In a move surely designed to flood any Nickelodeon-loving millennial with nostalgia, the kids TV network has partnered with restaurants around the country to create real-life versions of the SpongeBob SquarePants Krabby Patty to mark the show’s 25th anniversary.
For the uninitiated, the Krabby Patty is the legendary burger central to much of the plot of the nautical kids show. Its contents are simple: bun, patty, cheese, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, onions and pickles.
Restaurants in Dallas and 11 other cities around the world came up with their own interpretations of the burger, which will be available from Oct. 8-27. The North Texas restaurants getting in on the fun are Starship Bagel, Cris and John, Black Tap, Le Rêve, Lubbies Bagels, Oomi Kitchen and Pacheco Taco N Burger.
A few chains with locations in Dallas-Fort Worth are also participating like Hat Creek Burger Company and Wendy’s.
Despite the strict Krabby Patty formula laid out in the show, only one ingredient rule was given to restaurants — no seafood. Other than that, the creative runway was wide open, said Oren Salomon, owner of Starship Bagel.
Salomon’s take on a Krabby Patty is served on a sesame seed bagel, of course, and made with a vegan Impossible patty. There’s good reason for that.
“We wanted to honor the legacy of SpongeBob but also do it our way and stay within the culinary boundaries of our concept,” he said. “As a kosher-style establishment, we don’t serve meat since we already serve dairy cream cheese.”
In lieu of traditional condiments, Salomon made a Thousand Island-like schmear sauce with plain schmear, ketchup, hot sauce, sweet pickle relish and vinegar. The rest of the Starship version is the expected lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles.
Another stipulation was that every burger must be served with one side, so Salomon opted for pretzel twists paired with a cheese sauce and a “Diet Dr Kelp,” a.k.a. a matcha soda.
At Lubbies Bagels in East Dallas, Andrea Lubkin and her sister and co-owner, Jen Lubkin, said they also went vegetarian with their Krabby Patty. House-made seitan (which they developed solely for this purpose) is served on a sesame seed kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, bread and butter pickles and a “special sauce” made with miso. Twice-fried fingerling potatoes and kimchi mayo will come on the side.
Beef enters the picture at Cris and John, a Vietnamese street food spot in Far North Dallas. Owners Cristina Mendez and John Pham, who are known for their extremely photogenic and creative fusion dishes, came up with a double patty smash burger dressed simply with seaweed aioli, American cheese and pickled Asian cucumbers on a sesame seed bun. They’re serving it with crispy fries drizzled with spicy mayo and sprinkled seaweed flakes.
Le Rêve’s Krabby Patty is a bit less traditional. The gelato shop and patisserie on Preston Road took an on-brand approach and stuck with dessert. Its “burger” is a patty of brownie cookie crumble with a pineapple confit center, vanilla pastry cream cheese, crêpe lettuce, strawberry mousse tomato, ganache mayonnaise and strawberry ketchup sandwiched between a vanilla sponge bun. On the side are puff pastry fries.
Owner and head pastry chef of Le Rêve, Andy Pham, who is as old as SpongeBob SquarePants, grew up watching the show. When Nickelodeon reached out to him several months ago to ask if he’d like to collaborate, he said he first thought it was a fake request.
“I never thought someone like that would approach us,” he said. “It was a super-cool experience.”
Pham said he spent months tinkering in his kitchen to figure out how to make a burger that is 0% actual burger and doubted if he could pull it off. Once he troubleshooted the lettuce, though, he hit his stride.
The lightbulb moment came when he thought about the many French and Vietnamese crêpes he grew up eating and the imperfect ones that crinkle up in the pan and form ruffled edges when not swirled correctly. They kind of look like lettuce, he thought.
Pham’s Krabby Patties will hit his pastry case on Oct. 9 since his shop is closed on Tuesdays.
Find all restaurants participating in the collaboration here.
