Hamburger Mary's Arrives in Dallas at a Tumultuous Time for Drag Performers

(Editor Update June 15: Now that it's opened, we got to try Hamburger Mary's. Here's what you can expect.)

An iconic West Coast drag destination is coming to Dallas. Pride Month will kick off with the opening of Hamburger Mary’s Bar & Grille in the Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs neighborhood, Dallas’ LGBTQ+ nightlife district.

The Dallas location will open June 1 in the space previously occupied by Cedar Springs Tap House. It will be the LGBTQ-centered burger chain’s 14th site. Tanner Roberts, who previously managed Cedar Springs Tap House and has helped with the operations at Hamburger Mary’s West Hollywood location, is in town from Chicago to help open the Dallas location.

“The drag scene is so massive in Dallas as it is,” Roberts says. “I feel like the queens needed another venue to showcase their talent to get the spotlight on them. “

And he’s not wrong. Several of Dallas’ drag performers have gone on to competitions like RuPaul’s Drag Race, including Asia O’Hara, Kennedy Davenport and Alyssa Edwards. Local queens like Cassie Nova, Rocky Tacoma and Bleach are staples in Dallas’ drag scene, with regular sets at venues such as JRs and Station 4.

Dallas’ own Liquor Mini will be the show director at the new Hamburger Mary’s location. During our interview, Roberts and Ricky Veloz, who will serve as the location’s general manager, tease “a great lineup for our recurring show cast,” but they are tight-lipped about it for the time being. They are holding auditions for performers to add to their slots.

While many of the bars on the Cedar Springs strip have drag performances on designated nights, Hamburger Mary’s will showcase a variety of queens every night.

For Veloz, it's exciting to offer a platform for queens in abundance to perform.

“The first drag shows that I had ever seen were holes-in-the-wall situations,” Veloz says. “I’ve seen that the drag community around here is very, very present, so for us to open an establishment where they have a place to come and perform and show their artistry, I'm living for it.”

But the opening of Hamburger Mary’s in Dallas arrives at a tumultuous time for Texas drag performers. Over the course of the past few weeks, the bar’s Dallas franchisee Arthur Hood has been traveling back and forth from Dallas to Austin, where he, Caven’s CEO Mikey Nguyen and several local queens have been reportedly fighting Senate Bill 12.

Originally, the bill was designed to target drag performances and story times, but language alluding to drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community specifically has been removed from the bill, and backers of the bill are moving to ban performances they deem sexually explicit. Many of the members of the LGBTQ+ community are concerned that the language and terminology of the bill are vague enough for authorities to still enforce drag bans as they wish.

“Mind you, the concern that anti-drag language can be reintroduced is very real, which is the reason we are still working towards an outcome we can celebrate,” said Nguyen in a Facebook post. “This game of chess is not over, and as you know in chess, we have to think multiple moves ahead, but can’t share our strategy till it’s over.”

Roberts says Hamburger Mary’s will bring in security if needed to protect the queens.

Inside the space, there will be 120 seats, a designated area for DJs and booths and special sections for guests to reserve for parties and events.

The menu will offer several of Hamburger Mary’s signature variety burgers, including the Mac Daddy, a burger with macaroni and cheese, as well as the Proud Mary, which comes with grilled onions, pineapples, bacon, mushroom, lettuce, tomato and pickles. Items exclusive to the Dallas location, Roberts and Veloz said, will be revealed in the days leading up to the opening.

Additionally, regulars from Cedar Springs Tap House will be elated to hear about the return of the Wednesday night steak deal: a rib-eye or sirloin steak, along with a side salad, for only $15.

While the future of Texas drag is uncertain, Roberts and Veloz promise to make a positive and safe addition to the community, all while curating quality performances.

“At this point, we just want to make sure that our community's happy and everyone is being taken care of,” says Veloz. “Everyone deserves to feel safe and have a good time.”

Hamburger Mary’s Bar & Grille, 4121 Cedar Springs Road (Oak Lawn).