Burger Restaurant E&S

Never a dying breed, burger joints continue to reign foremost among other foodservice segments. Restaurants serving the classic sandwich, whether full-service, QSR or fast-casual, need strong grilling workhorses, strict food safety plans, and efficient footprints to speed up service.

By Amelia Levin, Associate Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 9/1/2007

Anyone can get a burger seemingly anywhere these days, whether it's your typical fast-food chain, neighborhood joint, fast-casual spot or even an upscale restaurant. The plethora of burger options is no coincidence - restaurants and concept developers realize they can capitalize on this classic, age-old sandwich.

And capitalize restaurants have. According to Chicagobased research firm Technomic, top burger chains listed as "other" (i.e., not including McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's) accounted for about 26 percent of all segment sales in 2006. Sales at McDonald's accounted for about half of 2006 segment sales (46 percent), followed by Burger King (14.3 percent) and Wendy's (13.3 percent). The burger segment as a whole increased sales by 4.5 percent from 2005 to 2006.

What's unique about today's burger vs. that of yesteryear compares to the evolution of our cars, our homes, our stuff and, most of all, our tastes. Burgers keep getting fresher, fancier, better in quality and, in many cases, bigger. Burger joints also seem to be multiplying. Emerging chains like Culver's and Fatburger have only recently announced plans for aggressive growth, and it sometimes seems like Red Robin opens a new store every week - at press time, they had 373 stores around the country.

As a result, there's been a noticeable impact on kitchen equipment and design. Better burgers need, obviously, better equipment. In recent years, key pieces like grills, griddles and fryers in burger restaurants have become more energy-efficient, easier to use and maintain, and able to handle higher volumes at quicker speeds.

Going Gourmet
There's a reason the word "gourmet" has a place in the name Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. Scott Schooler, Red Robin's vice president of food and beverage, says the fullservice, casual-dining chain never freezes its burgers. In fact, as Schooler speaks there's an added emphasis on the "never frozen" part of that statement.

Other chains like Culver's, Fatburger, and Grille Zone in Boston likewise vehemently promote their fresh products, and that's likely to set themselves apart from the big burger guys. Consumers seem willing to pay a little more and wait a little longer for a made-to-order burger using fresh and varied ingredients, such as at Culver's, says Jeff Bonner vice president of operations and training for the chain. "When you compare Culver's to other burger joints, you're going to pay a little more to come to us," he says. "But it's really more about the entire experience than, 'I got a burger and paid this much for it.' We need to exceed our customers' expectations." In addition to offering high-quality "butterburgers" and frozen custard treats, Bonner says the 364-unit chain has created a new prototype franchise store with a more modernized interior to enhance guests' experience. Many of these newer stores feature carpeting, suspended ceiling tiles, and more open-aired dining areas with flat-screen televisions and more booths than tables to create a relaxing, less cafeteria-like feel, Bonner says.

Grille Zone, a two-month-old, brand new concept with plans to grow additional stores in the coming year, uses certified Hereford beef, a breed of cattle that's corn-fed and raised on sustainable farms, according to Ben Prentice, co-owner/ concept developer. The quick-service, 25-seat restaurant near Boston University's campus also uses local foods where possible, although Prentice says they don't use all organic products. For example, Grille Zone's menu offers a hot dog made specifically for the restaurant by a local producer, ice cream from a local shop, and a local bakery supplies them with Portuguese-style buns, meaning bulkier and crustier than traditional sesame-style burger buns. The restaurant also shreds and chops vegetables for the condiments and Caesar salad each day, and uses a small sauté station in the back to prepare a homemade veggie burger, and the applewood-smoked bacon for its beef burger as well as simple syrup for the homemade lemonade.

It may not seem like more gourmet, high-quality ingredients would affect equipment choices, but they absolutely do, says Red Robin's Schooler. "When you're on a fresh program, it impacts a lot of areas," he says. "Our walk-in coolers are larger, and we spend 20-plus hours prepping food each week. Not only do we have storage of raw, unprepped material, but we also need to store prepped foods.

"Another area that's important to us is our broiler," Schooler says. The chain uses a large, customized flame broiler to gently sear the burgers. "Forty percent of food that comes out of our kitchen goes through the flame broiler." The line also features undercounter refrigeration, essential for holding fresh ingredients. In back, the chain uses a large kettle to prepare fresh soups and sauces. Prep tables sit near the walk-ins where staff chop vegetables and other ingredients. In back, the chain uses a large kettle to prepare fresh soups and sauces.

