TIL: MTH Burger Chef was a real restaurant chain

@OKHIKER posted:

I was raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia and during the mid 1960s we had a Burger Chef located less than a block away from the railroad overpass which led into the Martinsburg train station.  I never heard anyone in town or anywhere else in West Virginia ever refer to Burger Chef as "Burger Chief" and I resent the characterization of West Virginia residents as hillbillies.  I suggest you learn how to restrain your remarks.

There was a Burger Cheif as well. The restaurant was trying to capitalize on the Burger Chef success. The restaurant looked the same. I remember one in Kingsport Tennessee.

Scott Smith

The building for the BC I frequented in St. Louis County still exists.  It became a Hardees and now is a cigarette-and-dope shop.

You guys are forgetting to mention the "claim to fame" of Burger Chef.

"Home of the Char-Broiled Hamburger."

I don't know how they did it, but they claimed to broil their hamburgers on an open hickory-wood flame.

Their burgers tasted really strong of hickory flavor.  I wonder if they were mixing some liquid hickory flavor in with the meat, because there is no way that a quick broil of a thin burger like that could impart such a strong hickory taste.

Mannyrock

Surprised that no one has mentioned the Funburger boxes that became a building afterwards.  Approximately HO scale, my early HO was populated with them.  They also had a mat with streets, etc. for these that you could make into a town.

My model railroad layouts are set for an era that predates many of these chain/franchise type operations.

Growing up we had at least two Burger Chefs within a ten mile radius of our house.  By the time I was old enough to drive they were fading from the scene.  One building was torn down and the other was converted into a laundromat.  McDonalds was more visible than Burger Chef but even they were not the dominant player they now are. 

@Mannyrock posted:

You guys are forgetting to mention the "claim to fame" of Burger Chef.

"Home of the Char-Broiled Hamburger."

I don't know how they did it, but they claimed to broil their hamburgers on an open hickory-wood flame.

Their burgers tasted really strong of hickory flavor.  I wonder if they were mixing some liquid hickory flavor in with the meat, because there is no way that a quick broil of a thin burger like that could impart such a strong hickory taste.

Mannyrock

They had a chain driven conveyor belt that carried the patties through the flames.  The one near me had a couple of booths which were located where the process was visible through a window - that's where I always tried to sit.

Too bad MTH didn't include that as an animation feature.

Burger Chef was where I started liking hamburgers. I was around twelve years old and only ate hot dogs until the char-broiled taste of Burger Chef came along.

There was a Burger Chef on HWY 90, right across the street from my dorm at Florida State University (Tallahassee).

Great burger for when you are pulling an all-nighter.

My second semester I started working at Frisch's Big Boy ( waiter) where I got my fill of hamburgers during breaks, so I eased off on my Burger Chef visits.

I do have the Miller Engineering Big Boy sign and their rotating Big Boy.

I place them next to my Lionel diner.

Wish I knew where to get a small Big Boy statue, to place outside of the diner, by the door.

Jeff2035,

I think Big Boy Keychains exist. Could possibly be the size your looking for...just a thought.  Good luck.

Jeff

I remember a Burger Chef on Route 36 in Hazlet, N.J. Family stopped there a few times on the way home from Asbury Park, many years ago. Property is an Auto Zone now.

Jeff 2035:

Maybe the 3D printing experts on this forum could make O scale Big Boy statues ?

just a thought.  My family frequently visited a Topp's Big Boy in Jacksonville IL when I was in grade school

We had several Burger Chef restaurants in our area back in the day.

There are some locations that’s still exist as restaurants today.

On small Big Boy statue, I did a search, and did see several keychains, but all had been sold a few years ago. The keychain figure is 3", which is perfect. I also saw a number of real Big Boy statues, but for a couple thousand dollars the price is too high, plus one would crush my layout.