known as the last great hamburger stand Fatburger has a rich history so let's expand on that with
the top 10 untold truths of fat burger it's all in the name there's something to be said
for truth and advertising because the truth about fat burger is that it has a very accurate name it
really is a fat burger fatburger's old school kitchen technique is all part of what makes
their experience unique they're home to what might be the first Smash Burger with locations
hand smashing beef onto the grill even today they also guarantee you won't find any of the
typical fast food heat lamps Frozen Patties or microwaves while you can order burgers that vary
in size the smallest Patty weighs one third of a pound compared to the standard Quarter
Pounder but the title of the fattest belongs to fatburger's biggest beef sensation the triple
King Burger this mountainous monstrosity divides a whopping one and a half pounds of beef into three
patties and packs over 2 000 calories when fully loaded with toppings and the included four slices
of cheese it's a Dante dish and finishing it in a single sitting is known as the triple XL challenge
it started with a delicious dream the origins of the famous franchise are as the legendary as the
eats themselves the tale begins with a lady named lovey Yancey who has a natural-born entrepreneur
in addition to being a woman of color had plenty of barriers to break on her road to success being
industrious enough to already own a restaurant in Arizona lovey was fascinated with the popularity
of hamburgers and moved to South Central Los Angeles in 1947 to start a hamburger stand
brainstorming with her boyfriend Charles they decided to sling Burgers right out of their garage
and the first ever Fat Burger was anything but fat it was only big enough for three bar stools
and the cooking space lovey named it Mr Fatburger as a marketing gimmick to push the size of the
burgers six years later lovey and Charles split up as lovey dropped her Mister she also dropped
the mister from her restaurant name simplifying it to the now fan famous Fat Burger she expanded
to a total of four La locations and pushed her entrepreneurial Spirit to continue on her own
working days as long as 16 to 18 hours and moving between the four restaurants to flip Fat Burgers
and keep an eye on business Levy kept her eye on expanding her entrepreneurial Empire and was once
quoted as saying I don't worry about McDonald's Burger King or Wendy's I don't think anybody
makes as good a hamburger as we do well lovey it looks like a lot of burger lovers agree with you
big burgers meant Big Business by 1973 Levy opened her first Fat Burger location in Beverly Hills
this made the biggest impact on her business as fatburger's reputation drew the love of Hollywood
celebrities gaining the restaurant even more popularity stars of the time like Ray Charles
James Brown and red fox were regular customers to pull up a stool the spot became a popular
hangout for the Rich and Famous folks who never lost their love of a good old-fashioned Burger
the success led to even more locations with lovey opting to start franchising locations
in the 1980s from that tiny three stooled garage kitchen Fatburger had grown over 30 locations by
the early 80s averaging a new store opening almost every year Entrepreneur magazine listed the chain
as one of the fastest growing restaurant lines in the United States expansion continued into
Canada with the opening of the great white North's first location in 2005. it was followed shortly
after by fatburger's first overseas Hamburger Stand in Dubai in 2008 which was such a hit
it was followed by seven more locations in the United Arab Emirates today the little West Coast
burger stand that could is now operating over 200 locations in 20 countries and word has spread that
Fatburger plans to more than double its Global footprint eyeing another 300 locations to be added
the famous folks love fat burger while that original celebrity connection is a
Cornerstone of the restaurant's early business success that connection was never lost Through
The Years in addition to those early actors and musicians stars who have professed their love
for Fat Burger include comedian David Letterman actress Mila Jovovich and musicians Nicki Minaj
and Justin Bieber and over the decades some of those celebrities even put their money where
their mouth is by partnering with Fatburger or franchising their own restaurants in the early
2000s NBA legend Irving Magic Johnson spent two years holding a controlling interest in
Fat Burgers parent company talk show host Montell Jordan owns several franchises in the state of
Colorado Kanye West opened Two Fat Burgers in Chicago back in 2009 as a franchisee under his
restaurant company KW Foods San Francisco musician E40 opened the first location in the Bay area near
Pleasant Hill California fellow musician Pharrell Williams joined in the fun by opening franchises
in China and expanding The Fat Burger brand throughout 2007 and 2008. actress slash musician
Queen Latifah also spent time as a franchisee but had to keep her business on the down low
since she was also a weight loss spokesperson at the time whoops hamburgers and Hip-Hop due to its
African-American and Californian Roots the most well-known public confessions of fat burger love
have come from the hip hop and rap communities the brand is so iconic due to its West Coast
history that it has been mentioned several times in popular rap songs by some of the industry's
biggest names the phenomenon peaked in the 90s when Fatburger gained serious momentum through
National Expansion at the same time East Coast versus West Coast rap rivalries made Regional
references a key part of the genre's lyrics Ice Cube was the first artist of the decade
to bring the big burger brand onto the radio waves including the lyric in his 1992 track
it was a good day about a 2 A.M trip to Fatburger Tupac Shakur had the same thought about the after
