Fatburger & Buffalo’s Express will open its first stores on the island

Burgers, shakes, and chicken wings are specialities Fatburger and Buffalo Expressthe new chain of restaurants that will soon debut in Puerto Rico.

“For this year, we want to open two establishments,” said Brian De Leon, who leads the local company that will be the owner and operator of all of the chain’s restaurants on the island. According to Serrano, the first location will be in the metropolitan area, in the municipality of Carolina, on an area of ​​2,500 square feet, with a capacity of 50 people. In turn, businessmen indicated that this first establishment will provide about 60 job opportunities and will open during the second half of this year.

“We expect to open ten locations within five years, depending on how we see audience response to the chain,” De Leon revealed.

Fat Burger It appeared more than 70 years ago in California, when Lovie Yancy, together with her husband, opened a small hamburger stand called Mr. Fatburger. In 1952, the couple divorced, and she kept the business and changed her name to Fatburger. This chain has a varied menu of hamburgers (from 1/3 pound to 1.5 pounds of meat); chicken, turkey, and vegetarian sandwiches; French fries, sweet potato “onion rings”, regular and vegan shakes with different flavours. De León reports that the brand has more than 200 stores in more than 25 countries.

In case Buffalo ExpressHe opened his first restaurant in 1985 in Georgia. It is distinguished by serving medium-sized wings, which can be made with any of the 13 types of sauces that the customer chooses with carrots, celery and sauces such as “honey mustard”, farmalso ‘Blue cheeseLikewise, it has more than 75 express locations around the world, according to its website.

Both concepts belong to FAT Brands, a global franchise that operates 17 brands, including some that have or have had a presence on the island, such as Johnny Rockets, Bonanza, Ponderosa. Since 2011, franchisees have been offered the option to open restaurants that combine the Fatburger and Buffalo’s Express under one roof, as would happen in Puerto Rico.

Businessmen mentioned that the locations that will open on the island will have one counter, where the Fatburger and Buffalo’s Express menus will be. There, the restaurant will line up, ask for his order and go to the table, where the restaurant staff will bring the food. “It will have a different, more casual style and it will be a completely different experience than what the customer is used to,” De Leon said.

They also said that the idea to bring these franchises to the island originated during the De León family’s vacation in the United States, when they entered the Fatburger establishment. “It caught our eye because they have so many products, incl Impossible Burger, Veggie Burger And vegetable juices. The meat is not frozen, everything is done at the moment, grilled, and people see how they do it, ”said the businessman. “They didn’t have wings in that city, but in Las Vegas we saw one that had wings,” he continued.

“We were looking to bring something different to the island, a new concept that people love. Wings come around a lot in Puerto Rico and there aren’t many places here where you can choose different sauces for your wings.”

A curious fact is that some Fatburger sites have a Fat Burger Challengealso called XXXL Triple Kingburger Challenge, which offers coupons and appreciation to those who can eat their three meat burger (1.5 lbs.). The businessmen confirmed that they hope to present this challenge to the island.

It was reported that the ten institutions Fatburger and Buffalo Expresswhich is scheduled to open on the island, can be located in shopping malls, ‘food court’ and autonomous localities with servicarro. Each will be between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet in size. Serrano said the first establishment will be in the Plaza Carolina shopping center.

For the time being, SC Group, a local company with more than 10 years of experience in communications and restaurants, will be the operator of all locations in Puerto Rico, although De León and Serrano do not rule out the possibility of selling the franchises to other interested entrepreneurs at some point. what.

“We want customers in Puerto Rico to have a new option for diners who want to try different quality products, in the same space with different items that most restaurants and fast food establishments don’t carry,” he concluded.