Take a Trip to Bun B’s Trill Town at the Houston Rodeo
Experience the anticipated restaurant Trill Tenders, Trill Burger’s collaboration with Truth BBQ, a live DJ, plus its rendition of Dirty Sodas
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is underway in all its mutton-bustin’ and carnival-food-on-a-stick glory, but this year, there’s at least one new big feature. Houston hip-hop legend Bun B’s smash burger sensation Trill Burgers officially launched Trill Town on Tuesday, March 4, an entire space located near the entrance by McNee Road and Kirby Drive that is dedicated to and themed around Bun B’s cult-loved restaurant, as well as its special-edition dishes, music, and merchandise.
Trill Town, which is decked out in Trill Burgers’s signature black and yellow decor, debuted on opening day of the Houston Rodeo and just days before Bun B’s Birthday Bonanza on Friday, March 7, a concert showcase of Black artists which also marks the rodeo’s Black Heritage Day. This year, the restaurant’s space has expanded from 600 square feet to a whopping 9,000-square-foot “town” that features its own stands for merchandise, new dishes exclusive to the Rodeo, drinks, its new Trill Lemonade truck, plus a DJ booth, plenty of picnic tables, and basketball hoops.
Brittany Britto Garley
Bun B says that he and his team have requested an expanded space for Trill Burgers for around two years — basically since the official launch of its smash burger at the rodeo in 2022. “Our lines tend to bleed over to other vendors, and it doesn’t make it easily accessible for people who want other options,” he says. “[Trill Town] allows us to not only present the burgers, but also Trill Tenders for the first time, which we’ve really been trying to find the right way to present that to the public en masse, and I think this we couldn’t have a better opportunity to do it than this,” he says.
Here’s what to expect at Trill Town.
Trill Tenders
Bun B and the Trill Burgers team will be introducing the Rodeo to its spin-off pop-up, Trill Tenders, which has toured at different events around the city, including the Southern Smoke Festival last fall, and will eventually become a restaurant of its own later this year. “I’m loving the tenders and every variation because it’s a meal that really lends itself over to different variations,” Bun B says. Rodeo-goers can order its fried chicken tenders over a bed of fries ($16), in a sandwich ($19), or loaded with cheese and sauce over fries. Make the tenders spicy for $1 more, and be sure to try the dipping sauces, which include the creamy and sweet Trill OG sauce and the more savory garlic soy-style dipping sauce.
Brittany Britto Garley
Truth BBQ and Trill Burgers Rodeo combos
While diners can get the classic Trill double smash burger (also available in a meatless vegan version for around $20), Trill Burgers offers a new rodeo special. Enter the Truth Brisket burger ($22), which comes as a traditional cheesy smash burger topped with a couple slices of Truth BBQ’s juicy brisket, barbecue sauce, beer-battered onion rings, and a layer of coleslaw on a buttery bun with Cajun fries. Diners can also load up the fries Truth style, with 3-ounces of Truth brisket, barbecue sauce, white queso, chipotle aioli, pickled onions, pickles, and escabeche.
Brittany Britto Garley
Dirty Sodas
Trill Burger’s lemonade stand Trill Lemonade is squeezing lemonade fresh on site ($8 for a 32-ounce container), but it’s also debuting its own lineup of Dirty Sodas. Chef Fernando “Nando” Valladares, one of the masterminds behind the sugary concoctions, says he and fellow chef Mike Pham traveled all the way to Utah to sample different restaurants’ massive menus of Dirty Sodas. These sodas, which are loaded with syrups, fruits, and cream, are staples within the Mormon community that abstains from alcohol. Some of Trill Lemonade’s Dirty Soda combinations include its Dirty Pibb (Mr. Pibb, lime, vanilla coconut cream), Snow Cap (Sprite, lemon, hazelnut, strawberry drizzle, peaches, and cream), the Trill Cola (Cherry Coke, lemon, vanilla, coconut cream), and the Monster Jam (Monster, coconut cream, vanilla, pineapple, cherry sauce). Trill Town travelers looking for alcoholic beverages can visit the nearby bar, which sells beer ($11-$13), wine ($13), hard seltzers ($13), and micheladas ($15)
Brittany Britto Garley
Trill Town is located near the Houston Rodeo’s entrance at McNee Road and Kirby Drive. It is open from 10 a.m. to midnight during the Rodeo.