midnight Burger Cravings three years later in 1995 mentioning stopping at the Fatburger after a night
at the club in his track late night and just a year after that the Notorious BIG noted that the
best way to a girl's heart was to treat her at the legendary California burger spot with a shout out
on his song I'm going back to Cali good food and good Tunes always make beautiful music together
lovey Yancey was an icon to the end the legendary Fat Burger founder had watched her Empire grow
throughout the years accumulating her riches alongside her increasing restaurant count but
miss Yancey suffered a serious loss in 1983 that transcended her business savvy lovey's grandson
Duran Farrell was only 22 years old of age when he was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia disease
and eventually succumbed to it later that year Shattered by the shock of her grandson's death
the entrepreneur shared her wealth generously by making a 1.7 million dollar donation to the
Los Angeles City of Hope Hospital the hospital sourced the donation funds into sickle cell anemia
research in the hopes that no one else would suffer the Heartbreak that lovey Yancey did as age
and exhaustion caught up with her the Fatburger founder had seen her creation grow far enough
under her watch making a deal to sell the entire operation in 1990 D that is except for her single
original location in South Central California that started it all she continued to chip in at that
restaurant until she passed away in 2008 where she had lived to be an astonishing 96 years of
age lovey Yancey was survived by a daughter three grandkids and five great-grandkids who all carry
on the legacy of the groundbreaking businesswoman the first Fat Burger is still standing
speaking of that original location that was the Catalyst for the franchise it amazingly stands to
this day and has outlived even the founder herself one year after Levy Yancey's passing the shack was
designated an official historical landmark site by the city because of that designation the very
first fat burger that was located on Western Avenue near Jefferson Park in South Central Los
Angeles was Untouchable by developers it could not be torn down modified or relocated but because the
city had changed so drastically since the stand first opened in 1947 by 2009 it was sitting on a
35 000 square foot parcel of what had become zoned commercial real estate when the land was purchased
for a cool price of three million dollars the new owners got creative and announced they would rehab
and incorporate the site as a beacon of black entrepreneurship in a neighborhood on the upswing
that burger one is now part of the Jefferson Park complex that opened in 2014 that provides
affordable housing to low-income families and HIV patients complete with a playground Community
Center and public computer access lovey ansi's enduring Spirit lives on in the neighborhood she
put on the map Fatburger had a crossover event with Bob's Burgers with over a decade on the
airwaves and a major motion picture under its belt the famous Bob's Burgers Animated Series has done
its fair share to make hamburgers as popular as ever but before the hit series even aired
a single episode it needed a Little Help from an already established Burger giant fat burger
the TV series premiered on January 9 2011 but three days before that the Marketing Executives
at Fox cooked up a promotional scheme bigger than Gene belcher's vocal Talent four specific
Fat Burger locations across major U.S markets were to become Bob's Burgers locations for one
day only Chicago Las Vegas New Jersey and of course Los Angeles were chosen as the four
host cities and one lucky Fat Burger in each got the promotion the Transformations were complete
with cardboard cutouts of the show's character in each restaurants signage changed to reflect
the temporary name and even a bob Belcher dad joke named Berger was sold the thanks a brunch Burger
a meme once talked about Marvel's Infinity War being the most ambitious crossover event
in history but Burger fans of both the animated and real-life varieties might just beg to differ
fatburger's ownership group wanted to get fatter while Levy Yancey has long since been out of the
ownership picture fatburger's ownership group in modern times had even more extensive expansion
plans than she could have ever imagined for her beloved Burger brand that group is fat
Brands and it has ownership over not just its Flagship Fatburger locations but over a dozen
other famous chain restaurants too Marble Slab Johnny Rockets hot dog on a stick and Twin Peaks
are just a few of the fast food Giants under the fat Brand's umbrella and in 2021 the group's CEO
made a staggering announcement expanding their Collective portfolio by a staggering 900 new
restaurant locations in the next five years and of course this massive undertaking would
be anchored by the Fatburger Cornerstone getting most of those new locations the company estimated
to have 60 of them constructed and opened in time for the start of 2023 but the final until
truth on this list might have changed the plan Fat Burger fraud an unfortunate announcement in
February of 2022 derailed the ambitious business plans of the fat Brand's conglomerate and it still
has negative ongoing consequences the same chief executive officer who announced huge expansion
plans was announced to be under investigation by federal authorities for fraudulent business
practices the list included money laundering tax evasion and wire fraud and sent the company's
stock and reputation into a tailspin as a result of the drop in stock market value fat brands
has to Shell out two and a half million dollars worth of cash payouts to their shareholders and
another half million dollars in stock payouts it's tough news for a beloved chain with such
humble beginnings and it looks like the mighty fat burger might be shedding a few pounds after all
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