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Writer's pictureConor Moran

Burro & Bull's Quiet Soft Opening was a Loud Success!

After earning their place in the Houston Barbecue scene at their location in the Conservatory Food Hall, John and Veronica Avila are back with Burro & Bull in the Cypress area! Their quiet opening was Thursday, Nov. 18th (sorry this post is a little late!) and they did not disappoint. Taking over the space formally occupied by a Corky's, Veronica has altered the dinning atmosphere with a slick and modern look. Bright colors of blue and yellow accent walls of dark wood and big brown booths.

I mention the décor first because at their previous location, there wasn't much highlighting the look and feel of Burro & Bull's Texana feel. Now, they have it expressed beautifully.


Having only just opened, I have to be honest and say I was expecting the worst. Most soft openings I go to I just sit quietly and let the servers bumble over orders, listen to the kitchen yell at each other over confusing orders, and watch the patience die from other friends and family of the establishment. I also almost NEVER review a restaurant until they have had a least a few weeks under their belts. But I can honestly say that if this is just the start of Burro & Bull and it can only get better from here, then John and Veronica are going to be doing just fine!


My family and I ordered a pretty decent amount of food. From the menu we ordered the flautas, enchiladas, moist brisket, ribs, garlic beef sausage, cream corn, mac and cheese, and the calabacitas.

Being aware that they might be relatively new to the pits, I wasn't going to be harsh on the barbecue regardless. That being said, I was surprised at how good it actually was. No two pits are the same and no matter who builds the pits, each one has it own temperament. You could tell that there was a bit of a fight to get the smoke on this brisket but over all not a bad start. The ribs came out really well with a nice smoke and texture. Definitely a winner. The sausage needed just a touch of barbecue sauce, but I loved the garlic flavor that was pronounced in it.




The enchiladas and the flautas were a great highlight to the Smoked Texana that Burro & Bull is going for. Having the smoked element in these dishes really separated them from your traditional barbecue spots. Though Burro & Bull aren't the only ones combining Mexican and Texas Barbecue, I am excited to see chef de cuisine Jesse Gallegos' talent highlighted with future menu items.


I wish I was more verse in the true forms of flautas and enchiladas so I could truly compare, but most of my experience of these dishes comes from Tex-Mex spots. Both dishes were wonderful in their own rights but I was a little thrown off by the dark mole taste. Thought the menu says "chile Rojo", I could only identify it as mole. Without a creamy guacamole or more cotija cheese, it over powered the enchiladas. But I'm not a huge mole fan, so knowing this, ones I pulled a little of the sauce off to the side, I enjoyed it! I actually added some of the cream corn to it and that really balanced the dish out for me.


Again, anything "negative" in this right up is only highlighting my ignorance or personal preferences. A table behind us was scarfing the enchiladas down without making any changes, so please give these a try!


The mac and cheese had a nice bechamel sauce, the cream corn had FANTASTIC heat from the green chiles, and the calabacitas were a fresh take on a barbecue side.


I truly look forward to visiting Burro & Bull again! With a full bar and dinner service, I think Cypress has a great spot in the making!


If you would like to hear their story before opening Burro & Bull, you can watch and listen to it here:



Note: Just in case, I'd like everyone to know that I was invited to the soft opening and wrote this on my own. Burro & Bull did not comp, compensate, nor sponsored this post.

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