Burger News
New kind of burger stand has opened in former Sandwich Hag Dallas space
Ookuma Burger
There's a one-of-a-kind new burger in Dallas: Called Ookuma Burger, it's a temporary concept camping out at 1902 Botham Jean Blvd., IE the former Sandwich Hag space, where it's serving a Japanese twist on burgers.
Ookuma is from chef YuYee Sakpanichkul Kaiho and husband George Kaiho, who own the acclaimed Ka-Tip Thai Street Food by The Shed at Dallas Farmers Market, which they opened back in 2018.
Ka-Tip Thai Street Food had done some pop-up events at Sandwich Hag and had forged a connection with Sandwich Hag owner/chef Reye Dương, who closed Sandwich Hag in May for a hiatus, with a mission to use the space to support and amplify local businesses and entrepreneurs such as Ka-Tip.
"My wife and Chef Reye are both Asian women chefs cooking authentic cuisine — they connected that way," George says.
During the pandemic, George — who is also an award-winning bartender at Jettison, the bar at Sylvan Thirty — had started to work on his own Teriyaki Burger recipe, a popular dish from back home in Japan.
“I had the recipe for a while, and started working on it for fun, mostly for my own cravings," George says. “I began serving it casually at Jettison as a side dish, and felt confident because it was well received."
Rumored to have been first created by Japanese chain Mos Burger in 1973, teriyaki burgers are a common item at Japanese fast-food restaurants (including McDonald’s in Japan), in which burgers are flavored with teriyaki sauce.
It's the centerpiece of Ookuma Burger's small menu which includes:
- Teriyaki burger (beef or pork -default meat in Japan for this dish), brioche buns, teriyaki sauce, lettuce and Japanese mayonnaise (kewpie) and pickles
- Karaage: Deep fried breaded chicken.Fried chicken sandwich
- Korokke: Deep fried potato and meat croquettes
“I wanted to share a snapshot of Japanese culture," George says. "This restaurant is 100 percent authentic, street food you can get in Japan, not Americanized."
Just as with Sandwich Hag, there is a walkup window and an outdoor seating area. In the near future, they will offer delivery and pick up through third party. They are open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 am-3 pm, and Sunday from 11 am-5 pm.
Meanwhile, chimlanh — a coffee shop that shared the space with Sandwich Hag, and now with Ookuma Burger — will reopen after the summer.