The fries make for the menu's lone frozen item, Schooler says. Fryers at the front line come equipped with two-door, stand-up freezers on wheels to minimize the amount of time staff need to run to the back for more product.

Fatburger, a Southern California-based chain also prides itself on using wholesome, fresh ingredients, and that also affects its equipment setup, says Bentley Hentrick, vice president of construction for the 89-unit operator. The menu's limited - consisting of basically burgers, including turkey and chicken, plus fries, onion rings and shakes. However, Hentrick says, staff prepare the homemade onion rings fresh daily, hand-scoop the ice cream for their shakes, and use a proprietary burger product that requires more walk-in cooler space.

This means the back of house contains more prep tables, pans, and slicers for the onions, and at the front of the house, the griddle reigns as king. Similar to Grille Zone, customers can see their burgers prepared on an exposed cooking line so aesthetics are important, as is good execution, Hentrick says. The chain uses specially designed steam-powered griddles that he says have quicker recovery times, and temperature consistency across the surface. Controlled by a thermostat, fire heats water that's hermetically sealed in a chamber to create a steam form of heat that warms the whole grill faster, Hentrick says. It's also easier for cleaning because the water is sealed in a chamber and evaporates at the end of use.

"Our burger is our core product so it's a benefit to our brand to spend the money on that particular equipment piece," Hentrick says.

Culver's prides itself not only on its fresh "butterburgers," but also on its frozen custard. This affects the equipment and design, in that all of the shake machines, custard dispensers, refrigerated dipping wells for fruits, and containers of dry mix-ins like candies and nuts all sit directly in front of the customers as they place their order, according to Bonner. "We want the custard machine to be visible to the guests," Bonner says, because that helps place an emphasis on the product as being high quality and unique.

This isn't the case with the kitchen, but that doesn't mean to indicate the burgers are not at the same quality level, Bonner says. A middle partition where completed orders get placed in a window for pick-up by the cashier partially obscures customers' view of the cooking line. To the right and left of that middle area are the grills, fryers, bun warmers and condiment stations.

The Push for Green
While Culver's, Fatburger and Red Robin all value energy-efficient equipment, Grille Zone takes the energy-efficient or "green" concept a step further, perhaps. As a partner with the Green Restaurant Association, an organization that promotes sustainable and eco-friendly business practices, the restaurant aims to make every aspect of its operation as sustainable as possible, Prentice says. That means everything from the product to the equipment to the packaging to the disposal is in someway more environmentally friendly.

Prentice says Grille Zone uses three energy-efficient fryers, refrigerators and a chargrill to reduce energy costs and strain on the environment. The burger joint also uses biodegradable baskets, drinking straws and cups made from cornstarch and other organic material so they're easily compostable. Rather than use trash cans, Grille Zone transfers all waste to a compost bin that gets picked up and taken to a nearby compost facility. Bottles and cans go into recycle bins. "Supporting local businesses has helped us dramatically reduce our carbon footprint," Prentice says.

Safety Comes First
Energy-efficient equipment does more than just help the environment and help reduce costs in terms of burger restaurants - the equipment also ensures temperatures remain at food-safe levels.

This couldn't be a bigger concern at burger restaurants, where raw beef represents the main product and preventing outbreaks of E. coli and other foodborne illnesses reigns "extremely important," according to Hentrick of Fatburger. "We've got an obligation to our customers to make them feel comfortable in coming to our restaurant."

Ground beef not only needs to be stored in efficient coolers with quick recovery times and better insulation that will keep temperature levels at 41°F. or below, it needs to be cooked using efficient grills and other equipment so that they're safe for consumption, according to Schooler.

In addition, comprehensive staff training in food safety procedures, strict HACCP plans and temperature-checking procedures, and multiple handwashing stations, are an absolute must. Depending on the state's laws, staff at Red Robin, Fatburger, Grille Zone and Culver's all use tongs, more than gloves to transfer raw meat to the line for cooking. This helps prevent staff from having to or neglecting to change gloves in between working with raw meat and cooked product, Prentice says. At Grille Zone, he says, staff use tongs to place raw product from the cooler in pans, transfer the product from the pan to the grill, and then place the tongs in specially designated drawers "so they never have to touch the raw product."

In addition to raw beef, Red Robin, Fatburger and Grille Zone work with raw chicken in their kitchens, creating a concern for salmonella outbreaks. Color-coded chopping boards and separate pans help staff work with food safely.

