Burger Baron

Jack McDonnell founded Burger Baron in 1957, in Calgary or Lethbridge; even the location of the first one is disputed. It was the first drive-in chain in Western Canada and spread quickly, then struggled once the big American chains arrived. The franchise company went bankrupt, and since nobody bought its name or recipes, Burger Baron became something unusual: a brand without an owner, used by independent restaurants that share a sign but not a menu.

The people who kept it alive were Lebanese immigrants. Riad “Rudy” Kemaldean bought an Edmonton Burger Baron in 1965, eventually ran seven, and hired relatives and friends, who later opened their own restaurants under the same name. After civil war broke out in Lebanon, these kitchens became a training ground for new arrivals, and the Burger Baron model spread to small towns across Alberta, the Lebanese equivalent of the small-town Chinese or Greek diner. Some owners kept the name, others changed it, and the McDonnell and Kemaldean families only re-registered the trademarks in 1996.

Because every restaurant is independent, menus differ: there are Salisbury burgers and pizza burgers, pizza, fried chicken, fish and chips and, in many, Halifax-style donairs. Several occupy old buildings of Alberta’s local Burger King, once their main rival. The oldest still open, in Leduc, dates from 1971. What nearly all of them share is the mushroom burger.

Dozens of independently owned restaurants, mostly around Edmonton and in small Alberta towns, plus one in Kelowna, BC.

• Umami Burger (United States, since 2009). A Los Angeles burger built on the fifth taste, from parmesan crisps to shiitakes. Also built on beef and mushrooms.
• White Spot (Canada, since 1928). Canada’s longest-running restaurant chain, a Vancouver institution built on the Legendary burger and its secret Triple “O” sauce. Also built on beef and mushrooms.
• The Counter (United States, since 2003). The burger bar where you build your own on a clipboard checklist. Also built on beef and mushrooms.
• Bareburger (United States, since 2009). An Astoria burger bar that put elk, bison and organic beef on the same menu. Also built on beef and mushrooms.