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Burger Chef was an American
fast-food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typical ...
chain. It began operating in 1954 in
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, expanded throughout the United States, and at its peak in 1973 had 1,050 locations, including some in Canada. The chain featured several signature items, such as the Big Shef and Super Shef hamburgers. In 1982, the General Foods Corporation, owners of the Burger Chef trademark and name, divested itself of the restaurant chain, gradually selling to the owners of Hardee's. The final restaurant to carry the Burger Chef name closed in 1996.


History

In 1954, Frank and Donald Thomas patented the
flame broiler A flame broiler is a commercial mechanical gas grill used to cook various products. It is in use by the Burger King fast-food restaurant chain and was also used by the Burger Chef chain.New York (1987) restaurant of choice Cooking The device c ...
in their parent company General Equipment Corporation and started their restaurant in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...
. In 1957, they opened their first Burger Chef. Burger Chef spread across the United States, following a strategy of opening outlets in smaller towns. By 1972, its number of locations (1,200) was surpassed only by
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...
(1,600). They offered a double burger, called the Big Shef, and later the quarter-pound (113 gram) hamburger, Super Shef. Subsequently, they added the Works Bar, where customers added their own toppings to hamburgers. In 1968, General Foods Corporation purchased the chain and continued its rapid expansion. At the time of the purchase by General Foods, Burger Chef had 600 locations in 39 states.Alternate Link
via
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.
By 1969, international expansion was underway with General Foods building ten Burger Chef outlets in Australia. The expansion ended in 1975 with a US$1.3 million loss (equivalent to $ million in ). It was stated that Australians disliked the limited burger menu compared to varied options available from milk bars. The chain had two
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
s: Burger Chef and Jeff (the chef's juvenile
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
). In 1972, the chain introduced the Funburger, a hamburger with packaging that included puzzles and a small toy. The following year, the chain introduced the Funmeal, the first kid’s meal that included a burger, french fries, a drink, a cookie, and a small toy; with expanded packaging that included stories about Burger Chef and Jeff's adventures and friends (including the magician Burgerini, vampire Count Fangburger, talking ape Burgerilla, and Cackleburger the witch), with riddles and puzzles. When McDonald's introduced their Happy Meal in 1979, the chain sued, but ultimately lost. In 1982, General Foods sold Burger Chef to the
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
company Imasco, which also owned Hardee's, for US$44 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Imasco converted many locations to Hardee's restaurants and let franchises and locations near existing Hardee's locations convert to other brands. Remaining restaurants that did not convert to Hardee's or new names and branding simply closed. Hardee's brought back the Big Shef hamburger for a limited time in 2001, 2007, and 2014 at some Midwestern locations.


Trademark suit

In January 2007, River West Brands, LLC, of
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,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, sued Hardee's Food Systems in the US Patents and Trademarks Office, claiming abandonment of the Burger Chef trademark. On April 16, 2009, River West Brands dropped their petition for cancellation, and both parties agreed to pay their own attorneys' fees.


Slogans

*1980–1996: "Nowhere else but Burger Chef." *1976–1980: "We really give you the works." and "Open wide America, you never can forget. You get more to like at Burger Chef." *1971–1976: "You get more to like at Burger Chef." *1970–1971: "There's more to like at Burger Chef." and "Burger Chef goes all out to please your family."


See also

*
Burger Chef murders The Burger Chef murders took place at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana, United States, on the night of Friday, November 17, 1978. Four young employees went missing in what was initially thought to be a petty theft of cash from the r ...
* List of defunct fast-food restaurant chains *
List of hamburger restaurants This is a list of notable hamburger restaurants. A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat (usually beef) usually placed inside a sliced hamburger bun. Hamburgers are often served with lettuce, bacon, tom ...


References


Further reading

* Self published.


External links


Hardee's trademark trial
on the US Patent and Trademark Office
Burger Chef Memories

JFS' tribute site

Burger Chef former locations
at Waymarking.com {{Authority control Defunct fast-food chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1954 Fast-food hamburger restaurants Defunct companies based in Indianapolis Restaurants in Indiana Restaurants disestablished in 1996 1954 establishments in Indiana 1996 disestablishments in Indiana Defunct restaurant chains in the United States General Foods