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I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

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Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#111

Post by peterwwillis »

gerbilly wrote: post #44

This reminds me of the first thing everyone asks when you tell them you just got back from Maui: "Did you go see the sunrise on Haleakalā?" And, no I have not, because I don't want to wake up at 5:00am while on vacation and drive to a crowded parking lot to watch the sunrise in the cold with 80-100 strangers. Why is it that we all have to have the same experiences?

If you have a week there, and it's on the list of things to do, why wouldn't you go do it? Are you going to go all the way out there and not do the things? Then you'd be missing out!

We all want a magical experience in a drive-thru window, and we fear missing out. If you live on the east coast, you could go to the Caribbean cheaper and quicker, but it's not Hawaii!. The Caribbean is beautiful, but Hawaii is magical! At least, that's what we're told by the travel agencies. Then you arrive and realize it's basically the Caribbean with a Wal-Mart and better hiking (and more rain)

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#112

Post by garysahota93 »

GNOMES wrote: post #6

Wow, I planned on only skimming the article because I figured it was clickbait... Loved every minute of this piece.

Same! I read the whole thing and I was genuinely sad by the end of it. Was not what I expected for a friday, but dam. It was a really good read!

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#114

Post by kazinator »

LargeWu wrote: post #48
narrator wrote: post #22

There's an easy solution to having too much business : raise prices. I think this is one of A16Z's big insights into most businesses[1]: they don't charge enough. If you look at the best restaurants in America like the French Laundry in Napa, they charge astronomical ridiculous prices and they still have reservations for months ahead of time. The oldest restaurant in Paris requires you put down a 400 euro deposit jus…

Then this prices out the neighborhood locals who made the place successful in the first place. These are people that the owner and workers know and care about. I think he could care less about the tourists that come in once just to Instagram their "best burger in America".

It's okay to temporarily price out the locals until the inundation goes away.

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#115

Post by king_panic »

evo_9 wrote: post #96

They need to introduce a 'Local VIP' card. Basically if you are regular you get a card; if you aren't a regular they recognized and you are a semi-regular local, you show your drivers license and they can decide if you warrant a local VIP card. If this doesn't solve it, then raise the price. Still too many people, and long waits - what a great problem - get a loan and open a second location or expand the first.

^ THIS

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#116

Post by huangc10 »

Really interesting article. This is the link to the yelp review: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stanichs-portland-5?osq=stanich

IMO, it's unfair to blame it on the guy who recommended the restaurant. There are thousands of restaurants that dream to have it happen. Think of it like this, I write an app and Mark Z shares it on his twitter. Sure, the traffic can kill the app, but I have to find a way to maintain it and do my due diligence to make sure the site will run smoothly when the user base increases.

It's too bad what happened. It does appear the real problem was family issues and not having great business practice. NOT the author/article.

I want to include the fact that burgers are probably my second favorite food after a Nigiri set.

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#117

Post by kazinator »

narrator wrote: post #22

There's an easy solution to having too much business : raise prices. I think this is one of A16Z's big insights into most businesses[1]: they don't charge enough. If you look at the best restaurants in America like the French Laundry in Napa, they charge astronomical ridiculous prices and they still have reservations for months ahead of time. The oldest restaurant in Paris requires you put down a 400 euro deposit jus…

I would do it like this: I would create a yearly --- no, make that lifetime membership pass which can be obtained for $30 or whatever. The locals would get this for free. With the membership pass, you would go to a separate lineup which has priority over the regular line up. Then I would work the the same relaxed pace as before, not caring whether 3 people are waiting or 300. The membership pass could make users and their guests eligible for a discount, like 15-25% off. Nothing too drastic.

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#118

Post by king_panic »

brewdad wrote: post #8
olalonde wrote: post #7

I wonder if raising prices quite a bit would have helped.

Not likely. The issues were far deeper than cash flow. The new business was primarily one and done visitors anyway. By the time you've made the trip to the foodie Mecca of Portland and traveled across town to try the "country's best burger" would you really be deterred by a $15 price tag vs $10? How much would you have to raise the price to make that work? How do you do this without forever alienating your loyal loca…

Would you have travelled to Portland for the "country's best burger" if the price tag was $15 instead of $10? How about $20? How about $25?

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#119

Post by chaostheory »

LargeWu wrote: post #79

One of the sad things about this sort of list is that it's literally just one guy's opinion. Sure, he tried all the burgers. I'm sure all the burgers in the top 100 are good burgers, but there's probably very little separating them except some personal preference. For example, I probably wouldn't have rated this place as high because I don't care for grilled onions on burgers; I would much rather have raw onions. The…

> The only reason anybody cares about that reviewer's opinions are because he has a platform and people are desperate to belong to something, anything.

I disagree. It's not about "belonging to something". I agree with what the author wrote in the article. The problem is with the paradox of choice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice). Decisions are paralyzing when people are faced with a myriad of choices. "Best of lists" fix this problem for many people, which is why they are so universally popular across industries. Now instead of picking from a 1000 choices, you have 10.

Re: I Found the Best Burger Place in America, Then I Killed It

#120

Post by enraged_camel »

batbomb wrote: post #94
JPKab wrote: post #19

People are lemmings. Franklin's BBQ in Austin has hours long lines. It's very good brisket. The hill country of Texas is FILLED with equally good brisket joints that don't have lines. People who wait in line for 4 hours won't admit this. Cognitive dissonance kicks in, and Franklin's is unique and better than everyone else in their minds. Try telling a person that their Bose headphones are overpriced and overrated, an…

I've been to a few Rudy's before, most recently in New Mexico. I'm not sure how much better Franklin's would be, but I'm not sure I would care all that much either.

If Franklin's is a 10 (let's say), Rudy's is a solid 8.
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