Cheeburger Cheeburger is a 1950s-style

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, is a restaurant that does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast-food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is a ...

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 Sanibel is an island and city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,382 at the 2020 census, down from 6,469 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The island, al ...

, 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 Olympia Café was a fictional greasy spoon featured in a recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch. The staff, led by John Belushi as Pete Dionisopoulos, were Greeks. Staff also included Bill Murray as Nico, a busboy who does not speak English ...

. 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

, 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 The Billy Goat Tavern is a chain of taverns located in Chicago, Illinois. Its restaurants are based on the original Billy Goat Tavern founded in 1934 by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant. It achieved fame primarily through newspaper columns by ...

, which had served as the inspiration for the original

''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.

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

History

Legal matters

See also

References

External links