Have you lived in Houston for at least a week? Then you have undoubtedly noticed the Goode Company name and probably eaten at one of their restaurants.
Thirty-five years ago, a graphic designer named Jim Goode took over a floundering barbecue spot on Kirby Drive. The rest, as they say, is history. Today the Goode family business has grown to include seven locations, but not all are barbecue. The Goode brand holds a stake in the dance hall and bar industry, the hamburger brigade, Tex-Mex and Gulf seafood.
So what do you ask the head honcho of this iconic restaurant group? You try to go beyond the jalapeño cheese bread and pecan pie. You get personal. Levi Goode, Jim’s son and Goode Company ambassador (and an employee since the earliest years), recently sat down with me and shared a little bit of himself.
When you’re not eating at one of your own restaurants, where do you enjoy being a guest and not the boss?
Well, I’m ordering Carrabba’s curbside (on Kirby) a lot. It’s easy and fast and convenient. I also like Prego. The food is great, and it is in the neighborhood. Have you been to Lopez Mexican Restaurant on Wilcrest at US 59? That is my kind of place; I eat the cheese enchiladas. No frills, they just keep it simple. I do Haven and Reef. Obviously I like Gulf seafood. Underbelly is fun, I like what Chris Shepherd is doing over there. I really respect the way he pulls the community together in his message and uses so many local ingredients.
With multiple locations of your barbecue restaurant you’re in the business of selling meat. Do you ever eat sushi?
Actually I really like sushi. I would have to say my favorite place in this area is Azuma down there on Kirby. I’m a fan of sushi.
Have you tried Uchi yet?
I have. I liked the experience. Smoked duck in a jar, I enjoyed that.
How do you stay grounded when people “disagree” with your interpretation of barbecue, burgers or Tex-Mex? The community is really passionate about how each of those three things should be “properly” prepared and served. People get crazy!
[Laughing] Yeah, that’s the holy Texas trifecta right there! My grandmother was a Mexican immigrant, so the way we serve our Tex-Mex is the way my dad grew up eating it. That is our family’s style. And our barbecue too, that is how my dad was raised to cook it and eat it, so that’s our method. The seafood, that’s another thing. When I was a kid we did a lot of fishing in Christmas Bay. My dad and his parents lived in Brazosport, so he grew up eating what he caught, what the family grew and so on. Everything they ate was local. There was more month than dollar, so they had to stretch it and they didn’t go in to town all the time, either. This is a big reason why our family and restaurants support Foodways Texas. I’m glad people are passionate about how these things are served. They are each important parts of our culture down here. Yeah, people may disagree, they want their comfort food (like Tex-Mex or barbecue) the way they grew up eating it. We’re giving it to them the way we interpret it.
What about the burger debate? There are some varying opinions there on how a burger should be done.
At Goode Company Taqueria, we want to make it how you request it. Our meat mix is a blend of 90 percent chuck and brisket … and 10 percent secret. You can get a burger here at the Armadillo Palace or at Goode Company Taqueria. At the taqueria, our burgers are cooked over mesquite. At the Armadillo, we do them flat-grilled.
Actually, today we were just playing with infusing bourbon with smoke. Those flavors work so well together. We’re just playing right now, but we’ve also tested a bacon- and sausage-infused bourbon. [Laughs] Sounds a little gross, but it was so good and really fun. I like cocktails, and it could be fun to use an infused bourbon in an Old Fashioned. We also messed around with brandy-soaked cherries. They were great.
Are you thinking about bottling and selling these spirits for retail under the Goode Company label?
Right now, if we do anything with it, we’d probably just make some really fun specialty cocktails with them to serve at the Armadillo Palace. But good idea!
A Goode idea indeed. To check out all seven locations of the Goode Company restaurants and to learn more about the lucky stars that Goode Company has counted, visit goodecompany.com.