Simplicity Beats All
The above-mentioned chains have several characteristics in common, and they also share a similar design setup: simple, simple, simple. None of them try to or profess to be super-fast burger joints, but they do attempt to get orders out in a relatively short amount of time and with as simple preparation as possible.

"The amount of steps team members have to take is very important to us," Schooler says of Red Robin, meaning they shouldn't take many at all. Part of this simple operation comes from designated duties. "After the customer places the order, the computer system tells the team member the type of order. The patty is then placed on the broiler, which cooks it in about five minutes. While that's broiling, another team member toasts the buns and places condiments on the burger, and a third person wraps each burger, puts it in a basket with steak fries, and puts it in the window for delivery."

Placement of equipment also helps speed up operations for Red Robin and other burger operators. Undercounter refrigeration and storage space on the line help minimize the number of times staff need to retrieve products from the back coolers. For quick-service concepts Fatburger, Grille Zone and Culver's, there's little need for an elaborate dishwasher area because of the use of disposable, simple packaging products.

Simplifying operations has allowed Culver's to reduce its overall kitchen footprint, a priority for many chains these days in the midst of quickly rising costs of raw materials, energy and basic overhead. "We've been able to reduce our overall square footage by almost 1,000-squarefeet, from about 4,500-square-feet to 3,300-square-feet," Bonner says. "The new prototype has a back of the house of 1,500-square-feet and we've been able to knock down our seating from about 120 seats to 96 or 100 and still do the volume we expect to be a profitable restaurant."

At Grille Zone, the chargrill helps simplify cleaning operations. "The chargrill cooks by infrared heat, so there are no open flames, and any drippings that fall go through grates on a ceramic plate and just vaporize," Prentice says. "All you're left with is just dust to clean up, not grease drippings." This is not only good for cleanup purposes, but it also helps reduce grease in the kitchen that can create fire hazards.

Comfort vs. Healthy
Speaking of grease, while burgers certainly haven't lost their appeal to consumers in the least bit, it's not unnoticeable that consumers in general have shifted their priorities to eating healthier. Burger restaurants have had a particular need to incorporate non-red meat items like chicken, turkey, fish and lean beef burgers, salads and, in some cases, vegetarian options in their menu offerings. As mentioned earlier, Grille Zone makes its own vegetarian burgers daily, and also offers chicken breast sandwiches for which the meat gets marinated fresh that day.

Culver's has added wrap sandwiches with chicken and tuna, seasonal fish options and more vegetable sides to its menu, says Bonner. The chain's also delved into the growing snack option trend, offering smaller versions of favorite items.

Red Robin also offers a number of non-red meat "burgers," many with fish and turkey, essentially qualifying the term burger to mean "any protein placed between two pieces of bread," according to Schooler. And Fatburger, disregarding the name of course, offers a burger made with lean meat they call the "baby fat burger" as well as a leaner turkey burger and grilled chicken breast sandwich. What does this mean for equipment? Less frying, more grilling.

To Drive-Thru or Not to Drive-Thru
Drive-thrus plays an integral role in the big burger giants' operations and they are critical for generating revenue. However, this isn't always the case at more "upscale" or niche burger restaurants, be it full-service, fast-casual or quick-service. Grille Zone primarily operates as a quick, take-out operation with some seating. Red Robin operates as a full-service restaurant where Schooler says take-out really isn't a big part of the overall business, although there are a couple of parking spots designated for take-out, which is located inside at the bar.

Fatburger offers drive-thru service at nine, soon to be 12, stores out of its total of 89. But still, the curbside operation isn't the focus here. "You're not going to come through and go blazing through the drivethru in a hurry," Hentrick says There's less an emphasis placed on centering operations around drive-thru, and more on getting customers to come in and sit down with their meal, he adds.

Culver's also places more emphasis on its sit-down "experience," more than a drive-thru that will get guests in and out, although the chain does rake in about 41 percent of its sales from such a service. They have a little more unique setup - customers drive up to one window to place orders, take a number, and wait in designated parking spots for staff to bring their food out to them, whether it's rain, snow or shine outside. The reason for this setup, Bonner says, stems from the higher costs of operating two drive-thru windows vs. just one, even if it requires a little more labor to bring food to customers' cars. "This operation is just not as big a cost impact when you compare it to the alternative of having separate pay and pick-up windows."

Burgers remain big business. The successful players in this space continue to operate more efficiently by scaling down the size of their operations without compromising product quality or safety. The key to their success remains a well-honed equipment package that allows them to deliver this menu classic while adapting to the tastes of the day.