Where did Tonyburgers come from?  

And why are they so GOOD?

Here’s the story:

In 2008, during the height of the financial crisis, husband and wife Chris and Nicole Carver were in trouble.  The downturn in the economy had cost Chris his job, and he needed a new one, fast!  Chris had a background in computer programming but didn’t want to go back to the corporate world.  He did however have an idea.  He’d always wanted to own a restaurant, specifically, a burger restaurant.  Given the fact that he’d never even worked in a restaurant before, Nicole found the idea a little bit far-fetched, but she agreed that they could try if they did it together!

They started with a simple question, Is a burger just a burger?  Are all hamburgers created equal?  They didn’t think so—because every once in a while, often in unexpected places, they had tasted burgers that were truly great—juicier, tastier, more fulfilling to the body and the soul!

What was the difference?  In an effort to find out, the couple decided to go on THE GREAT BURGER QUEST.  It took them to Las Vegas, to Phoenix, to LA, and finally to New York City.  The quest became an obsession.  WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE?  There was only one criteria—Taste, but when they found a good one, the research started….the freshness of the bun….the make-up of the meat….and exactly how it was cooked.  They pried and bribed secrets out of cooks and gourmets.  They set up tasting boards and feedback committees.  They tried everything, and they found that the keys were total freshness and mixing different cuts of beef in exactly the right percentages.

Given their newfound knowledge, in 2009 they established Tonyburgers (Chris had a brother named Tony, and it sounded better than Chrisburgers or Nicoleburgers) and they put the first restaurant in Centerville.

But they weren’t done!  Their quest to find the best went beyond burgers, but also to fries, and their research showed that, again, there were no shortcuts.  The best fries had to be hand cut from fresh potatoes every day and cooked twice in just the right blend of oil.  Using Nicole’s expertise, they went on to shakes—again, only the best and the most unique.

“Everything that is really and truly GOOD,” says Chris, “has a secret, and the only way to find the secrets is to search and to research.  That’s what we did with everything we sell at Tonyburgers.”

Thankfully, Tonyburgers has been successful.  Chris and Nicole now have six Tonyburgers throughout the Salt Lake Valley with plans to open a seventh one in July.

“We’re so glad this worked!” says Nicole.  “It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been SO worth it.  Tonyburgers means everything to us.  We hope that comes across in the way we treat our employees and the food we serve our customers.”