Buttermilk Baby is a new diner in the Houston Heights area that’s been gaining tremendous attention from local food lovers. The retro spot opened its doors in mid-September, as the first franchisee of its kind, but not the first restaurant that the owner, Benjamin Berg, has started.
His company Berg Hospitality Group is the running mill of 13 notable restaurants that already have great reputations, including B & B Butcher’s & Restaurant, The Annie Café & Bar, and Turners. The newest addition of Buttermilk Baby ushers in an entirely different style that Berg says is a concept he hopes to spread across the city. “Buttermilk Baby is a fusion of our traditional fine dining with fast-casual to create a new concept of dining I like to call ‘cool casual’. It’s a place where kids of all ages can get home-cooked comfort food made from top-notch ingredients and just enjoy being a kid again.” From the inside out, Buttermilk Baby is a family-friendly spot with a ton of color and upbeat music. The restaurant stands out like a sore thumb with its bright entrance and big, pink cloud-swings in the middle of a retail cluster. With so many playful details and décor, I’ll be honest, I assumed the food might be cliché, but was pleasantly surprised by their menu, portions, and quality.
The very first thing any and everyone will notice is the style. Walking into Buttermilk Baby is almost like walking into a time capsule. The design looks like a scene straight from a 70’s diner with grand neon signs, swivel chairs at a huge ice cream bar, and booths for anyone sitting indoors. Cloud mirrors that cover the ceiling adds more personality to the exciting décor. The cashiers and waitresses seem to be well-diverse with unanimous pleasant energy. The fast-food aspect comes in the ordering. Visitors can view a handheld menu at the entrance just like at any other fast food restaurant, but that’s as far as it goes because the quality of food, is far beyond anything you’ll find from frozen processed food most of those places serve. The menu has ample choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Breakfast options are a variety of their signature butter biscuits that are proudly proclaimed to be made from scratch with no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Their breakfast biscuits comes in serving sizes of singles, 6-packs, and 12-packs. You can order them alone or as one of the sandwiches paired with delicious additions. The Monte Cristo Biscuit comes with honey ham, eggs, Havarti cheese, and applewood bacon topped with powdered sugar. The G.O.A.T pairs the signature biscuits with marinated fried chicken, goat cheese and hot pepper jelly. There are 8 different buttermilk biscuit breakfast sandwiches to choose from, along with pancakes, cinnamon rolls, grits, fruit, and hashbrowns, all served between 8am – 11am.
Lunch, dinner, and drink options are absolutely delectable. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly simple items listed like the cheeseburgers and corndogs because Buttermilk Baby’s chefs are back there cooking as if their lives depend on it. For the sake of research of course, I ordered a few of their diner dogs and hamburgers and immediately knew this I would be coming back. The burst of flavor and tenderness was an immediate eye-rolling, mouthwatering yes. For those who are unfamiliar with wagyu, it is a special beef that comes from a rare breed of Japanese cattle that are raised with extremely high levels of care, making the price tag for wagyu range between $120-$300 per pound. It is far higher quality and value than your average locally farmed beef. As an avid wagyu lover, I can attest that Buttermilk Baby hit the nail on the head with their preparation of such a delectable meat. They also offer a veggie burger for those who prefer no meat at all. Kale and quinoa salads, regular fries, sweet potato fries, coleslaw, and macaroni are offered as well.
Buttermilk Baby’s drink-menu was impressive too, there’s something for everyone. Milkshakes, coffee, frappes, soda, wine, beer, tea, and “spiked drink classics”. The spiked drinks come in with shots of vodka, bourbon, or rum. A few favorites are the Dirty Shirley, the Rowdy Roy Rogers, and the Peach Mango Rum Splash. You can even order what they call “boozy shakes” that also have shots of alcohol in flavors such as Nutella, Pina Colada, Salted Crème, or Strawberry white chocolate. There are 33 different coffees, frozen frappes, and spiked treats to choose from. The soft-serve ice cream is provided through a partnership with Carvel. Similar to the exclusiveness of Wagyu, Carvel has been known for its top of the line texture and flavor since the 1920’s. After placing an order at the front, a server was bringing our food to the table hot off the stovetop about 10 minutes later; pretty impressive since it was a very busy in both the main dining room and the outdoor eating area at that time. The entire waitstaff and bussers were kind and attentive. The genderless restrooms are roomy single stalls full of even more colorful energy than the entrance. It was giving Austin Powers type of style with wavy colors and disco balls everywhere. The crowd was a mixed group of families, young and old couples, even a few people there alone just enjoying the food and vibes.
Buttermilk Baby is ready to serve new comers in the M-K-T retail center seven days a week. The fast-casual eatery has only been open for a couple of weeks with an amazing opening week and predictably enough success to become a family favorite in the Heights. The M-K-T retail center is full of various other businesses, so prepare to search for parking for a while if its peak lunch or dinner hours. Based only on food, Buttermilk Baby is a full 10/10. Anyone who loves bright, festive, friendly environments or diner-style restaurants is going to absolutely love this place. For those who don’t, I highly suggest ordering for take-out or delivery that way you don’t miss out on truly delicious, comfort food.
600 N. Shepherd Dr., Houston, Tx 77007, Building 2
Sunday – Thursday 8am – 10pm Friday – Saturday 8am – 11 pm
