Fatburger

Infobox Company
company_name = FATBURGER
company_
company_type = Franchise
foundation = Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1952)
location = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
key_people = Lovie Yancey
industry = Fast food restaurants
products = Burgers, french fries, soft drinks & milkshakes
revenue =
num_employees =
homepage = [http://www.fatburger.com/ www.fatburger.com]

Fatburger is an award-winningFact|date=September 2008 fast-food restaurant chain co-owner by Magic Johnson that operates in the United States and Canada and uses the slogan "The Last Great Hamburger Stand". It is especially popular on the West Coast. While a fast food restaurant, the food is cooked and made to order.

The chain remained mostly a California chain until the late 1990s, when it began a significant expansion in North America. There are currently 93 Fatburger restaurants.

Atmosphere

Customers are given a number after ordering, and food and milkshakes are delivered to the customers' table. A distinctive feature of the chain is that burgers can be ordered fried or flame grilled at the customer's request. Customers are given the choice of skinny fries, fat fries, or onion rings.

Each Fatburger location has a jukebox; patrons choose songs from a catalog of popular hits that are then played for free. Song choices are put in queue; however a patron can insert a nominal fee into the jukebox in order to "jump the queue," and have their song played immediately after the current one. Many of these jukeboxes are also directly connected to an internet based song catalogue. Not all locations support the internet jukeboxes, however.

Whenever a customer puts a dollar or more into the tip box, the cashier will yell, "Fat Tip!"

Partnerships

Former professional basketball player Magic Johnson, through Johnson Development Corporation, is one of the owners of the parent company [* [http://www.answers.com/topic/fatburger-corporation?cat=biz-fin| Fatbuger facts] ] . Former talk show host Montel Williams co-owns several Fatburger restaurants in Colorado. [http://www.montelshow.com/about/montel/] ] Bay Area rapper E-40 also has a stake in the company as a franchise owner, and played a key role in bringing the first Fatburger restaurant to the San Francisco Bay Area. [http://www.sixshot.com/news/8505/] ] .

On August 15, 2003, Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc., owned by Andrew Wiederhorn, completed a $6 million investment and financing package for Fatburger Holdings, Inc. ("Fatburger"). Fatburger operates or franchises 93 hamburger stands located in California, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Louisiana, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, New York, Canada, and China.

Rapper Kanye West's restaurant company will be opening 10 Fatburger restaurants in Chicagoland, starting in September 2008. [http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2008/08/kanye-west-brin.html] ] Hip-hop musician Pharrell, in partnership with Fatburger, opened several Fatburger restaurants in China in 2007 and 2008. [http://www.fatburger.com/WhatsNew/Article.aspx?54] ]

History

Fatburger was founded by Lovie Yancey in Los Angeles, California in 1952. Ms. Yancey died on 26 January 2008, according to Fatburger's parent owner, Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc.

Cultural references

* The chain was featured in the 1995 spoof movie "Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood"
* A Fatburger stand is one of Ice Cube's favorite places, and is mentioned in his 1993 single "It Was a Good Day".
* "Getting a Fatburger" was a common expression used by Lamont Sanford in the 1970s sitcom, "Sanford and Son".
* Tom Green has been known to mention Fatburger in a number of his songs, such as "Write Rhymes and Act Like an Asshole"
* It was mentioned in the film "The Fast and the Furious" where Vince gets into a fight with Brian O'Conner in order to go there instead of Torreto's store
* The chaineIs mentioned in "Goin Back to Cali" on Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 album "Life After Death": "If I wanna squirt her/ take her to Fatburger/"
* A Fatburger stand is the late-night hangout for the guys in the movie "Heartbreakers".
* The chain made David Letterman's Top Ten List for things he'd miss most about leaving Los Angeles.
* It was featured in one of the "Lethal Weapon" movies
* The inside of Fatburgers's Palm Springs, CA location was used to film the FatAssBurger scene for the 2006 movie "Phat Girlz".
* According to TMZ.com [http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/16/latifah-to-be-burger-queen/ Latifah to Be Burger Queen - TMZ.com - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip and Hollywood Rumors ] ] , Queen Latifah is opening a Fatburger franchise in Miami.
* In the Beastie Boys song "The New Style", Mike D says "I chill at White Castle 'cause it's the best/But I fly at Fatburger when I'm way out west!"
* In an interview, Matt LeBlanc mentioned that he used to work at Fatburger in New York City.
* On the Carol Burnett Show, Burnett spoofed the movie Mildred Pierce and "Mildred Fierce" as she was called in the spoof opened a chain of restaurants called "Fatburgers"
* Poker star Phil Ivey was seen tipping a Sapphire Gentlemen's Club cocktail server a $1,000 chip to fetch a Fatburger from the Fatburgermobile that's parked outside the club for late-night snackers. [http://www.lvrj.com/news/14309792.html]

Locations

Canada

* British Columbia (5)
* Alberta (2)

United States

* Arizona (6)
* California (41)
* Colorado (4)
* Illinoise (1, more coming in 2009)
* Florida (2)
* Georgia (1)
* Louisiana (1)
* Michigan (1)
* Nevada (11)
* New Jersey (3)
* New York (2)
* Ohio (4)
** Oakley (Cincinnati)
** Mayfield Heights
** Garfield Heights
** North Olmstead
* Pennsylvania (2)
* Texas (1)
* Virginia (1)
* Washington (4)
* Nebraska

Greater China

*Hong Kong (1, Upcoming)
*Macau (1, The Venetian Macao Casino Resort)

References

External links

* [http://www.fatburger.com/ Fatburger official site]
* [http://www.mazmanian.net/visuals/los-angeles/food-of-the-gods.html Fatburger logo/signage]