Eddie Rocket's

Eddie Rocket’s opened its first diner in Dublin in 1989, bringing the look and food of a 1950s American diner to Ireland: burgers, fries and thick shakes. It grew mostly through franchising and at its height had more than forty restaurants in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Spain, although the sites outside the island have since closed.

There have been bumps along the way. In 2013 a dispute with the chain’s biggest franchisee, a Limerick businessman, took the diners in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and elsewhere out of the group; they became Rockin’ Joe’s and later Shake Dog. Eddie Rocket’s has since added a smaller, counter-service format called Rocket’s by Eddie Rocket’s, alongside the classic table-service diners.

The burgers are made with fresh, never frozen, 100% Irish beef and topped with the house “secret sauce”, and the menu has moved towards smash burgers. There are Irish touches too, such as Bicke’s relish on the Smokestack and a burger that shares its name with the M50, the motorway around Dublin.

Around forty diners across Ireland and Northern Ireland, most of them franchised.

• Hans im Glück (Germany, since 2010). The Munich burger grill with birch trunks inside and a fairy-tale name. Also built on beef, a special sauce and cheese.
• Supermac’s (Ireland, since 1978). Ireland’s own fast-food chain from Galway, which took McDonald’s to the EU courts over the word “Mac”. Also built on beef, a special sauce and cheese.
• Max Burgers (Sweden, since 1968). The Swedish chain from above the Arctic Circle that beat McDonald’s at home. Also built on beef and cheese.
• Hesburger (Finland, since 1980). The Finnish chain that outsold McDonald’s in the Nordics and the Baltics. Also built on beef, a special sauce and cheese.