Cheeburger Cheeburger is a 1950s-style
fast casual restaurant chain specializing in cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, and milkshakes. The chain is headquartered in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...
. As of 2023, Cheeburger Cheeburger has two locations in the United States.
History
Bruce Zicari opened the first Cheeburger Cheeburger in
Sanibel, Florida, in 1986. The restaurant was named after
John Belushi's pronunciation of
cheeseburger
A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...
as "cheeburger" on a ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' sketch at the fictitious
Olympia Café.
The first international location opened in Kuwait but has since closed.
In November 2017, Cheeburger Cheeburger was acquired by Premier Restaurant Group.
In 2022, the original Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurant located on Sanibel Island was severely damaged by
Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian was a devastating tropical cyclone which was the third costliest natural disaster, weather disaster on record worldwide. It was also the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, and ...
.
Several locations have closed in recent years. The chain has one location in
Sanibel, Florida, and
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
.
Legal matters
When Cheeburger Cheeburger opened a restaurant in
Glenview, Illinois
Glenview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop. Per the 2020 census, the population was 48,705.
The Village of Glenview is governed by New Trier and Northfield townships. According ...
, they were sued by
Billy Goat Tavern, which had served as the inspiration for the original
Olympia Café ''Saturday Night Live'' parody. An out-of-court settlement was reached wherein the restaurant changed the name of the Glenview location to simply Cheeburger and agreed not to open another restaurant within 125 miles (200 km) of downtown Chicago.
See also
*
List of hamburger restaurants
References
External links
Official website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States
1986 establishments in Florida
Fast casual restaurants
Fast-food chains of the United States
Hamburger restaurants
Restaurants established in 1986
Restaurants in Florida
Sanibel, Florida
Companies based in Lee County, Florida