Halo Burger

Halo Burger began as the very first Kewpee: the hamburger stand Samuel Blair opened in a boxcar-style wagon on Harrison Street in downtown Flint in 1923, the start of a chain that grew to more than 400 restaurants. When the Kewpee trademark owners demanded a full franchise arrangement in 1967, the Flint operator, Bill Thomas, refused and renamed his restaurants Bill Thomas’ Halo Burger. The original building was torn down in 1979 to make way for University of Michigan–Flint parking, but the chain carried on around Genesee County.

After the Thomas family sold up in 2010 the chain went through several owners, an expansion into metro Detroit that did not last, and a run of closures. In January 2016, during the Flint water crisis, its Flint and Burton restaurants handed out free bottled water. A Detroit-area restaurateur, Achille DiNello, bought it at the end of 2024 and reopened the renovated downtown Flint restaurant in April 2026. That building, from 1929, was once the Vernors retail store, and a mural of the ginger ale’s gnome still covers the wall next door.

The menu is Michigan through and through. Burgers come with “The Works”: lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion. The QP name is a phonetic echo of Kewpee as well as shorthand for quarter pound. The hot dogs are from Koegel’s, the Coney comes Flint style, and the drink to order is the Boston Cooler, Vernors ginger ale blended with vanilla ice cream. Official calories are printed on the menu boards.

A small group of restaurants in Flint and Genesee County, Michigan.

• Back Yard Burgers (United States, since 1987). A Mississippi Delta drive-thru that grills its burgers over an open flame, like at home. Also built on beef.
• Johnny Rockets (United States, since 1986). A 1950s diner fantasy with a jukebox, red vinyl and ketchup drawn into a smiley face. Also built on beef.
• Sonic Drive-In (United States, since 1953). Order through a speaker from your car and a carhop brings the burger. Also built on beef.
• Jack's (United States, since 1960). Alabama’s home-grown fast-food chain, where biscuits share the menu with the Big Jack. Also built on beef.