When getting to The Burger Barn, one might suspect their GPS was off.
That’s because Odessa’s newest family-owned burger stop is located on the outskirts of West Odessa.
But this small fast-food restaurant has been attracting customers since it first opened back in August, giving people on the west side of town another choice to eat with its menu of burgers and fries.
Located on 5984 N. Seward Ave., The Burger Barn operates out of what used to be a 14×40 storage building before it was converted into a restaurant. It is owned and operated by Tiffany Norman and her husband Ifrica Norman and their daughters Janelle McCoy, 15, I’mani Norman 11 and Marlee Norman, 2.
Next week, The Burger Barn will be one of the many businesses that will be giving away Thanksgiving meals with its inaugural Thanksgiving Give Back.
The event will take place at 5 p.m. Nov. 22 at the restaurant’s location.
“Since we are a new business, we just wanted to do something to give back to the west side of Odessa,” Tiffany said. “I think this side of town gets forgotten about a lot and there are a lot of people who live out here. We decided to give away 50 plates. We’re hoping to make this an annual event. We’re doing everything ourselves.”
It will be a full course thanksgiving meal from ham to turkey to dessert. The event will last until they run out of meals.
“We will have a canopy set up right next door,” Tiffany said. “But if people want to take their meals home, they’re more than welcome to. They’ll be in to-go boxes.”
The Normans are already looking ahead to doing another Thanksgiving Give Back next year.
“We’re so excited,” Tiffany said. “We can’t wait to make this an annual thing. We’re happy to give back and help the people on this side of town for those who are less fortunate or even if they just don’t have a family to go to for Thanksgiving. We just want to spread the love.”
It’s one way of getting the news of their new restaurant out and about which has seen decent business since its opening three months ago.
“It’s a family-owned and operated business,” Tiffany said. “We get to work with our kids every day. They work during the afternoon. They’ve been a huge part of the whole process since day 1. It teaches them great responsibility. They get to start saving money.”
The Normans have owned their own catering company called Southern Hospitality for 10 years. It was a few years ago when they decided they wanted to open up a restaurant in addition to running their catering company.
“We’ve been wanting to expand and have a restaurant out here in West Odessa for the community,” Tiffany said. “There’s not a lot of options for delivery. So we came up with this idea for The Burger Barn and that we were going to deliver to the west side.”
The process of opening up their own business took about two years for Tiffany and Ifrica to finish the building, a project that was mostly done by just them with a few exceptions.
“My husband and I did everything ourselves with the exception of the electricity but everything else you see, we did ourselves,” Tiffany said. “There was a lot of YouTube videos, a lot of help from the kids. We finally completed it and got our health permit in July and were able to open in August.”
Making the jump to owning a restaurant hasn’t been a big stretch for Tiffany and her husband.
“We specialize in oilfield catering so we’re used to feeding large crowds at a time,” Tiffany said of Southern Hospitality Catering.
The Burger Barn’s menu includes a jalapeno popper stuffed burger, a cali club burger, blue mushroom burger, Philly cheesesteak burger and even a taco burger which has two quarter-pound beef patties on a grilled bun, topped with chorizo crumbles, pico de gallo, and smoked queso.
“Jalapeño poppers is a huge favorite,” Tiffany said. It’s a one-pound burger. Everyone loves it. We recently started selling bloated fries. You can turn any one of our burgers into bloated fries. We just wanted to offer a burger that you can’t get at a drive-thru.”
They also offer a brunch burger which is two quarter pound beef patties on a grilled bun, topped with a fried egg, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and sauce.
“We have a plain burger but the burgers that we have are something that you won’t normally get through a drive-thru for a burger,” Tiffany said. “We did a lot of sampling and creating and putting our menus together and we narrowed it down to the burgers that we have on our menu. We have something for everyone.”
In addition to taking orders, Tiffany and Ifrica will both cook as well as deliver. Their daughters help out in the afternoons as well.
“Just the simple fact that we get to spend more time together is my favorite part,” Ifrica said. “It’ s our business and it makes it more enjoyable that we’re doing it together.”
Ifrica will also help with the deliveries but only in a five mile radius. Door Dash is also available for people who live further away.
“We’re our own delivery service but we do offer a Door Dash option for people that are outside our area,” Tiffany said. “We only deliver within five miles. Anyone outside or prefers Door Dash, can use that.”
The restaurant’s hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Tiffany says they’re looking to add more to their menu and already have with the recent addition of a donut burger, available only on Saturdays.
“We’re always expanding our menu,” Tiffany said. “(Two weeks ago), we introduced the donut burger. It’s so good. That was our new burger and it was a big hit. We had people lined up for it.”
The restaurant is conveniently located right next door to the Normans’ house.
“You don’t have an excuse to be late for work when you work right next door,” Tiffany said. “But like I said, it’s been awesome. The kids have been a lot of help for us. It’s taught them a lot of responsibility.”
Both Tiffany and Ifrica have been excited about their new business and are eager to continue with it.
“Basically, we didn’t do this for us,” Ifrica said. “We wanted to give the west side out here a different option. The burgers we serve, you can’t get anywhere else.”
For more information about The Burger Barn, visit its website at tinyurl.com/4jymc5zr.
If you go
- What: Thanksgiving Give Back.
- Where: The Burger Barn (5984 N. Seward Avenue).
- When: 5-7 p.m. Nov. 22.
