After years in Kemah, the popular Tookie’s Hamburgers & More will return to Seabrook in October, thanks in part to a $600,000 inventive awarded by the Seabrook Economic Development Corporation, or SEDC.

What happened

The SEDC voted to award the incentive package to Tomato Group, LLC, for Tookie’s to relocate from Kemah to the Seabrook Marina at its June 10 meeting.



The details


According to a presentation prepared by Tomato Group, the incentive is broken down as:
  • $523,672 in new construction and development incentives
  • $75,000 in sales tax rebate incentives
  • A $6,000 waiver of permit fees
Tookie’s owner expects the move to create 40 new jobs and, by 2034, generate over $798,000 in sales tax for Seabrook, according to the presentation.

The backstory

Tookie’s Hamburgers & More opened in Seabrook in 1975 and was a popular destination for locals and visitors to Seabrook. Reader’s Digest added it to its “Best Burgers in the U.S. by State” list in 2022.

However, due to eminent domain, Tookie’s was forced to relocate from Seabrook to Kemah in 2018 during the Hwy. 146 expansion, which reopened March 2024.


Looking ahead

The lease at Tookie’s Kemah location expires Sept. 30 and the business intends to relocate to the Seabrook location by Oct. 1, according to Tomato Group’s presentation.