Will the Real Please Stand

The meaty tale of how a rogue Alberta burger chain came to be and why its fiercely independent owners can’t agree on anything—all of WILL THE REAL which may be moot as Burger Barons dwindle in small towns and BURGER BARON fast-food tastes evolve. written by OMAR MOUALLEM across Canada—possibly the world. These faux Bar- scalding dishwasher water, and why, for most of my THE BURGER ons have suspiciously similar menus and flavours, but life, I was fat. By 17, I was 210 pounds and one of the comes to me with a sauce as grey as Campbell’s operate under different names, like Angel’s Drive-In shortest guys in my graduation photo. My vice was PLEASE STAND UP? Mushroom Soup squeezing from the bun’s outer in Calgary and Burger Palace in Olds. And they, too, the Burger Baron mushroom burger. edges, down two juicy beef patties and onto a are Lebanese-owned. Always cooked to order, the patty never spent a moat of steaming, seasoned french fries. It’s my Zouhier Kamaleddine, who runs a Carstairs second under a warmer. It was crispy on the outside, fourth today. Burger Baron drive-thru with his family, likens it to succulent in the middle, and decorated with a slice Driving down the QE II toward Calgary, I the Mafia, though that would give them the credit of real cheddar, sautéed mushrooms and the pièce de stopped in Lacombe, Sundre, Carstairs and Oko- of being organized, which they’re not. None of résistance—mushroom sauce. By my calculations, I toks to enjoy my old staple and meet the people them seem to know who the original Baron is, nor ate about 1,500 of them between teething and leav- who still make them. From seedless to sesame- do they care. But in the age of the big-box restau- ing for college, but always assumed the magic sauce seeded buns and medium-rare to crispy patties, rant, gourmet burger and gastronome, might these was purely uncooked soup (hence the kitchen wall each was distinctly the restaurants’ own. They family restaurants need someone to lead them into of industrial-sized Campbell’s cans). But when I were delivered on plates, in boxes or wrapped in the future? finally ask my dad to ’fess up to this basic recipe, he paper and the only thing they had in common Only once did they try appointing one, in the late laughs at my naivety. No, it was a square dance of was the chain restaurant from which they came— 1980s, when 20 to 30 owners gathered at Edmon- said soup, soy, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces Burger Baron. ton’s Mayfield Inn for a summit of the Barons. My that made it irresistible to us Albertans raised and Since 1957, when the first Burger Baron opened father was one of them. weaned on Burger Barons. on Macleod Trail in Calgary (and this historical “Some people would tell me, I’ve driven so far to “fact” is hotly debated), there have been up to 90 of have your mushroom burger,” my dad reflects. “And it was these fast-food joints. Today only about 30 remain, ON MARCH 14, 1987, MY FATHER, a big burger. Not,” he gestures, cupping his hands to primarily in small towns; however, there’s a strong- Ahmed Mouallem, trimmed his moustache, put on the size of a wimpy Big Mac. “One double mush- hold of Burger Barons in Edmonton. All but four his best suit, pinned on a boutonniere and opened room will fill you up, for sure.” are Albertan, though over time they’ve cropped up High Prairie’s first Burger Baron. “I came to the Though there was never a corporate manual, in Saskatchewan, California and even near Beirut. town so that it will have a nice place for people to he knew that fresh fast food and big portions are That last jump across the Atlantic wouldn’t surprise eat,” he told the local newspaper. Then a 31-year- what the people want. Whether Burger Barons opt someone who knows that the restaurants are large- old immigrant concealing his heritage with a for drive-thrus, no-frills diners or a restaurant and ly Lebanese-owned, a fact which also explains the nice Anglo name, “Albert” took the opportunity lounge like my father did, they honour this code. aforementioned inconsistencies. to speak for the chain. He told the reporter this And though it’s an open code, it’s also a learned “Lebanese don’t agree with each other,” explains was the first fully licensed dine-in Burger Baron one. Majed Dleikan, a former hairstylist who immigrat- and predicted that others would soon follow. The As far as Revenue Canada was concerned, our ed in 1972 and opened a 25-seat Burger Baron in article ran with a supplied family