chron.com | tubular tv | comics | games | horoscopes | iPhone | Quick Search
The #99 burger at Tookie's in Seabrook. Photo by Alison Cook
Visiting an old favorite that has died and been resuscitated can be nerve-wracking, which is why I drove toward Seabrook, and Tookie’s, with some trepidation.
Hurricane Ike had flooded and closed the legendary place I had loved for its big, ingeniously trimmed burgers and colossal onion rings. The owner of T-Bone Tom's, another Seabrook institution, had stepped in to buy out the owners and rehab the rambling building, reopening last August after a three-year hiatus.
The plot was complicated in the meantime by the emergence of Stomp's, a burger joint further down Highway 146 in Bacliff, where former Tookie's employees were producing excellent replicas of the original's burgers and o-rings. How would it all shake out? Come along on my 50-odd-mile round trip to Tookie's and see.
The high-water mark from Hurricane Ike is commemorated in the entryway at Tookie's. Photo by Alison Cook
*PRICE:,/strong> $5.99 for the storied #99 burger marinated in wine, cheddar and onions; $3.99 for an order of Mama Ethel's onion rings; $3.50 for a Blue Moon Belgian witbier on tap.
*ORDERING: Table service all the way. A host or hostess will show you to a seat in one of the wood-clad dining rooms, or you can find a seat in the bar at the back of the house.
The monumental onion rings at Tookie's in Seabrook. Photo by Alison Cook
*ARCHITECTURE: Salad stuff on the bottom. On a toasted sesame-seeded bun goes a prodigious swipe of mayo, a handful of shredded lettuce, some tomato slices and a paving of corrugated pickles slices. Then comes a half-inch thick, irregularly shaped half-pound Angus patty, capped by a mantle of melted cheddar.
A Blue Moon on tap at Tookie's in Seabrook. Photo by Alison Cook
*QUALITY: The well-doneness of the beef patty and the lack of a bite-you-back char interfered with my enjoyment of the #99, which came off more like a meatloaf sandwich. A perfectly nice meatloaf sandwich, mind you, with a full beefy flavor, but I missed the vigorous textural interplay I seek in a burger. I found myself wishing, too, for a twinge of onion in the mix: any onion that had figured into the wine marinade was all but undetectable. The sandwich simply failed to hold my interest, and I ended up doing something that rarely happens on my Burger Friday expeditions: I left some of the burger on the plate.
The dining room crowd at Tookie's. Photo by Alison Cook
*OOZE RATING: Only fair. All drippage was condiment-based; the patty, while moist, dripped not at all.
*GRADE: B MINUS. The ingredients were good, but the thrills of a top-ranking burger were absent. (My Stomp's burger some months back, by way of comparison, earned an enthusiastic A grade.
The spruced-up facade of Tookie's in Seabrook. Photo by Alison Cook
The black line marks how high the Ike floodwaters rose at Tookie's. Photo by Alison Cook
*BONUS POINTS:Tookie's still offers the old-fashioned option of cherry or vanilla Cokes; and its new liquor license means that you can get a respectable Blue Moon wittier on tap. I'm not sure why they crown the mug with a big fat orange slice, but there you go. Of course, the glaring omission in my bonus points section is the celebrated Tookie's onion rings. Please see below.
*MINUS POINTS: The huge onion rings have lost their place in my pantheon, unfortunately. I have a feeling that Mama Ethel might be annoyed that her recipe was executed better down the road at Stomp's, where the sweet, comically high rings have crackle and lift. The specimens I was served at Tookie's had that initial crackle to their batter sheaths, but the crust quickly stiffened and turned chewy. Even ketchup didn't help much, and (unusually for me) I ended up leaving half of the rings on my plate. So Stomp's wins the o-ring category, too. I'd happily drive those 50-plus miles round trip for a Stomp's feed. Tookies? Alas, not so much.
*LOCAL COLOR: It's nice to see the Tookie's building all spiffed up with pretty green paint on the outside, and to see that the quirky interior remains much the same, all wood paneling and vintage signage and the odd bit of stained glass. The locals were out in force on a school night in the front rooms, which are family territory. A younger set came and went in the back bar, scarfing onion rings and chugging shots of Jagermeister with their beers. It's all glossed with more spit and polish than in days of yore, and up front, at the host stand, there's a boatload of Tookiebilia on sale. In the entryway, be sure to check out the high-floodwater marks from Hurricane Ike.
