I was born into the Texas BBQ world as my father had a couple of BBQ restaurants as I was growing up. I went to culinary school at Houston Community College while running my dad’s restaurant which was a well known Houston establishment. We were located in North Houston on Airline and Little York. That restaurant was involved in an arson/robbery, it burnt down to ground. It was hard to see it happen and watch my father go through that process, but we’re looking forward to better days now!
I happened to meet Chef Randy Duncan at HCC on day one of our Culinary program We’ve gotten along well since then, been about 8-9 year now. Chef Randy later established Daddy Duncan’s BBQ with his wife Sylvia. I’ve worked with them on some caterings and BBQ events and competitions, so some of y’all may have seen my face before.
I first joined the Katy food scene last year when I was the Sous Chef for Tobiuo Sushi & Bar. Before Tobiuo, I worked at the Hotel Granduca a five star Italian hotel in the Galleria, training under 3 Michelin star Chef Enrico Glaudo. I also spent some time at MAX’s Wine Dive, before leaving to help open On The Kirb, a sports bar serving health conscious and organic foods located on Kirby and 59. Upper scale and fine dining was fun for me but it sure can be daunting. At Tobiuo Sushi, I was in charge of the hot foods such as steak, cooked seafood dishes and such, as I didn’t have any sushi experience. We had a yakitori grill which we would use for yakitori skewers (basically Japanese kabobs). Everyday I would light up natural lump charcoal and add a few chunks of wood to it, the smell would take me back and my mind would replay memories of my BBQ past. That’s when my itch to return to the BBQ world started.
.
Well, I’m glad to say I have found something to fill that gap in my heart. I am the new chef/owner of Chuckwagon BBQ & Burgers on FM 1463. This is my first restaurant personally, my folks are working alongside with me to accomplish my dreams. My father and I combined have about 50 years of BBQ experience. My father’s first restaurant was Charlie’s BBQ located in 5 Greenway Plaza which was open from 1982 until 2005. Still to this day I have dreams where I’m in that restaurant as it was a big part of my childhood. My first memory of cooking was when I tried to flip and catch eggs in a skillet as I had seen my dad do many times, a majority of the eggs ended up on the stove haha
We took over last week on 5/15. I plan to keep the same concept of BBQ & Burgers with my own touches but fear not, the garlic buttered sweet sourdough bread is here to stay for the burgers. My crew and I are working to make this place more streamlined and efficient to provide y’all with better and faster service. There will be a few changes to the menu to make it easier to read and order from. When I get things running more smoothly, I will start to introduce a few more option for the burgers and some cool stuff BBQ wise.
We’re now open 7 days a week, from 11 AM until 9 PM everyday! We will be open on Memorial Day Monday until 5 PM.
I hope to get the pleasure to meet and serve y’all! Thank you and God Bless!