portrait. I’m the family restaurant was Prairie Pizza Ltd. That was Lacombe that’s served almost the same menu for boy in the onesie. the name my dad planned to open under until his four decades. “Everyone—they like to be the boss.” Burger Baron and I have a complicated relation- uncle, who owned a Burger Baron in Slave Lake Even though all Burger Barons have similar ship. Throughout my life it paid for my toys and, and taught him the sauces, called and said some- recipes and, sometimes, logos, it’s less a franchise later, tuition, and nothing won friends like the ability thing to the effect of: “Look, the restaurant has a than it is a meme. For 56 years, it’s been copied, to order free fast food from any address in town. But good name, and it’s served me well, so do yourself a modified and passed along innumerable times, not the restaurant was also the reason my family rarely favour and call it Burger Baron.” just by Burger Baron owners but other restaurateurs vacationed, why I spent summers getting blasted by This is more or less how Barons are born. photos by BRENT MYKYTYSHYN twenty-seven ALthough he doesn’t tAKE CREDIT autonomy could come to an end. Jim Chehayeb, a Now in his 70s, he still operates three locations for starting the Burger Baron chain, almost every former commercial air pilot and Rudy Kemaldean with his family, including one in Red Deer’s Gaso- surviving establishment can be traced to 77-year- protégé, invited my dad and other owners to line Alley and another in Lethbridge—the original old Rudy Kemaldean. He bought his first of seven Edmonton, where he would propose the cost-saving Burger Baron, he says. in 1964, including the original in Calgary, and soon benefits of franchising. What could go wrong? The way Sal remembers it, it was he, a man hired Lebanese family and friends on work visas. “Everyone wanted to do his own thing,” recalls named Ray Barber and brothers Jack and Dick Mc- When it came time for them to strike out on their own, Chehayeb, a retired owner of a few small-town Donnell who opened it in 1957. He admits, “I per- Kemaldean gave his blessings to use a trademark he locations who claims to have franchised the restau- sonally didn’t put any money in,” but insists that he neither started nor owned. “I just gave them the name rant in 1980 as Burger Baron Restaurant of Alberta. came up with some recipes and added “Lebanese and let them do what they like,” he says. “There were “They couldn’t think on a bigger scale, that when spices” to the glorious mushroom sauce. But as a no strict orders. Just helping them out.” it’s a franchise everybody benefits. Burger Baron of silent partner, he says, he focused instead on ob- Almost everyone I meet speaks highly of Ke- Alberta could be like—maybe not McDonalds— taining a geophysics degree and working in oil and maldean, and they describe him with words such as but one of the big franchises.” gas. “I didn’t really pay attention at the time. Once “respected,” “a true friend” and “generous.” Per- My dad says, “It was a good idea but they start- the company went broke, I really lost interest.” haps too generous. Reflecting on how successful Bur- ed to have problems when they started asking who’s His brother, Rudy, started buying up post-bank- ger Baron became, Kemaldean has some regrets. “It going to be the manager.” Dleikan of Lacombe also ruptcy Burger Barons shortly after. “During that remembers subordination as the deal-breaker. “As time,” says Sal, “everyone was coming to Rudy … would be better if it were franchised. We have, as you Above & Below: Burger Baron, Carstairs know, the best burgers ever, ever made.” Lebanese people we like each other. We teach each and every time somebody wants a Burger Baron Nadim and Ihsan Kamaleddine run a drive-thru and takeout-only other. We’re not greedy with each other. But we’re [Rudy would say,] Yeah, sure, go ahead.” He adds, “He operation and offer Texas-fried chicken in addition to the famous Burger Barons were franchised, once, when Burger Baron hamburgers. they launched in 1957 and rapidly expanded across greedy when it’s about who’s going to be the boss.” was trying to help people, and I like to help people, Canada. A 1960 Globe and Mail classified ad for the These tendencies are not as stereotypical as but not in this way.” Above: Burger Baron, Okotoks they sound and have even been observed by aca- After Sal saw Burger Baron resurrect itself, albeit This location is one of the more professional demics.

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