Most people who end up at Square Burger in McKinney did not plan to be there. They were walking around the downtown square, realized they were hungry, and pushed open the door of a 1929 building on the corner of Kentucky and Virginia streets. What they found inside surprised them. It still does.
Brandon Horrocks and Craig Brundege opened this place in June 2010 with credentials that had no business ending up in a burger joint. Horrocks graduated at the top of his class from the Culinary Institute of America, did a fellowship at Wolfgang Puck’s Granita in Malibu, cooked in Mexico City, and worked Dallas rooms like Patrizio’s and Café Pacific. Brundege came through serious kitchens in San Francisco and Los Angeles — Providence, one of the best seafood restaurants on the West Coast, was on his résumé. They chose burgers. Specifically, they chose McKinney.
The beef came from a man named Matt Hamilton who was selling grass-fed cattle at the local farmers market and needed someone to take the grinds from his prime cuts. Horrocks needed fresh beef that nobody else in the suburbs was sourcing properly. It worked out. Hamilton went on to open Local Yocal, now one of the most respected butcher shops in North Texas. Square Burger has been getting beef from him ever since — fresh, never frozen, grass-fed, no hormones. Every burger comes with a tempura-fried pickle spear. That detail tells you where these people’s heads are.
Brandon Horrocks passed away in February 2023 after a fall at home. He was a cancer survivor who had already beaten something serious once and spent the years after being genuinely good to the people around him. Craig Brundege kept the kitchen running. The standard did not drop.
The Smoky Jack is the burger that gets people in the car — smoked mozzarella, Monterey Jack, apple-smoked bacon, and fried onion strings. The smoked mozzarella pulls instead of melts and carries a smokiness through every bite that regular cheese simply cannot do. The Old Rasputin is the one for anyone who wants to go deeper — BBQ sauce made with Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, apple-smoked bacon, crispy fried onions, and six-year aged cheddar. The stout in the sauce is not a gimmick. You taste it. The High Society with prosciutto di San Daniele, aged balsamic, baby arugula, roasted red pepper relish, and fontina is the one that reminds you these men came from fine dining kitchens and still think that way.
Then there is the Lamb Burger, which is the sleeper that most first-timers walk past without ordering and most regulars will not shut up about. Colorado lamb, garam masala, tzatziki, feta, lettuce, and tomato on grilled pita. It belongs on a different menu entirely and it is better for being here. If you are inclined toward lamb at all, this is the one to order before anything else.
The sides hold up. The Cajun potato wedges with bleu cheese béchamel, bacon, and scallions are worth ordering instead of fries at least once. The chili cheese fries with house-made Texas chili and pickled jalapeños turn into a full meal without warning. The grilled cheese bites — Gruyère and fontina with house-made tomato soup — are the appetizer that has no business being this good in a burger restaurant.
Thirty taps on the wall, most of them Texas craft beer, written out in chalk. The room has been in that 1929 building since the beginning and looks exactly like it. That is a compliment.
Square Burger is at 115 N. Kentucky Street in McKinney, open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More at squareburger115.com.
