Tornado Burger

My burger-eating companion went for a single spicy patty, with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and jalapeños. She was delighted with her burger, but when she was finished with it, she was still hungry. So I ordered a Philly cheese steak for us to split.

I like mine the way they make them at Pat's, with provolone on the bottom and Cheez Whiz on the top. The idea is to line the interior of the roll with the provolone to keep the meat juices from leaking through the bread. Then you drizzle the Cheez Whiz over the top to bind the sandwich together.

Troy Fields

The patties are fresh and the fries hand-cut at Tornado Burger.

Location Info

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Tornado Burger

505 Murphy
Stafford, TX 77477

Category: Restaurant > American

Region: Outside Houston

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Details

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Hamburger, fries and drink: $4.09

Cheeseburger, fries and drink: $4.34

Double meat, double cheese,

fries and drink: $5.24

Philly cheesesteak, fries and drink: $6.99

505 Murphy Rd., Stafford, 281-403-3278.

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Unfortunately, the counter man at Tornado Burger got the cheeses reversed. He put the liquid cheese on the bread and added the provolone on top of the meat and onions. The steak slices and onions were perfectly cooked, and the sandwich was delicious, but the meat leaked out of the bottom and the whole thing started falling apart after a couple of bites.

It wouldn't take much to fix the Philly sandwich. But what's it doing there to begin with? Are the owners of Tornado Burger abandoning the In-N-Out model? Or is one of them from Philadelphia?

And the real question is, why isn't the In-N-Out type burger knocking them dead in Houston?

You can't blame Murphy Road — there's a Whataburger not far away that seems to be doing fine. And you can't blame the quality of the burger — I like the spicy burger here better than the ones at In-N-Out.

The difference is marketing. Tornado Burger's homegrown decorating and kooky twister logo work fine for me, but they're no match for the squeaky-clean appeal of In-N-Out. The crisp white uniforms, the palm tree packaging and the bright white-and-red signage have made In-N-Out Burgers a California icon. And icons aren't created overnight.