When asked what Al’s Burger Shack means to its namesake, Al Bowers sits back and takes a deep breath. It’s easier to talk about what the Chapel Hill restaurant represents to others.
“I always wanted someone to have a memory every time they took a bite of a cheeseburger,” he says. “Or every time they dunked their fries in ketchup or had that vanilla shake – those, to me, are memories. That’s the first meal I recall eating out: cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla milkshake. [I’ve been] kind of always chasing that.”
Al’s Burger Shack is the result of Bowers leaving the group that ran Merritt’s Grill in 2010 and forging his own path to ownership. As the Chocolate Door closed at 516 West Franklin Street, Bowers came in to buy the space and set up the first burger shack.
Since then, the restaurant has experienced high highs and difficult lows. Bowers describes Al’s Burger Shack’s opening on National Cheeseburger Day in 2013 and during UNC football season as “pretty strong.” But the first winter with no college students in town proved a big challenge.
The next peak came when TripAdvisor named the restaurant’s Bobo Chili Cheeseburger as the Best Burger in America in 2018. Al’s Burger Shack opened a second location in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village neighborhood the year before and tried creating a new concept with Al’s Pub Shack in Governors Village across the county line a year later. In early 2020, though, Bowers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the Chapel Hill location and shuttered the Chatham County location, saying in a statement the company “overextended during expansion” efforts.
Despite those hurdles, though, Bowers says a community both within the restaurant and in Chapel Hill was built very quickly – leaving the burger shack among the town’s most recognizable establishments.
“It got to ‘iconic’ status in warp speed,” he says. “It’s always felt like we’ve been here a lot longer than we’ve been here. Even from this side of the counter, it’s felt that way. Inherently, all restaurant jobs are tough – it’s a tough business – but I’ve always felt that once we turned the corner in March 2014, we were part of the community.”
Earlier this year, when the opportunity for expansion came up again, Bowers said he hit a wall. After turning down an opportunity for a new location, he was connected to Charlie Farris – the owner of several Chapel Hill Jersey Mike’s franchises – who was interested in partnership. While the business proposition initially fizzled, the conversations between the pair were lively, as they connected over their experiences in the local restaurant scene. Bowers said when Farris and Jason Kesler came to him with an offer, he largely credited that established relationship with making him feel comfortable enough to consider selling. So much so, that Bowers describes the sale of Al’s Burger Shack on December 5 as more of a “really great handoff” than an acquisition.
It’s not uncommon to see a long line out the door of Al’s Burger Shack at 516 West Franklin Street during spring and fall weekends. The restaurant’s popularity grew further after national recognition in 2018. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill)
Farris, who is a UNC alumnus, says he found Al’s Burger Shack attractive because of its reputation, its “high level” of operations and its simple, but delicious, menu. He says the plan is to not change the customer experience, restaurant name or food one bit, because he values those memories visitors have already made at the burger shack.
“I come once a week or two weeks, and I’m thinking about that Mookie Burger,” Farris says with a laugh. “I’m not thinking about [trying] something different, I’m thinking, ‘Today is Mookie Day.’ For me, that’s what makes a restaurant great: when I know what I want from that restaurant before I go.”
Bowers and Farris have not publicly shared the terms of their sale of the Chapel Hill restaurants. One thing the duo does share, though: the vision of expansion for the Al’s Burger Shack brand. But Farris says his ownership group is focused on maintaining what’s worked well over these last nine years before trying to make minor operational improvements, like having more ingredients made in-house and exploring additional hours.
“We keep saying, ‘We just can’t mess it up. We can’t screw this up: don’t screw up the product, don’t lose a bunch of staff. Just make it as smooth of a transition as possible,’” says Farris. “And once we do that, we’re going to look at any ways to streamline it, to make it an easier operation to manage.”
While Bowers and Farris say they talk every day about the burger shack, the Jersey Mike’s owner adds that his business partners in that other venture give him a helpful team. He says a built-in leadership group to help with expansion or people to simply discuss day-to-day tweaks with makes a difference in the transition to owning Al’s.
“Having my operational partners and co-owners approach those challenges and decisions, argue about them, and decide together how we’re going to approach [it] has probably been my biggest resource as we continue to grow,” says Farris.
Despite the sale of the Al’s Burger Shack locations, Bowers says this isn’t the end of his restaurant career. He says there are a few properties he and his wife, Melody, have plans for in the future. Right now, though, it’s about appreciating the journey of what Al’s Burger Shack has become.
“I’m going to sleep a little bit and just take some time – not rush into anything,” chuckles Bowers. “But we’ve got a couple of things cooking.”
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2023 buyer beware: Went there today for lunch, the burger paddy is now 4 oz instead of 6 and I’m pretty sure it’s not the same beef. Very disappointing. $10 for a mediocre slider is a no go imo.