The Burger Baron name is used by several fast-food restaurants in

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

History

Founded in 1957 in either

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

(the location and ownership of the first site is disputed), Burger Baron was the first

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

chain in Western Canada. The company expanded quickly throughout the region but suffered when the big American chains began to move to the area. The original franchise operation collapsed into bankruptcy and current restaurants are independently operated, with different menus, recipes, signage and advertising. Today, there are still dozens of Burger Barons throughout Western Canada, but they are mostly concentrated around

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and in small towns in Alberta. Many of the owners are

Lebanese Canadians Lebanese Canadians are Canadians of Lebanon, Lebanese origin. According to the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 Census there were 219,555 Canadians who claimed Lebanese people, Lebanese ancestry, showing an increase compared to the 2006 Census, making th ...

, connected to Rudy Kemaldean of Edmonton, who bought the first of his seven restaurants in 1965, hired family and friends and encouraged them to open their own operations under the Burger Baron name. Among other things, Burger Baron is famous for being endorsed by former

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

hockey coach

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

and other former members of the Edmonton Oilers. Several Burger Baron buildings formerly belonged to other chains. Five of them were part of the local

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

chain, once Burger Baron's main rival, which became defunct when the worldwide

company acquired the rights to the name for northern Alberta in 1995. The local Burger King chain had previously held franchising rights to

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

, and had buildings in the then-standard KFC design. The Burger Baron on 111 Avenue 95 Street used to be owned by Wes Kemaldean formerly housed the Burger King headquarters along with a Burger King/Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. An attempt in the 1980s to return to a franchise system ended when independent owners were unable to reach agreement. A legal dispute over the trademark between family members of early owners was settled in the 1990s.

Products

Burger Baron's typically provide multiple variations of burgers, such as a "

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Burger", and the "Pizza Burger". The mushroom burger is Burger Baron's most popular. In recent years one of the chain's main features has been Halifax-style

donair Doner kebab (, ; tr, döner or , ), also spelled döner kebab, is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cook ...

s, available only in certain locations.

Locations

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

Carstairs Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...

Bonnyville Bonnyville is a town situated in east-central Alberta, Canada between Cold Lake and St. Paul. The surrounding Municipal District (MD) of Bonnyville No. 87's municipal office is located in Bonnyville. The community derives its name from Fath ...

Drayton Valley Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Alberta Highway 22, Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), approximately southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast petroleum, oil fields. The town is lo ...

(4) * Hanna *

High Prairie High Prairie is a town in northern Alberta, Canada within Big Lakes County. It is located at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 749, approximately northeast of Valleyview and west of Slave Lake. History Describes the nature of the su ...

Kelowna, BC Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

* Lac La Biche *

Lacombe Lacombe may refer to: Places * Lacombe, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe, Louisiana, United States * Lacombe, Aude, France People * Albert Lacombe (1827–1916), oblate missionary to the Cree and Blackfoot * Bernard Lac ...

Lamont Lamont or LaMont may refer to: People *Lamont (name), people with the surname or given name ''Lamont'' or ''LaMont'' * Clan Lamont, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Lamont, Alberta, a town in Canada * Lamont County, a municipal district in Albert ...

* Leduc *

Maskwacis Maskwacis (; cr, ᒪᐢᑿᒌᐢ, ), renamed in 2014 from Hobbema (), is an unincorporated community in central Alberta, Canada at intersection of Highway 2A and Highway 611, approximately south of the City of Edmonton. The community consists ...

Mayerthorpe Mayerthorpe is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton at the intersection of Highway 43 and Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail). The town is surrounded by Lac Ste. Anne County and is in Alberta's Census Division N ...

Onoway Onoway is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 37 and Highway 43. History Two theories are behind the naming of the community. "Onoway" in Chipewyan translates to "fair field ...

* Prince Albert *

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

* Redwater *

Rocky Mountain House Rocky Mountain House is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Red Deer at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Saskatchewan Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 11 (David Th ...

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

* Sundre *

Swan Hills Swan Hills is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is in the eponymous Swan Hills, approximately north of Whitecourt and northwest of Fort Assiniboine. The town is at the junction of Highway 32 and Grizzly Trail, and is surrounded by Big Lake ...

Tofield Tofield is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately east of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 14, Highway 834, and Highway 626. Beaverhill Lake is located immediately northeast of the community. History Before 1865, only A ...

* Valleyview * Wabasca * Wainwright *

Whitecourt Whitecourt is a town in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Woodlands County. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton and southeast of Grande Prairie at the junction of Highway 43 and Highway 32. It has an elevation of . Whiteco ...

References

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History

Products

Locations

See also

References

Further reading