In a star-studded ribbon cutting event, Bobby’s Burgers by celebrity chef Bobby Flay is officially open in SouthPark.
The burger chain at 6100 Fairview Rd., Ste. 100 serves gourmet burgers, fries, creamy milkshakes + breakfast.
City Editor Maria here. City Editor Jack and I were able to snag the celebrity chef for a one-on-one interview about the grand opening of the burger spot.
Without further ado, here’s our Q+A:
What brought Bobby’s Burgers to Charlotte? How did Charlotte stand out among other big cities?
I think Charlotte is a growing city when it comes to cuisine. I’m an “East Coast guy” and we wanted to pick a city that was amongst America, so to speak, but also, close enough to New York so that I could visit. This is gonna be the headquarters of Bobby’s Burgers and our partners at Intelligration are basically down the block. It made perfect sense because I think local knowledge is really, incredibly important. I think a town like Charlotte is an exciting place for us to launch because I think the enthusiasm for good food reigns here.
Food is your career. People know you from Food Network, cooking competitions, and your restaurants. What keeps you motivated to keep cooking and pursuing this culinary track?
Food is the most important thing in my life, besides my family and my friends, of course. Food is my life. It’s one of those things that people ask me about, like, “what do you do to relax? You work so hard, you’re always cooking in your restaurants, and on TV, etc.” The bottom line is I do the same thing to relax as I do to to make a living, which is I cook. It’s always just something that’s been part of me.
I often get questions about why I have a burger business and it’s because I’ve been a burger guy my entire life. It’s really the thing that I gravitate towards when I’m not working in my restaurants. When I’m done working after a hard night on the line, I want a burger. It’s the thing that’s really most satisfying to me.
Any plans to open more restaurants in the Queen City?
This is a very exciting opening but I think it’s gonna be the first of many. This is my first franchise business and being able to partner with Intelligration has been a fantastic partnership because we blend great operational values, food, and the experience. I mean, that’s the thing that I can really bring to the table and then having them as partners to help us operate, franchise, and grow and keep the quality and all those things are obviously incredibly important. So yes, the answer is we’re gonna definitely open a lot more in Charlotte.
But there’s always a possibility that there could be a high end restaurant at some point. A city like this is obviously a great place to try something like that, for sure.
What’s your recipe for a great burger?
I look at a burger as a quintessential sandwich. So every component is really well thought out, from the bun to the patty, to the condiments.
We’ll just start with the meat. A good sort of “down the middle” choice is 80/20 — so 80% beef, 20% fat. You need to have enough fat so that it creates juiciness and of course, flavor. If it’s too lean, you won’t get that.
We train the cooks at Bobby’s Burgers the same way I would train somebody who’s in one of my high end restaurants. It’s all that technique. It just happens to be a casual meal.
Add salt and pepper on both sides and we cook it on a griddle so that it gets an incredibly good crust. You create this great contrast and texture.
Then melt the cheese. It’s a very simple thing, but it really is important. It looks better and it tastes better. I mean, you just want that melty cheese. I mean, who doesn’t want that? Right?
I think the condiments, no matter what you do on your burger, should be simple and few as opposed to many because if you put too many things on a burger, it starts to taste like nothing. It all gets muddled. I like impactful ingredients and condiments.
We have the Bobby sauce that has a ton of flavor. We bring in lots of elements of heat, smoke, earthiness + all the elements. But the contrast and texture from the crustiness from the burger to the way we treat the bun, to the way we build and stack are really important.
What’s your favorite or go-to menu item/order?
My go-to order is a Bacon Crunchburger. So it’s American cheese, crispy bacon, very thin crispy potato chips, and Bobby sauce. To me, that’s like the perfect bite. I love our buttermilk onion rings, obviously. And our French fries, they’re so good. And then the pistachio shake.
Editor’s note: The pistachio shake is very creamy and nutty — perfect for pistachio lovers.
As for the menu, expect to find hamburgers with various toppings, a veggie burger, chicken sandwich, onion rings, sweet potato and regular fries, five different milkshakes + breakfast items (served before 11 a.m.).
Bobby’s Burgers is open daily in the Towers at SouthPark, 6100 Fairview Rd., Ste. 100, Charlotte. Check out our time at the restaurant and bon appetit.
