Maple & Motor's New Outpost Brings Burger Goodness to North Dallas

Sometimes, as much as we want things to remain the same, they inevitably change.

Then, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Both adages apply to the new Maple & Motor in North Dallas, the second outpost of Jack Perkins’ burger joint. Perkins' "grease-stained tribute to low-class cool" has spread north of 635 and, yes, it’s already popular, especially during lunch hours.

First, the different: The new Maple & Motor is brighter. If the original M&M is a dark alcove, think of this new one as a bright sunroom. The building, a former bank, has three walls with large windows allowing plenty of sunlight in. The drive-through bays of the bank were left in place, and we asked Perkins if he thought of adapting them from their original purpose.
“Well,” he says, gesturing to the pneumatic tubes that still run across the open ceiling, “they’ve got the canister system still there,” before brushing off the idea with a laugh. Full disclosure: the thought of a burger whooshing through the tubes and arriving next to your driver’s window makes us giddy. Jack Perkins, we know you’re reading this, so we say this with utmost seriousness: think it over.

But after you get past the different, there’s still much that is classic Maple & Motor.

“It turned out exactly like we hoped,” Perkins says of the build-out. "This is kind of an homage to the original; same colors, same tables. The bar is the same. But it’s a lot more open."

The different: You don't get hit with whiffs of charred beef when you walk in. The flattop is no longer visible just behind the cash register, beef sizzling. Now, all the cooking takes place in the back, and burgers appear at a passthrough window, where staff retrieves them before heading to your table.

The same: Perkins and the team have no tolerance for your bullshit. Place an order, then grab a seat; there’s more room, but there’s still a no-saving-tables policy. As for the menu, Maple & Motor knows not to mess with a good thing. The burgers are still the same brisket and chuck blend, about 75% beef and 25% fat depending on the day’s grind. They’re balled by hand and pressed onto the flattop for each order. Your options are pink or no pink, and if you’d like to stray from the time-tested combo red onion, lettuce, pickle and mustard, we won't judge you too harshly. There’s cheddar, American or pepper-jack cheese if you desire (and you do). Still, $10.45 for a loaded cheeseburger feels like a bargain.

Other sandwiches on the board offer variety, but there aren't so many as to dilute their excellence. We’re partial to the BLT ($9.75), piled high with plenty of Wright’s bacon between cool sheets of lettuce and slices of tomato, bookended with mayo-slathered Texas toast.

And we’ve been known to order a slab of smoked brisket point, seared on the flattop, from time to time. Stray further down the menu if you must but, honestly, we’ve never had much desire. Add a generous side of tater tots that look exactly like the ones in your dreams — crunchy, golden exteriors that wrap a fluffy, starchy interior — and there’s not much else you could ask for. Unless it's onion rings, another solid option.

Perkins seems happy on the day of our visit, chatting with guests on the tail end of the lunch rush. And in his giddiness, he may have let slip a secret as we discuss the new space.

“This will be a proof of concept for other places going forward,” he says.

Our eyes brighten. There will more more Maple & Motor locations, we ask?

“We’ll have to see,” Perkins says, a grin spreading across his face, trying to disguise that he's said too much.

Sometimes, things change, and sometimes, it’s for the better. But our love for Maple & Motor will always remain unchanged.

Maple & Motor, 14885 Preston Road. Monday – Saturday, 10:45 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.; Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.