Daniel L.

[knocks on your front door loudly at 3am] The rumors are true: Chief Cajun's Snack Shack ("CC") from the Third Ward lives on in a new neighborhood with a brand new WITSEC alias. Gone is the 'Cajun' name flair from across the state line and now it is simply Old Fashion ("OF") - just like the drink, minus the -ed, but in burger format you put in your hands and eat with your mouth; not the liquor format best chugged to gently amble through life's assorted miseries and casual inequities. The WITSEC thing was apt as OF had no web presence. No menu until I added it here on yelp. No biz website. Only three yelp reviews. And there is a place called "Cliff's" Old Fashion Hamburgers which adds in a lot of noise to the goog search results. OF did not just open, they have been around for nearly a year. Many of their old CC regulars do not know that this spot exists - I chanced upon this information the other night following the rabbit trail of one risky click after another, until it was a fortuitous click to find Chief again since I was channeling spirit animal Bobandy: in need of cheeseburger. CC was not a White Glove Society dining experience in that old location but they did bring that "fiyo" spitting out some crazy flavorful and delicious burgers the size of your head. It was also conveniently near UH when I worked there back in the day, so it made sense to leave my unglamorous office behind to go deeper into the 'hood for some tasty treats from the smoky, soulful grill. OF is much cleaner and more decorated than CC: nice jazz artwork on the wall and sculpture work too. This new location off Orem is not very convenient, which is the one and only strike against them. Third Ward was convenient since it was just down Elgin a bit; a casual drive from anywhere inside the loop where you could bump some jams along the way and then there you would be at your burger. Coming to this location, which doesn't seem to be in any sort of established neighborhood (southeast of Westbury, east of Z-Ro's Mo City, north of Pearland's Shadow Creek Ranch where I was house-hunting last year until I determined I was not a suburban white picket fence kind of brother, and way southwest of Sunnyside on the other side of 288) is basically not convenient at all for you unless you live here, so it places a large onus on the food that it needs to be gat dang unbelievable to merit a trip out here in the middle of the day when there are closer options nearby (like Acadian) if you happen to live inside the loop. With that being said, my memories of biting into that burger at CC each time were enough to get me to prioritize a drive out to get this burger here today. You want to be on the look out for the West Orem Dental Center, as OF occupies the same strip mall. It's a one level, older, more small town looking strip mall than you are going to expect to see these days in Houston. It's not one of those flashy, glitz strip malls. This one has character. If you take Main south to Hiram Clark and then turn on Orem: take a quick u-turn into the parking lot. There are signs to let you know you are in the right place. If not, hopefully the photos I added help. Call in your order to (832)203-8842 - with places like this, Sparkle, Big Belly, et al. it just makes sense to call ahead so it is only a very short wait once you park and mosey on in. If you order in person it takes 20 minutes for your food, since it is ALL freshly prepared. The girl taking my order (Latoya) was incredibly polite and pleasant; such a good introduction to the business. Chief is just as nice, he said hi and we had a quick chat before he fired up the grill. They make you feel very welcome here - so it is a local biz that is very easy to loudly and proudly support even if it does take a bit of a drive to get to. The Big Baby cheeseburger with fries is $9.20 and is one of the best lunches under $20 you can find anywhere. The patty is huge - well done without being scorched, flavorful without overpowering the senses, and still slightly juicy without being a drippy mess. The bun is soft and slightly chewy. If you get it fully dressed all of the extras are in sound proportion to each other, there is a little onion, mayo, and everything else in each bite without distorting the taste of the smoky, delicious patty in any way. Simply put this is one fantastic cheeseburger. The fries are just as good, heavily seasoned and the thick cut sort of fries. They aren't mushy or rock hard, they are perfectly done and with the seasoning don't even require ketchup. The to-go container comes with a nice message and a little drawing for you too! I loved that extra customer appreciation touch, it means somethin' This is an enormous amount of good food on the cheap, in a warm and inviting ambiance the staff help cultivate. While there are many burgers available in Houston, the reincarnation of CC will make you forget all about them long after your first glorious taste of that Big Baby cheeseburger.