Burger Lounge
Burger Lounge | |
---|---|
Restaurant information | |
Established | 2007 |
Food type | fast casual |
Other locations | San Diego, California and Los Angeles, California |
Website |
burgerlounge |
Burger Lounge is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers made from American grass-fed beef, salads, shakes, French fries and onion rings.[1][2][3] Burger Lounge is headquartered in San Diego, California.[4] In 2007, J. Dean Loring and Michael Gilligan founded the company in La Jolla, California.[5][6] J. Dean Loring is the President and CEO of Burger Lounge.[1][5][7]
History
J. Dean Loring, the son of butcher, opened three restaurants prior to founding Burger Lounge.[5] Loring established Stars Hamburgers, in Northern California's Humboldt County in 1989.[8] In 2007, he partnered with Michael Gillian, a bank CFO, to found the first Burger Lounge in La Jolla, California.[5][9][10] Burger Lounge partnered with Karp Reilly, a private equity firm based in Connecticut, in 2011.[11][12] In 2012, Forbes travel guide included Burger Lounge in its list of "America's 10 Best Burgers".[4] Fastcasual.com ranked the restaurant 21st on its list of "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" in 2012.[7]
In April 2013, Burger Lounge opened its first location in North County, San Diego.[13] That year, the restaurant had seven location in San Diego, California and four in the Los Angeles, California area.[13][14] LA Weekly named the restaurant "Best New Restaurant" in 2013.[15] The restaurant was also voted "Best Burger" by San Diego Magazine in 2014 year.[16] The restaurant previously received the title in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.[17] In 2014, the restaurant group had 13 locations.[7]
Products
Burger Lounge serves hamburgers consisting of grass-fed beef.[1][3][17] The meat is sourced from two ranches.[5] The menu also includes organic quinoa veggie burgers, free-range turkey burgers, chicken tenders (referred to as "Chicken Digglers"),[18] Albacore tuna sandwiches, salads, French fries, onion rings and shakes.[1][2][6][11] The restaurant uses locally sourced, organic, farm-raised, regional and seasonal ingredients.[19]
Corporate responsibility
The restaurants' food waste is composted, post-industrial packaging is biodegradable and used cooking oil is used to power delivery vehicles.[2] Burger Lounge utilizes used cooking oil converted to biofuel by NewLeaf to power its delivery vehicles.[15] In July 2012, the restaurant donated proceeds from sales to local student-run community supported agriculture (CSA) and school gardening programs. Burger Lounge uses recyclable products and is green certified.[20]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Spotting the next Chipotle: 10 restaurants to watch". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Emily Saladino (October 1, 2013). "10 Fast-Food Joints That Treat Their Workers Well". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 Garrett Snyder (August 22, 2012). "Burger Lounge: A Lesson in the Classics". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 "10 Great Little Restaurant Chains You Haven't Heard Of -- Yet". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Candice Woo (April 17, 2013). "J. Dean Loring on Burger Lounge's Beginnings & Future". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 "Burger Lounge Opening 11th California Location". June 17, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 3 "2012 Fast Casual Top 100 Movers and Shakers" (PDF). Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ Erin Jackson (February 21, 2014). "Grilled: J. Dean Loring of Burger Lounge". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ Aaron Claverie (August 25, 2014). "TEMECULA: Burger Lounge coming to town". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ Gabrielle Karol (March 5, 2013). "Burger Lounge Aims to Stand Out From the Pack". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 Lori Weisberg (June 15, 2014). "Fast-growing "fast casual" food". Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ↑ Lisa Jennings (February 14, 2011). "Burger Lounge gets private-equity investment". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 David Garrick (December 30, 2013). "Carlsbad Burger Lounge opens Thursday". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Del Mar Opening to Be Burger Lounge's 10th Location". April 17, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 Karen Pendergrass (June 11, 2013). "Burger Lounge". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Gourmet Grassfed Burgers: Burger Lounge Del Mar". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- 1 2 Erin Jackson (June 9, 2011). "San Diego: Going Beyond Beef at Burger Lounge". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ fathead design, inc. "Burger Lounge". Burger Lounge.
- ↑ Ethan Bailey (April 8, 2013). "Burger Lounge is a fresh alternative to fast food". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ↑ Frank Sabatini Jr. (December 13, 2010). "Q&A with the man who never lounges". Retrieved December 7, 2014.