“It’s simple, and everyone loves burgers,” Jenny said.
In 2013, the Galvans opened the first Haystack Burgers & Barley in Richardson, the city in which they have lived for the past 20 years. Seven years later, the fast-casual restaurant is now open at three other locations.
However, the owners did not want Haystack to be known solely for its fresh, quality burgers, they said.
“We know that you can’t eat a burger every day,” Kevin said. “So we focused on sandwiches, salads, appetizers, desserts— a full-rounded menu.”
Haystack Salad, which comes with chicken tenders, avocado and bacon, is a customer favorite, Kevin said. When it comes to burgers, popular picks include the namesake Haystack Burger as well as the Avocado Ranch Burger.
Burgers are lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled to order, the Galvans said, and buns are brought fresh daily. The restaurant’s spicy ketchup is made in-house, they said.
“Since we have a Tex-Mex background, everything has just a little bit of a spice to it, or a Tex-Mex flair,” Kevin said.
Since Haystack opened seven and a half years ago, there has been an increase in “hip,” chef-driven restaurants in Richardson Heights Shopping Center, where the Richardson restaurant is located, Jenny said.
“We kind of feel like we played just a small part in that,” she said. “We were the first, and we were successful, and people saw that.”
A fifth Haystack restaurant is slated to open towards the end of 2020 or early 2021 at the corner of Hillcrest and Arapaho roads, the owners said. The Galvans also said they are looking at two locations for additional openings in 2021 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The recent months of the coronavirus pandemic have been “very humbling” for the Richardson restaurant, Jenny said, as residents have shown up and supported Haystack through difficult financial times.
“It wasn’t just [that] they were supporting Haystack—they were supporting us and our family, and they were supporting our employees that they know,” she said.
Haystack Burgers & Barley
100 S. Central Expressway, Ste. 17, Richardson
972-479-9424
www.haystackburgers.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
