Burger News
Dallas indie restaurant Sky Rocket Burger does 3 things well
This is a story about a burger joint newly opened in Dallas that is not a chain: Sky Rocket Burger is an intrepid little restaurant at 7877 Frankford Rd. that's independently-owned by Scott Wagner and his wife Tio, two California transplants with a dream to flip burgers.
Their approach: keep it simple, do it well.
"We do burgers and fries, it's pretty basic," Scott says. "But we use Angus beef — brisket and chuck, fresh not frozen — and we grind our meat on location. That's kind of our niche."
Which is not to deny that some restaurants do the same thing. "But it's not something your typical burger joint is going to do," he says.
"We also have our buns baked special for us, and we butter and toast them," he says. "Our French fries are hand-cut and we use russet potatoes and leave the skin on, of course. Each piece of what we do is thought out. But we also try to keep our prices down as much as possible. For the quality we're doing, it's a good value."
They cook on a flat-top. A single patty goes for $4.89, and a cheeseburger is $5.39. The buns are sprinkled with sesame seeds, and a burger comes with lettuce, tomato, and pickles. They go all the way up to triple burgers; despite their gargantuan size, Wagner says they sell at least half a dozen of those a day. "To guys, mostly," he says. Duh.
Their location has given them a ready-made set of customers. "We're close to the University of Texas at Dallas, so we're getting a lot of students," he says.
Their token offering to vegetarians is a grilled cheese. "As of now, we have no veggie patty, but maybe in the future," he says. "People tell us to get a chicken sandwich. We could do that, too. We have fountain drinks, and people ask about milkshakes.
"But next thing you turn around, we'll be Cheesecake Factory," he says. "We're trying to steer away from that. If you want a killer burger, we're your spot."
