Starting from a little place off Highway 16, Monster Burgers made its way to the South Side of San Antonio four years ago with something different to offer.
Juan Treviño, 40, and his wife Monica, 40, always had a dream of owning their own authentic burger joint. They started off with a little stand on the side of Loop 1604 and Stacy Road at the Dollar General parking lot. Initially, they were selling around six burgers a night.
Eventually when their burger stand flooded with customers, the Treviños moved to a second location so that customers wouldn’t have to eat in their cars. But that still wasn’t big enough, so they moved again, this time to 1922 Pleasanton Road, near Harlandale High School on the South Side.
From the start of Monster Burgers, Treviño wanted to create a restaurant that would be something different from any other burger joint, which inspired the horror theme of his restaurant.
When Treviño was growing up, his mother and grandmother would tell him traditional Hispanic horror and monster stories such as “La Llorona,” “El Cucuy,” and “El Chamuco.” The name Monster Burgers was inspired by the monsters of the stories his mother and grandmother would tell him.
Walking in the restaurant, customers are greeted with howling scary music in the background, creepy skeletons, bright caution signs, tangled spider webs and other horror related items.
The menu of the restaurant is also horror-themed. Burgers are dubbed by scary monikers: “Chupacabra Burger,” “Cucuy Burger,” “La Llorona Burger,” “Krueger Burger,” “Chamuco Burger,” and more.
The original monster burger ,“El Cucuy,” takes a regular burger to the next level. It’s full of delicious and juicy meat, ham, salami and salchicha (sausage) accompanied by freshly-cut avocado, crispy lettuce and tomato.
While Treviño creates each burger, his wife Monica approves or disapproves of the creations and trains the waitstaff.
“I have so many burgers on my mind every day, but I don’t bring it out unless it’s 100 percent.” Treviño said.
The “Krueger Burger”, one of the most unique burgers on the menu mixes two cult favorites: pizza and burgers.
There’s a secret item on the menu that’s perfect for the breakfast lover: “The Blob,” a combination of salty and sweet. It’s so good, the secret was spilled. Regular customers ask for it often. In lieu of regular buns, a freshly-baked, crumbly blueberry muffin takes reign.
Marco Perez, a new customer, was caught off-guard with the the restaurant’s theme and the titles of the burgers.
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see a lot of the stuff that I see,” Perez said. “It’s a pretty cool theme, a nice place, definitely won’t be my last time here.”
The environment of Monster Burgers is very family-oriented and the burgers start at $5.49.
“I’ve brought people before, I just like it,” said frequent customer, Santos De Leon. “I like the environment, it’s good.”
For more information on Monster Burgers, follow their Facebook page.
