The menu at Jamburritos features minimal dairy, low-sodium and gluten-free options. (Courtesy Jamburritos)
Chef Michael Brown has brought his forty years of experience down to Pearland with a new takeout-only, fast-casual restaurant serving build-your-own burritos, bowls and tacos—but with a Southwestern flair.
The backstory
Before opening Jamburritos with his wife Adrienne, Brown started a fine dining establishment serving Cajun and Creole cuisines called Michael’s Backstreet Café in Irvington, New Jersey. However, to make the cuisines more affordable and accessible, he came up with the “jamburrito,” a combination of jambalaya in a burrito.
Brown said he was drawn to Creole and Cajun cuisines early on in his career because there were endless opportunities.
“There was just no limitation,” he said. “In other cuisines, I think you’re kind of limited in where you can go in terms of using different culinary techniques, whereas Cajun and Creole just kind of have it all.”
On the menu
When walking into Jamburrito, customers are faced with a setting that is similar to fast-casual restaurant Chipotle. First, they choose between a jamburrito, bowl or taco and a base of brown rice or jambalaya.
Next, they move on to protein options, which include chicken creole, bayou cream shrimp and crawfish etouffee. Customers can finish their bowl with toppings that come at no extra cost, such as collard greens, red beans and Creole cabbage.
Additionally, Brown said there is a difference between the origin of Cajun and Creole cuisine that some people aren’t aware of. Cajun is the cuisine connected to the people who lived on the bayous, while Creole is connected to the people who lived in the city, along the Mississippi River, he said. The result is different ingredients used in recipes like gumbo, which makes the cuisines look and taste different.
Customers can choose between jamburritos, tacos or bowls. (Courtesy Jamburritos)
Something to note
At Jamburritos, customers can sample every item on the menu, except the catfish, because Brown said it’s a whole piece of fish. It’s part of what Brown calls “Xtreme Hospitality,” which also happens to be the name of his podcast.
The concept revolves around take-out not just being a transactional encounter with a customer and more of a human-to-human interaction.
“[Customers] deserve to have eye contact, they deserve to understand what they’re having,” Brown said.
