Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Pak.
A Korean-American born and raised in Upstate New York, Matthew started his path in the kitchen at a young age. As a teenager, he worked in diners and local country clubs until leaving New York for Las Vegas to work in catering. From there, he took an opportunity to move to Scottsdale to work for Mark Mcgrath, a James Beard Award-winning chef.
Matthew then made his way to Houston in 2009 where he worked as a Sous Chef at Benjy’s Restaurants. While at Benjy’s, Shawn Bermudez hired him as a kitchen consultant and to create the menu for Royal Oak Bar & Grill (Houston Press 2011 Best Bar Food). In 2013, Matthew left Benjy’s and partnered with Shawn Bermudez to open Houston Hots, a food truck company operating Koagie Hots and Golden Grill food trucks. In 2015 Houston Hots purchased Coreanos food truck here, a well known Korean-Mexican food truck originating in Austin, TX.
With 3 trucks running daily, Matthew has continued his partnership with Shawn Bermudez to open his first brick & mortar, The Burger Joint, located in Montrose in 2015, along with a food truck by the same name. In the short time partnered with Shawn Bermudez, Matthew has taken the food truck scene by storm and is regarded as having the busiest and most regarded food trucks in Houston.
In 2016, Matthew sold his other concepts to focus 100% on the Thriving Burger Joint Concept. Matthew currently owns and operates 2 Burger Joint food trucks, which dominate the catering and event scene in Houston. Also currently operating Burger Joint’s 1st location in Montrose and is in the construction phase for Burger Joint’s 2nd location in the Heights at 2002 North Shepherd Drive, hoping to open by summer 2018.
Matthew Has a wife, Monica Pak, a 4-year-old boy and an 8-month-year-old girl.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The food truck life I would say has been the most difficult in my journey so far. Things might change when we have our second location open. Running 2 busy locations I’m sure has its Struggles. Food trucks are constantly needing maintenance and repairs. That was by far the biggest struggle. We decided to build 2 new trucks for that reason alone for Burger Joint. It has been smoother since then running these 2.
Another challenge that I continue to face is trying to balance the business with family life. Wife, a 4-year-old boy and an 8 month-year-old baby girl. My wife supports me 100% along with helping so much in the past and currently with the business. She has been a blessing to me and this business since inception.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Burger Joint – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Burger Joint focuses on keeping the Burger Classic while using fresh and scratch-made ingredients. At the same time, we focus on an affordable price for what you get. Our Burgers are a custom 6.5-ounce Angus beef patty on a classic buttery style bun.
What sets us apart is our menu options, consistency on food and service and also our efficiency while busy. We offer a huge 3,000 sq. ft. patio and every location moving forward will match. We have spent a lot of time on branding and making sure the Houston population knows who the Burger Joint is!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Second location in the Heights at 2002 North Shepherd. From there we plan on another location inside the loop and possibly the suburbs. We also have other concepts that we would like to launch eventually. For now, Burger Joint is 100% of my focus.
Pricing:
- Classic Burger $6.75
- Hand Cut Fries $2.75
- Cookies n’ Cream Milkshake $5
- 24 craft beers $5 – $7
Contact Info:
- Address: 2703 Montrose Blvd Houston, TX 77006 (The Burger Joint Montrose)
2002 North Shepherd Drive Houston, TX 77008 (The Burger Joint Heights) - Website: https://burgerjointhtx.com/
- Phone: 2819742889
- Email: info@burgerjointhtx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burgerjointhtx/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Burgerjointhtx
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/burgerjointhtx?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-burger-joint-houston-10
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