Oklahoma Smashburgers Meet Japanese Milk Buns at Huda Burger

That’s what chef Yehuda Sichel will be serving starting tomorrow, November 19th, at his new Fishtown burger joint, Huda Burger.

Sichel spent a good portion of his career in Michael Solomonov’s orbit, working his way up through the kitchen at Zahav and Citron & Rose, then standing as exec chef (and partner) at Abe Fisher during its early years. He went his own way in 2020 (which was less-than-ideal timing, honestly) to open Huda — an indie sandwich shop that survived the pandemic, served huge lines, and based everything around Sichel’s house-made sourdough and milk breads.

But he’s been dreaming about Huda Burger pretty much since the day his sandwich joint opened. Five years of planning, plotting, and scheming about how to make the best possible burgers and get them into the hands of the maximum number of people.

He’ll be using his milk bread skills again — mounting all his burgers on seeded, Japanese-style milk buns made in-house. The menu is fairly straightforward: a half-dozen burgers (including a veggie burger), a pastrami fried onion burger, cheeseburger salad, curly fries, house-made pickles, a fried chicken sandwich, and diner-style milkshakes.

The space (at 1603 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown) is not large. Just 1,300 square feet with some counter seating and a few tables outside, along with a lot of takeout. Right now, the hours are basically open at 11 a.m. every day, and see what happens, but Sichel is planning on staying open late once he gets past the opening rush and sees how things shake out.

But considering Huda Burger is basically a block away from Amá and Kalaya and maybe a hundred paces from Suraya — smack in the middle of one of the hottest triangles in one of the hottest food neighborhoods in the city right now — I have a feeling things won’t be calming down there any time soon.