Tookie's: 1202 Bay Port Blvd. (Hwy. 146 @ NASA Pkwy.) in Seabrook, 281-942-9334.
Blue Moon? C'mon Allison. They have to have Shiner or Saint Arnold on tap right? Blue Moon is brewed by Coors and they intentionally mislabel their beer as being some kind of craft beer.
Nope. That's what I was hoping for, but Blue Moon was the best option I was offered on my visit. And I honestly don't think it's half bad.
I know Blue Moon isn't craft, but I'd still take it over St. Arnold's who hasnt put out a decent beer in ages. All kolsch all the time! Argh.
I agree, I went back to Tookies a few weeks ago for the first time since they reopened and I was non plussed. Lotta hype, little taste.
lawds, yes! burger friday is back, back at last.
Yes!!!!
Alison, I have to agree with you. I grew up in Baytown, and now live in Clear Lake, first ate at Tookie's when I was a kid, 34 years ago. IMHO, the "taste" of the new #99 is "right", but the texture is WAY off. The original used the cheese to hold the meat together, I'm pretty sure the meat was originally loosely dumped into metal rings, and the cheese melted through it - giving the "char" that you noted is now missing. I used to rate my Tookie burgers by how many papertowels it took to keep my hands clean - 2-towel burgers were dry; 3-towels were "o.k."; but the 4 and 5-towel burgers were the one's that kept me coming back!
Agree on the rings as well. The batter is too thick & chewy. My wife and I have now driven past Tookie's several times, to go to Stomp's.
Thank you so much, Alison! Burger Friday is BACK!!!!
Hadn't had tookies since they closed down. Went back about a month ago to see if it was what I remembered. I was disappointed when I bit into my bleu cheese burger. Nothin has ever compared to Beck's bleu cheese burger as far as I'm concerned
Prior to Ike, Tookie's was dirty and the service seriously lacking. I prefer it now, and love the Bean Burger.
TOOKIES and t bone toms beats any loushy landrys rest any day.
On a recent visit (our first since it reopened) we thought the burgers lacked taste. The O-rings were pretty good. The service is much better than before. It's a fun lunch stop for us when we drive to Seabrook to buy fresh seafood.
I have been to both Tookie's and Stomps. While Tookie's is different since it reopened with bigger patties, they are still just as good as before and my burgers are always dripping (not just condiments). The onion rings have always been golden and crispy, not thick and chewy. Stomps is a good burger joint, but they are not as good as Tookie's. The onion rings are swimming in grease on the plate whwenever my wie and I order them and my buns always fall apart on the bottom starting with my first bite; I am sure this is a result of the buns not being toasted. My family and I would and do go to Tookie's over Stomps any day of the week!
I've eaten with the Original Tookies since it opened. I cook, and am very critical of food offerings amd STOMPS trumps what I call the "Re-Tookies" in several ways...
I AGREE WITH Alison....the "RE-Tookies" is a shadow of it's former self, but IMHO equals T-bone Tom's for mediocrity, so the 'model' does carry from the owners' other efforts...eaten more than once at "T-bones" AND "Re-Tookies".
I stand by my following assessment;
The #99 I had(twice) had NO flavor of the original's wine-marinated burger patty, and was equally not-quite cooked as reported. Like meat loaf.
Our onion rings were heavy with a hard, chewy crust - completely unlike the light, flaky originals from the Original Tookies.
Alas, their originality has been co-opted, Marketed like Manna, and IT AIN'T UP TO SNUFF.
They concentrate on their 'souvenirs' more than their food. Tookies is a BRAND now, not a destination unless you aren't too discriminating.
STOMPS, however STILL has those GREAT,light-flaky battered onion rings; their 'Southern Belle' simply trounces the flavor of the #99 at "Re-Tookies" and the staff is friendly and efficient, instead of busy visiting with their coworkers and imitating the service that has moved down the road to Baycliff.
Take the extra steps, STOMPS is worth it. Tookies is now just a name.
I have had Tookies before Ike and after Ike. Post-Ike Tookies or RE-Tookies is does not live up to the original. I have to agree with Kenito, Stomp's 'Southern Belle' blows away Re-Tookies.