Serving up burgers with Kickstarter
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Scott Hume Guest blogger
British restaurateur Tom Reaney is seeking to raise 拢30,000 (roughly $50,117) through online-funding platform Kickstarter to transform his Burger Bear pop-up burger stand into one permanently housed in two stacked used cargo containers. The project will be funded if the total is raised by March 14, 2014.
According to the Kickstarter听, the restaurant鈥攚hich will be located in the Shoreditch district in London鈥檚 East End鈥攚ill be unlike any other burger joint in the city. 鈥淓xpect panoramic views of Red Market and its street art from the glass-walled overhanging upper container. The vibe? Down and dirty street food, as ever. You can still take away like the good old days. And if you care to linger鈥攄ownstairs or up鈥攊t鈥檚 a high-stalled, neon-lined, diner-style PARADISE! (the Burger Bear kind).鈥� In addition to the disco vibe there will be craft beers and cocktails.
鈥淭he interior will be built largely from second-hand, reclaimed materials, by volunteers, so it鈥檚 as sustainable and cheap to do as feasibly possible,鈥� according to the Kickstarter page. A 鈥済igantic spinning burger鈥� is envisioned atop the containers.
The stand鈥檚 menu includes a namesake Burger Bear classic cheeseburger; Angry Bear with听 jalape艌o relish and hot sauce; and Grizzly Bear with bacon and the restaurant鈥檚 signature Bacon Jam (which it sells). A larger menu for the proposed container restaurant will have more burgers and Chicago all-beef hot dogs.
Burger Bear, opened in mid-2012, also is known for accepting payment in听听digital currency, which it began doing last November. In January, the Wall Street Journal听听that one in five Burger Bear customers were using bitcoins to buy their burgers.
Although certainly not common, other restaurants have been fashioned from shipping containers. Among them are听听in Washington, D.C., and听in Victoria, British Columbia.
