurger as a bonding experience with his then-13 year old daughter. The two took their delicious burgers on the road to pop-ups, breweries and barbershops. Culwell, who cut his teeth in business, not hospitality, began to see the potential in the project. He states: “When I saw this thing had legs, I was just loosely curious what it would all look like… I had a lot of people approaching me who owned properties and wanted Burger Schmurger to go in there. It never felt like an automatic “yes”.”
Culwell’s business background gave him the confidence to hold out for the right situation and circumstance. “I said ‘no’ to a lot of things” he explains, adding “some of the stuff that felt good didn’t feel right. I walked into this space knowing what the potential of the space was and also the community of where it fits, and I thought this is the right spot for our flagship location. It just felt right.”
Anchored by a celebrated burger with a massive fan-following, Culwell wants to turn the 600 square foot space into a true community space. He describes his vision for it as “A family friendly neighborhood burger pub…people are so excited about it-they’re almost as excited as I am. I’m going to listen to people and see what it is people want.”
Burger Schmurger enthusiasts can anticipate sinking their teeth into their favorite sandwiches, with a few bonuses to boot. Culwell plans to keep the bulk of the menu the same, with a few notable additions. “Right now, we do a featured burger every Friday, and that will become feature that runs all week. On Sunday, we do our chicken sandwich. Now we’ll have it every day…chicken wings on Sundays, now we’ll have them everyday. We’re going to add a couple of salads. We use the same stuff for everything we do, we just present it differently.”
Culwell is also workshopping a bar menu, full of house-made treats. “We’re going to have snacks and it’s going to be a lot of really cool stuff. We have to make everything… we’re going to do house-made mozzarella and poutine. Lots of comfort food for a lot of different cultures. We make our own pickles and I’m making these really cool pickle balls and they’re so good.”
Culwell is hoping to begin feeding hungry Dallas diners in March of 2025. He explains that the restaurant is finished, but needs to be personalized.
In the meantime, foodies can still grab a bite from one of Burger Schmurgers pop-ups, which Culwell intends to continue holding once the brick and mortar opens. “I want to build a team that just does pop- ups and catering and I want to keep them really busy.” he states.
Burger Schmurger’s new home will be the perfect showcase for one of the city’s most delectable indulgences. Culwell’s vision is simple but pure, and certain to be embraced: “What we really want to do is create this vibe of a local watering hole for the surrounding neighborhoods that features the best burger in Dallas.”
