The brains behind three burger brands share their success stories
/Burgers are bigger than ever and there’s no sign of consumer demand slackening off. With such a proliferation of burger brands on the market, Foodservice Rep looks at three operators who have made their offerings stand out from the crowd.
Keep it simple and cook it right
Chur Burger Food Truck’s Will Love-Hill
Will Love-Hill is the brains behind Chur Burger Food Truck – the mobile operation spun off from chef Warren Turnbull’s well established brand, which has stores in Sydney and Melbourne. “I’m a good friend of Warren’s and he knew I was thinking of starting up my own business, so he suggested a Chur Burger Food Truck and gave me the license to run it,” Will explains.
“I’m a chef by trade and my thinking was I could start with the truck and if it was successful use that as leverage to open a store. But the truck has proven a more viable business – we were blessed because the strength of the brand meant we were invited to a lot of food events, music festivals so we never really had to look for work.
“When Covid hit, we transitioned from the events side and now 90 per cent of our business is catering. We’ve found a great niche in that we’re able to do everything from burgers to mixed canapes, party buffets and so on out of the truck – a real mix with something for everyone. A lot of the business is by word of mouth and we also push out on the socials, and we’ve also built up a track record of return clientele and picking up customers who have eaten at our events and love our food.”
“We stick to the classics, we keep it authentic and that’s what’s kept us in the game”
Will attributes his success to sticking to the philosophy of using the best possible produce, keeping everything simple and cooking it right. “About eight years there was that big trend of gigantic, over the top Instagrammable burgers and it did bring customers in, but my thinking was it wasn’t sustainable. As a consumer myself I enjoy good quality food that’s clean, delicious and at the right price and I think that’s what keeps people coming back two to three times a week – rather than going once with your mates to get a photo for Instagram and never come back. We stick to the classics, we keep it authentic and that’s what’s kept us in the game.”
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While several of his burger recipes come from the original Chur Burger Surry Hills store, Will has evolved the brand by adding his own input. “I invented my own burger sauce and developed my own grind for the pattie. The Food Truck features images of rap artists and the burger names tie into that – for example our classic is the Biggie Smalls which is our ode to a Big Mac, with classic American style grilled beef, American cheddar, fresh lettuce and onion, our housemade burger sauce and pickles on a soft toasted milk bun.
“We also had a burger which went viral called the Notorious P.I.G., which was a confit crispy pork belly with Asian slaw, pickled carrot, aioli and chili caramel – it was out of the ordinary, everyone else was doing pulled pork but we wanted to do something a little more artisanal with really nice condiments to complement it. I still have people asking when are we bringing it back!”
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Mary’s Burgers: “world famous in Sydney”
Mary’s Burgers BOSS JAKE SMYTH
Jake Smyth of Mary’s Burgers, self-described as “world famous in Sydney” with outlets in Castle Hill, Newtown, North Sydney, Circular Quay and Moore Park’s Entertainment Quarter, says it’s quality that makes the difference.
“Back at the start we didn’t know too much and we were using whatever was available from the butcher, but as our knowledge base grew we moved to exclusively single site grass fed beef from Greenham in Gippsland, which is the best in the country as far as I’m concerned.
“We break it down ourselves from primal cuts because we want to own every step of the process as far as possible. We dice it, salt it – we have a very expensive piece of German machinery that grinds and shapes our patties so we have 100 per cent control, the meat basically leaves the abattoir and comes to us.
“No one who works here has to worry about the quality of the product because we take it really seriously”
“We also make all our mayos inhouse, all our hot sauces, we cure and smoke our own bacon, we break down our own fried chicken and roast the bones to make stock and roux. We even tried making our own ketchup but we found that nothing could replace Heinz Ketchup and American mustard!
“I think when your kitchen team are cooking food they’ve broken down themselves, they’re less likely to treat it carelessly or overcook it. And when our front of house staff can see and taste the difference they take pride in working at Mary’s. No one who works here has to worry about the quality of the product because we take it really seriously – that’s the cornerstone of every great hospitality venue and it’s certainly what we believe in.”
Delivering on the promise
Mary’s Burgers Double Cheeseburger
Ensuring customers have a great experience is also key to the brand’s success. “We deliver what we promise and we make sure our commitment to our customers extends beyond them just coming in and spending money – we want to make sure they have a great time, hence the thought and energy we’ve put into our food. And it’s paying off because people are still turning up for burgers, beefs and friendly hellos.
“We’ve recently opened up at Victoria Cross in North Sydney, which is more of a diner style operation, and things are moving forward well – we’re confident in our product and our corner of the market. We love the role we can play in promoting live music and the arts in our venues as well as creating moments for young people on their first night out on the town in Newtown or for young families in our Entertainment Quarter venue.”
“We make sure our commitment to our customers extends beyond them just coming in and spending money”
As to what makes a burger great, Jake says “it’s everything that goes into it. The ones who do it the best are using great ingredients, cooking with precision and care and attention to detail, seasoning it well – and the bad ones are using subpar ingredients, and you can taste the difference immediately.”
From side hustle to smash hit
Chebbo’s burgers’ ALI CHEBBANI
Ali Chebbani, better known by his nickname Chebbo, has built his Chebbo’s Burgers brand from a side hustle while working as a corporate accountant into a thriving business. “I started with a market stand – I bought a little 3 x 3 tent from Bunnings and a plastic trestle table and I did three pop ups out of my Uncle’s carpark. That’s all it was meant to be, but then Covid hit and the NSW Government allowed food vendors to trade from home so I saw that as a perfect opportunity. I set up in my driveway from 7pm to 11pm and this was right when Tik Tok was starting up, so I began sharing the journey of what I was doing. Momentum built pretty quickly – I think we sold 50 burgers that first weekend and within three months we were doing 300 a night, which is pretty crazy!”
Chebbo went the ‘smash burger’ route which he believes delivers a superior flavour. “It’s like when you have a delicious steak, you want the surface to have a nice brown crust, and pressing the pattie down against the hot griddle gives you that caramelisation. That really enhances the flavour as it cooks – it’s harder work given that you’re physically pressing it down but I reckon it’s real tasty.
“If you’ve got a good product and you’re willing to promote it online that’s all you need”
Burgers are “truly international”
He says the business’ food philosophy is to keep it simple – “the way I rationalise it is, if you go to your favourite burger shop, you buy the same thing 90 per cent of the time. So we operate off a rotating topping list and I think that’s pretty much all you need when you’re selling a product that tastes good, with good service. People know what they’re expecting and they’re happy with it.”
The Chebbo’s Burger brand now encompasses a Food Truck at Roselands and a dine-in store in Marrickville, with a second store not too far away scheduled to open soon. The brand has been promoted almost exclusively via organic social media – “I haven’t really paid for much advertising, I think nowadays people want good food and they’re looking for somewhere to go with their family, and if you’ve got a good product and you’re willing to promote it online that’s all you need.”
“Wherever you are on the planet you’re familiar with them, you’ve grown up with them and they’re here to stay”
Chebbo’s Burgers Dine-in store. Marrickville
Chebbo says he was inspired to start the brand because of his love of burgers. “I feel like they’re ingrained in the culture – they’re really appetising, they’re not too heavy and you can’t get sick of them. Maybe they’ve taken off so much because they’re such a staple – wherever you are on the planet you’re familiar with them, you’ve grown up with them and they’re here to stay. They’re truly international as I discovered when I was doing a series online called Burgers Around the World – there are Malaysian burgers, Lebanese burgers, so many different variations that the only limit is your imagination.”
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