In 1975, an appreciation for homecooked food led Ron Baber to shift gears from his manufacturing industry career and open the first Ron's Hamburgers and Chili in Oklahoma. While growing up, David White frequented the restaurants as they spread throughout his home state and became fond of the unique Baber family recipes.
"[The restaurant is] locally owned, and the only people that get into it are people who know the [Baber] family," White said. "I've become good friends with the youngest [Baber] son, Mike, and Mike has two stores—one in downtown Tulsa, [Oklahoma] and one in Lowell, [Arkansas]. He has the two most successful stores out of all of them."
In September 2012, White drew on more than a decade of restaurant experience and opened the first Texas location of Ron's Hamburgers and Chili in Tomball. The 1,800-square-foot establishment serves an array of housemade specialty fresh beef hamburgers, award-winning chili recognized by the International Chili Society, boneless bite-size chicken, steak dinners and side dishes. On average, White said the restaurant sells about 100 pounds of chili each day.
White said he chose Tomball for the location of his first restaurant due to the tight-knit feel of the community.
"If I knew what I knew now before I opened, this [restaurant] would've been completely different," White said. "I did a smaller store because I wanted to make sure it would take to Texas the same way it did in Oklahoma."
White began his career in the restaurant industry at the age of 17 while working as an assistant manager at Rex's Chicken in Oklahoma. Over the years, White worked his way up through operations and managerial positions at various dining establishments, such as Arby's and Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. He decided to move to the Houston area in 2004 to explore new opportunities.
"One thing that's really helped me [in the restaurant industry] is coming from an operations background," White said. "It's a very hands-on business. That's the one downfall to it, but it's also good. For me, it would be hard to run a business so distant from it."
Over the past 40 years, Baber's friends and family members have opened a total of 19 other Ron's Hamburgers and Chili restaurants throughout Oklahoma and Arkansas. White said it was originally difficult to gather momentum for the restaurant's namesake in the Tomball community.
During the past two years, however, White said his eatery has since experienced a 33 percent growth in revenue and has garnered a strong following with area residents, specifically Oklahoma transplants and oil and energy workers.
"Of course being [a] small [restaurant] like this people think, 'Well, you're a hole-in-the-wall. I don't know if you'll be any good,'" White said. "Well, just come in and try it."
With plans to open at least 10 restaurants over the next decade, White said he is looking for an estimated 3,000 square feet of space to open a second Ron's Hamburgers and Chili location near I-45 and FM 2920 in the Spring area or in the Katy area.
"We'll have beer on tap, a shake bar and a little arcade [at the new restaurant]," White said. "I'm going to gear it toward more like when I was growing up—places where families would take the whole football team after the game."
