Acclaimed Burger Schmurger pop-up finds permanent space in East Dallas

A buzzy burger pop-up is graduating to brick-and-mortar status: Burger Schmurger, which has earned oodles of acclaim for its smash burger style of burgers, is moving into a permanent home at 718 N Buckner Blvd., the space previously occupied by Bar None which closed in August.

Burger Schmurger owner Dave Culwell is partnering up with Brandon Hays and Phil Schanbaum of This & That Hospitality, who will lend their bar expertise and transform the burger concept into a full-blown restaurant and bar. The team just took possession of the space and are aiming to open at the beginning of 2025.

UPDATE 5-1-2025: Burger Schmurger has launched a soft opening on April 30, with a grand opening to come at a later date. The space is like a slightly modernized take on an old-fashioned diner, with checkered tile floors. But instead of black & white checks, the tiles are mustard-yellow or sage green — to match the mustard-yellow booths and sage green bar seats. Or are they more of a moss green? The facade is also painted green while the interior lighting is red. It's all very pleasant! There's wood-paneling for a 70s rec-room feel, with pinball machines, a pool table, TVs, and a wall of family photos. The menu has good-looking pretzel bites, fries, onion rings, and people are already lining up to wait to eat there.
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Burger Schmurger is notable for achieving the near miraculous feat of coming up with an original approach to a burger. (This video by Trey's Chowdown offers some insight into what's unique about it.)

Culwell is a musician, former L.A. resident, and all-round charismatic guy who did his first pop-up in Dallas in March 2021.

"It started as a backyard party kind of thing I was doing with my daughter during COVID," he says. "My grandmother taught me to cook. She made the idea of feeding people fun. I never thought about cooking as a profession, but we started doing these backyard cookouts making burgers — simple ground beef, sharp cheddar cheese — and word started to spread."

That led to parties, pop-ups, and praise from local press. Pretty soon he was doing catering, with a growing staff, bringing his burger operation to other people's backyards. It's a change of pace for a guy who played in punk rock bands on Sunset Strip, lived in Portland, and toured with Seattle bands.

"I tend to get obsessed with anything I do," he says.

The centerpiece of his menu is the schmurger — "I have many Jewish friends, the name is a spinoff of schmear," he says. It starts with a quarter-pound of ground beef, formed into a meatball, which gets topped with shaved onions, which get smashed into the ground beef, then flattened on the grill until the burger is practically paper thin.

"When you smash it down, you get caramelization on the bottom, it caramelizes the meat, and as it cooks, the onions sweat, so they flavor the meat," he says.

Smashing a burger so flatly also adds a new level of texture, with crunchy edges. He then tops it with American cheese, and pickles that are house-made.

His menu is limited but he rolls our frequent specials such as the "Schmurguesa" he did for Cinco De Mayo: a double smashed cheeseburger with chorizo, spicy aioli, pico de gallo, and "quite a bit of cheese" on an inverted bun.

The Maverick is his attempt at a patty melt. "It has double smash patties and we make this smoked bacon jam, then melted provolone to keep it together, placed on an inverted hamburger bun," he says.

He uses Mrs. Baird's buns — "I don't like a big doughy bun, I like a real cheap bun, it's just a vessel for the burger, and we focus on the meat, pickles sauce, onions," he says.

Partnering up with the This & That team was a natural outgrowth of a relationship that began in September 2023 between Burger Schmurger and High Fives, the Henderson Avenue bar from This & That, where Burger Schmurger has been holding forth pretty regularly every weekend.

The Lake Highlands location puts it in proximity to Goldie's, a neighborhood restaurant that Hays recently opened at 9850 Walnut Hill Ln. #305, in March.