Chef Ryan Hildebrand has made the transition from upscale, modern American cuisine to laid-back, easy eating. Triniti Restaurant, where Hildebrand was executive chef for five years, closed at the beginning of the year, but he had announced the FM Kitchen and Bar concept (originally FM Burger) long before. FM Kitchen and Bar, located at 1112 Shepherd just north of Washington, started serving the neighborhood burgers in mid-May.

Inside FM Kitchen, designer Erin Hicks has incorporated clean lines, industrial aspects and a few pops of color. The space doesn’t feel like a hole-in-the-wall burger joint – it’s fresh and modern. Outside on the expansive patio, there are picnic tables with umbrellas, a stage for live music, a ping-pong table and a few lawn games.

FM Kitchen’s patio

At first glance, the menu seems scattered. It includes burgers, queso and guacamole, wings, Frito pie, Salisbury pork chops, fried shrimp and smoked ribs. But really, it’s everything that Houstonians love to eat – burgers and sandwiches, comfort food dishes, a touch of Tex-Mex and a few big meaty entrees.

The watermelon mule cocktail on tap

To drink, there are roughly 20 beers on tap, wines by the glass ($7) and by the bottle ($25) and signature cocktails on tap. We ordered the watermelon mule ($8, photo above), as recommended to us by bar manager Rob Miller. It’s straightforward and refreshing – melon vodka, fresh watermelon and ginger beer. It’s easy drinking, just what you want to go alongside a burger.

And the FM burger is a simple, honest one. It features a 4 oz. patty ($5.69, photo below) served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and their signature “Shhh” sauce (a mayo-ketchup concoction). The smaller patty and signature sauce combination is reminiscent of Shake Shack, but at FM Kitchen the ingredients taste fresher and the burger less greasy. We can see these burgers gaining a following, just like the New York-based chain.

The FM burger

Burgers are served a la carte, but side options include fries or tots that can be topped with cheese, jalapeños, onions or chili, mashed potatoes, potato salad, coleslaw, smothered green beans, hushpuppies and broccoli with balsamic-glazed pearl onions.

Other sandwich options include the portobello burger ($6.29, photo below) and the fried chicken sandwich ($5.89) served with pickles and agave butter. We’ll ask for an extra smear of butter on the chicken sandwich next time (or a side of the Shhh sauce). The chicken was crispy and moist, but we think a layer of creaminess would amp it up a notch.

Fried chicken sandwich

The half-rack of smoked ribs here ($13.89, photo below) are noteworthy. There’s a good amount of tender meat on each rib, which easily pulls away from the bone. They are slathered with a sweet-tangy barbecue sauce that helps to balance the meat’s smokiness and served with a side of pickles.

Half-rack of smoked ribs

The fried shrimp ($12.89) has a crisp exterior that holds on well when you bite or cut the crustacean into pieces. It’s served with a side of savory hushpuppies that have a nice texture (and no traces of unpleasant alkaline flavor that we taste in so many cornmeal-based foods around town). Remoulade is the ideal dipping sauce for both the shrimp and the hushpuppies.

After three visits to FM Kitchen, we’re still making our way through the menu. We like what we’ve eaten so far.

FM Kitchen & Bar, 1112 Shepherd Dr., 832-804-6006, fmkitchenandbar.com
Hours: 11 am-midnight daily