“They say that if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life—that’s me,” Velasquez said. “I miss policing, and I think about it all the time, but I seem to have a real niche for the restaurant industry. Nothing seems to pull me away from this.”
Jose and Ashley Velasquez and their son, Noah, opened Down the Road Burgers and Brews in Magnolia in October.[/caption]Velasquez said he learned to cook by training with his mother, who owned a small cafe when he and his sisters were growing up.
“As I got older, I remember being right next to [my mom] in the kitchen and just seeing how happy she was,” he said. “I just fell in love with it.”
Down the Road Burgers and Brews offers a menu with seasonal items, such as crawfish and homemade tamales, in addition to year-round items, such as tacos, burgers, wraps and signature appetizers. The restaurant also features a different burger each month.
“I wanted a menu that was going to be different from anything else in town,” Velasquez said. “We’re constantly trying to introduce something different to Magnolia that you can’t get anywhere else.”
The eatery also offers more than 60 local and international beers on tap and by the bottle as well as a variety of wines by the glass.
However, Velasquez said he keeps the restaurant family-friendly.
“This is a very family-friendly restaurant with a kid-friendly menu and plenty of room for the kids to play,” he said.
Velasquez said he plans to build another patio for additional seating and begin offering breakfast and catering services.
“We are a part of this community like no other, and we have really been blessed by the people of Magnolia,” he said.
Down the Road Burgers and Brews
41902 FM 1774, Magnolia
281-259-8061
www.dtrburgers.com
Hours: Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat. noon-10 p.m., Sun. noon-9 p.m.
