San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Bawdy burger joint going brick-and-mortar
As if San Antonio’s summers weren’t hot and sweaty enough, noted chef Stefan Bowers is set to add even more grease, grime and damn good burgers to the city’s dining scene this summer.
Pumpers, a side project the fine-dining chef of Rebelle launched as a pop-up in 2020, is going brick-and-mortar with its first physical location at 1101 Broadway.
The R-rated “adult burger store,” as Bowers pitches it, initially made waves with decidedly NSFW marketing art and menu items. Candied jalepeños, for instance, were called magic (ahem) holes. The raunchy swagger was backed up with a burger that landed on ExpressNews dining critic Mike Sutter’s
list of the city’s Top 15 burgers in 2021.
Pumpers has been off the radar for a few months, holding its last pop-up in late 2023. Bowers used that time away from the griddle to plan his next move and jumped on the opportunity to open Pumpers in a 1,000square-foot space at 1101 Broadway near the Museum Reach of the River Walk.
“We’ve just been lying low waiting for the right time to strike,” Bowers said. “The main reason is, honestly, I love that neighborhood. Jones is my favorite street in the city. I’m a huge fan of SAMA. It’s near and dear to my heart.”
While Bowers will keep Pumpers’ established lineup of five burgers on Bimbo buns intact, there will be one significant shift in the new kitchen. It’s goodbye, smashburgers; hello, flame-broiled quarter-pounders. Pumpers was one of the earliest adopters of the trendy smashburger-style patty, which in a few short years has spread across the city.
“I’m done with smashburgers. I think it’s an oversaturated market,” Bowers said. “I hate being in the herd.”
Pumpers will open at 11 a.m. daily for online orders and unlock its doors at noon for walkin customers. And once those grills are hot, they’ll burn all night long. Pumpers will close at midnight Sunday through Thursday, and at 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
In addition to burgers, diners will be able to enjoy beer and wine at the restaurant, which will be able to seat about 35 indoors at tables and a bar, with room for an additional 15 or so at outdoor tables. For more, follow Pumpers on Instagram at @pumpers_world.