Ian Tucker named his first Houston restaurant after a steam engine term for getting a train to achieve maximum speed.

If you want to think of Balls Out Burger in more cheeky terms, however, that's fine by him. After all, he went balls out to get his Heights burger joint to completion. And now Balls Out is eager to start making friends and building a following for its simple, high quality, made-to-order burgers in a town that takes those sandwiches seriously.

But Tucker, an Irishman who moved to Houston two years ago, is just as serious about building a memorable burger experience. His burgers are a model of simplicity: five-ounce, flattop-grilled patties made with 44 Farms beef (seasoned with cracked black pepper and Himalayan pink salt) resting in a fluffy Amish potato roll made by Slow Dough Bread Co. that is crisped slightly on the flattop. American cheese is the only glue; and lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. And that's the Balls Out Burger, available as a single or double.

"I think a burger should be only meat and bread. A lot of places have too many toppings," Tucker said. "You're masking good meat in bread with too many toppings."

What else's on the menu? Not much: three types of French fries (hand-cut, shoestring, sweet potato), and milkshakes. A handful of wine and plenty of Saint Arnold beer in cans. Balls Out serves only Saint Arnold, probably the only place in town whose entire beer selection comes from the Houston brewery.

Housed in a former gas station and car wash, the counter-service restaurant seats 42 indoors and 140 on a 4,000-square-foot patio that's inviting and littered with popular outdoor games. Already, al fresco enthusiasts have found the place and started filling those outdoor seats. And apparently they dig the burger: 650 were sold on opening day, June 3.

Tucker, a Dublin bloke who still has restaurants there, is wasting no time planting his flag in Houston. He currently planning a new project, a restaurant in Sawyer Yards called Poitin, the name of an "illegally brewed Irish whiskey." The restaurant, opening in February, will sport a menu that's a little cryptic when Tucker describes it as a "fusion of Continental and American food."

"I want to create street food at high quality and put it on a plate," he said.

Whatever Poitin becomes, Tucker no doubt will be balls out with it too.

Balls Out Burger, 1603 N. Durham, 832-844-3359; ballsoutburger.com