Bryan Caswell, co-owner of Little Big’s in Houston, certainly brings a strong reputation to this new joint-venture between he and partner Bill Floyd. Caswell is the head chef and co-owner (again with Floyd) of REEF in Houston, which was named by Bon Appétit magazine as the Best Seafood Restaurant in the United States. Caswell was also named as one of 2009’s 10 best new chefs by Food and Wine Magazine.

The question was how would this translate to a sliders, shakes, and fries joint? Will he do junk food justice, or is it just another gourmet chef getting his jollies by going slummin'? When you first look at the place, it’s hard to believe that it’s owned by such a well respected chef. It’s one of those places that until you see it full of people, you wonder if it’s gone out of business or not.

It wasn’t too long ago that the only places in Houston to get sliders were a single Krystal’s restaurant and the frozen White Castles at Sam’s club. Little Big’s has taken sliders to a whole new level, as sliders and fries is all they serve! But don’t worry; they still have a few options: the sliders come in standard beef, chicken, and mushroom. They are very reasonably priced at under 6$ for a set of 3.

We started with the beef. They were good, but nothing spectacular. The caramelized onions were truly caramelized, which made them a little too sweet for my liking. Unfortunately, the onions are placed under the cheese, and are thus hard to pull out, so if you don’t like your onions sweet, make sure to ask for your burgers without them. The beef seemed to be of good quality, and had a bit of a spice to them that was hard to identify, but were a little overcooked as burgers often are. The buns were definitely good, and were freshly made.

The French fries were also very good. But just avoid the “signature sauce.” It looks like McDonalds’ secret sauce, but tastes like some kind of creamy jalapeno concoction. Just not very good.

Next we had to try the chicken for a little change of pace. The chicken is breaded, but is skinless, so it’s not going to kill your calorie count. The breading was unusual. It was almost chewy, which my instincts tell me should be repulsive, but for some reason it was delicious and I couldn’t stop eating it!

We didn’t try the mushroom sliders, because that’s just not our bag, but the people at the table next to us were eating them and said that they were very good.

They also have some cool drinks there. They have standard milkshakes (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and butterscotch), and they also have some original concoctions. The Frozen Joe is a milkshake made with Katz’s chocolate-praline coffee. They also have something called “the Dude”, which predictably is a White Russian milkshake. Their beer and wine are cheap, and they actually have some high-quality wines on their menu.

The atmosphere on the patio makes Little Big’s a great place to grab some late night sliders (it’s open until 11PM weeknights, 3 AM weekends) and just hang out. Several people had their dogs there, and several large groups of friends gathered. All-in-all, it is this environment that has allowed Little Big’s to become so popular so fast.

Editor's Note: There are plans to open a second location in Hermann Park near the zoo, but after a reported open in Spring 2009 pushed back to Fall 2009, there is still no sign of it being open.