Tasty Burger

David DuBois and Phil Audino, who ran the Franklin restaurants in Boston, opened the first Tasty Burger in 2010 in a former gas station and garage in Fenway, a short walk from the ballpark. The look is a cheap-and-cheerful burger joint with beer, and the menu leans on classics: burgers cooked to order, chili dogs, tater tots and milkshakes. A second branch followed in South Boston, then Harvard Square, and at its peak there were six, including one in Washington, D.C.

The name is a tribute. For eighty-one years, from 1916 to 1997, Harvard Square had the Tasty Sandwich Shop, a fourteen-stool diner where students, professors and the homeless ate side by side, and which appeared in Love Story and Good Will Hunting before its lease ended. The Harvard Square Tasty Burger opened near the old site, with lettering meant to recall the diner.

In 2016 the chain sent a cease-and-desist letter to Chipotle over its short-lived Tasty Made burger restaurant, and from 2014 to 2020 it was the official burger of the Boston Red Sox, selling inside Fenway Park; the partnership returned in 2026. Today there are a few restaurants left in Boston and Cambridge.

A handful of restaurants in Boston and Cambridge, including Fenway and Harvard Square, plus concessions at Fenway Park.

• Halo Burger (United States, since 1923). The original Kewpee stand from Flint, Michigan, home of the Olive Burger and the Boston Cooler. Also built on beef.
• 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.
• Kewpee Hamburgers (United States, since 1923). The second-oldest hamburger chain in America, and the one that gave Dave Thomas the idea for Wendy’s. Also built on beef.
• McDonald's (United States, since 1940). Same golden arches, wildly different burgers in every country. Also built on beef.