Minute Burger

Minute Burger opened in 1982 and belongs to the Leslie Corporation, the Philippine food company best known for Clover Chips. It grew as a street-level burger stand rather than a sit-down restaurant: a franchised store needs only about 30 square metres, and the chain has sold franchises since 2003. Today it counts more than 600 stores across the country, some of them open around the clock.

The whole menu is built around one idea, Buy 1 Take 1: you pay for one sandwich and get two. That makes the burgers small and cheap by design, meant as a snack between meals or something to share. The chain’s own slogan, “Sulit Sarap Kasama”, puts value first, and the menu is split the same way, into cheap Sulit burgers and a slightly bigger range with steak-style patties, black pepper sauce and shawarma flavours.

More than 600 stores across the Philippines, mostly small franchised kiosks, some open 24 hours.

• Freshness Burger (Japan, since 1992). Tokyo’s relaxed burger café, famous for a yellow bun made with pumpkin. Also built on beef and cheese.
• No Brand Burger (South Korea, since 2019). A Korean burger chain built on a supermarket’s budget label. Also built on beef and cheese.
• Jollibee (Philippines, since 1978). The Philippine chain that beat McDonald’s at home, with sweet spaghetti on the side. Also built on beef.
• MOS Burger (Japan, since 1972). Japan’s answer to McDonald’s, where the buns can be made of rice. Also built on beef.