Chefs Jorge Pimentel and Rob Miller just want to cook stupid good burgers. So that’s what they decided to call their new burger joint: Stupid Burger.
“We didn’t want to really think about it,” says Pimental of the name. “We just want to call it something that everyone would get.”
Pimentel’s resume bounds from Le Diplomate and El Rey to his own former Latin American-inspired food truck, Sabor’a Street. Meanwhile, Miller operates meatball-themed food truck Ball or Nothing. They two met a decade ago in the kitchen of now-closed Mark and Orlando’s, where Pimentel was a cook and Miller was a sous chef.
Stupid Burger, located in Brookland’s Tastemakers food hall, offers a stripped-down, five-burger menu. Here’s where Rob Miller’s meatball experience comes in handy. The burgers begin with a patty of ground chunk, sirloin, short rib, and brisket—except the chicken burger (aptly named “Chickens Are Not My Friends”).
The stupid names continue. The “You’ve Been Warned” burger combines ghost chile, jack cheese, jalapeños, tomato, and hot pepper aioli. The “FunGuy” holds raclette cheese, mushroom confit, and pickled fennel between its brioche bun. Stupid Burger also carries beef brisket and Cubano burgers. Sides include sweet potato fries, macaroni and cheese, Brussels sprouts, and a regularly rotating salad. Burger prices range from $9 to $10, with sides running for about half that. While the operation only serves soft-drinks, you can walk ten feet across the food hall to Benjamin’s on Franklin bar for something boozier.
“Eventually we’ll have more, just wanna see what sticks,” says Pimental. “We don’t have a lot of space here so we’re trying to keep it at a bare minimum for now.”
Eventually, Pimentel and Miller hope to expand into a larger space. But Tastemakers—the brainchild of fellow food truck owners Kirk and Juliann Francis, who also operate Captain Cookie and the Milkman—was a good way to kickstart the concept. Miller also has also used the food hall’s communal kitchens for his mobile vending business since Tastemakers opened last April.
“We see it as a hub for food startups and food people,” Pimentel says. “It’s a pretty cool concept happening here at this building.”
Plus, Pimentel’s just glad his work space isn’t on wheels—and the amenities that extra space provides.
“You have a bathroom here and whatnot.”
