Once Upon a Time, There was a Burger Castle Restaurant
Updated
Charles Krebs became the first franchisee for the Burger King chain (BK #5) in South Florida 1957. Because of their tumultuous relationship, Burger King would not allow Mr. Krebs to open a second Burger King.
So he did the next best thing. He created a chain called Burger Castle. The first location would open in Hialeah, Florida, on July 10th, 1964.
The Miami News 06-29-64
The name Burger Castle is thought to be a merging of Burger King and Royal Castle, the two most popular burger chains in Miami at the time.
The restaurant layout was exactly like a Burger King of that era. The outside featured a giant twenty-one-foot sign shaped like a king-type character with a crown on his head, holding a shake in one hand and a hamburger in the other.
Stanley Tashman designed the layout of the kitchen and dining area. The creator of the giant outside of Burger Castle is still unknown.
October 8th, 1968, newspaper ad from the Miami News
The menu consisted of the “Flavor-Broiled” Giant Burger (similar to Burger King’s Whopper, which was topped with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mayo), a regular burger, fries, shakes, and soft drinks.
Soup of the day with a sandwich option was added later on.
Burger Castle Change of Ownership & Logo
Burger Castle in Hialeah Postcard
On September 18th, 1968, Krebs’ neighbor and friend, W.J. Fowler, purchased Burger Castle. At the time, the owners of Burger Castle were Charles Krebs, Frank Irwin, and James Turk.
W.J. Fowler added a commissary for production and, after a lawsuit by Burger King, changed the logo from the king to a knight with a shield. New additions to the menu were fried chicken, a roast beef sandwich, and a filet of fish sandwich.
Burger Castle had locations in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Twenty restaurants alone were in South Florida, which makes sense since their headquarters were in Miami, Florida.
In the early 1970s, there was a push to expand Burger Castle into California, but it did not come to pass. By the middle of the 1970s, most of their restaurants were gone. The only remnant left of Burger Castle is the bottom half of the twenty-one-foot sign, still up at their old location in Perrine, Florida.
Burger Castle Newspaper Ads
April 6th, 1971, newspaper ad from the Miami News
April 6th, 1971, newspaper ad from the Miami News
Burger Castle Restaurant Locations
All known Burger Castle locations are listed below.
Burger Castle Headquarters
1035 NE 125th Street
North Miami
Connecticut
501 West Middle Turnpike
Manchester
132 New Britain Avenue
Plainville
920 Queen Street
Southington
1949 Silas Deane Highway
Rocky Hill
Florida
350 E. State Road 436
Casselberry
2350 Douglas Road
Coral Gables
17500 S. Dixie Highway
Cutler Bay
Davie Blvd (SW 12th St) and State Rd. 7
Davie
1268 SW 40th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale
29 NW 44th Street
Fort Lauderdale
345 East 49th Street
Hialeah
444 Hialeah Drive
Hialeah
801 Palm Springs Mile
Hialeah
6520 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood
280 NE 8th Street
Homestead
2275 SW 87th Avenue
Miami (Westchester)
2395 NW 7th Street
Miami
5780 NW 7th Avenue
Miami
6855 SW 57th Avenue
Miami
8865 S. Dixie Highway
Miami
9045 SW 107th Avenue
Miami
10541 SW 40th Street
Miami
13495 NW 7th Avenue
Miami
6060 Miramar Parkway
Miramar
18400 NW 27th Avenue
Opa-Locka
2292 N. Federal Highway
Pompano Beach
202 South Dale Mabry
Tampa
Illinois
8660 Golf Road
Des Plaines
Indiana
6400 Melton Road
Gary
Maryland
Rt 40 West nr.
Ellicott City
Massachusetts
462 Worcester Road (Rt. 9)
Framingham
597 Lincoln Street
Worcester
325 West Boylston Street
Worcester
125 Squire Road
Revere
New Jersey
Route 46
North Carolina
Highway 70 East
Black Mountain
Rhode Island
1599 Post Rd
Warwick
South Carolina
208 N Main Street
Mauldin
Wisconsin
175 Layton Avenue
Milwaukee
5801 S. 27th Street
Milwaukee
11011 National Avenue
Milwaukee
Unconfirmed States
California
Louisiana
Burger Museum Collection
Burger Castle Clock & Blueprints
In my collection of burger artifacts, I once owned one of the clocks that hung in the restaurants and a full set of Burger Castle restaurant blueprints. An employee patch with the knight logo, a couple of postcards, and a coupon round out my Burger Castle collection.
34 thoughts on “Once Upon a Time, There was a Burger Castle Restaurant”
I have an 8×10 of some folks ( 4 men and a lady)… their clothing and hairstyles say mid 60s to me and the only partial vehicles seen are a very very small part of a 1964 Cadillac and a 1964 Rambler American in front of a Burger Castle sign…obviously a promotional or commemorative sorta thing. I’m wondering if it was for the opening or if you can identify who they are?
I worked at the Bird Rd. Store thru high school (71/74). What a great bunch of kids and the owners were like family. I remember my check had 3 FBM as employers. I had to ask one of the owners what that meant ? He stated three former bread men! These three guys all worked for Holsum Bakery and wanted get away from the bakery and to own a start up place. After HS I went into military and never went back to Miami
Greetings All.
Just an FYI. The Perrine, FLA location that had just the LEGS left of the sign.
Well, the stucco legs are gone. Just the steel up rights and the sign remains.
Sorta sad. Growing up in the “RIDGE” I had quite a few burgers there.
there was also a Burger Castle in downtown Springfield strip mall across from the New Post office at that time on main Street next to Union Market. 1960s thru 70s
I can’t recall a ‘special sauce’ we’d serve with the steak sandwiches at the NJ Burger Castle circa 1970. The steak sandwiches(at $1.19 or so) were a popular item and fairly expensive at that time. They were also the only item on the menu that employees could not have for free during their break.
My first job was at the Burger Castle on Lincoln Street Worcester Massachusetts. I was 17. I remember allowed to use some of the equipment because of my age. What I remember the most is the sauce we put on the burgers. Wish I had the recipe. The steak sandwich was the best. Actually all the food was so much better than McDonalds. Not sure if you will get this post but reading some of the other posts brings back good memories. Al, from Worcester.
I worked at the Burger Castle on route 46 west in Parsippany, NJ circa 1970 when it was first opened. The franchise was owned by a guy named Roger Craig. The food was very good, superior to the other burger outlets and our branch sold a steak sandwich and strawberry milkshakes, neither of which I see listed on the menu on this website.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about trying to resurrect Burger Castle. Apparently he bought the company from Charlie Krebs and another partner. (Charlie lived just four houses down from us in Miami Shores). He had done quite well in the direct-response mass-marketing of insurance products, sold the company, and we moved from Chicago down to Miami. He played golf and goofed around for a year or so, and then eventually wound up in fast food. He wound up losing everything, and refused to file bankruptcy because there was no honor in doing that……. and he thought “I’ll pay the banks back one day”. About 8 years later they forced his hand and he filled bankruptcy…. (I was a freshman in college).
Would love to hear your story, and perhaps toss around the idea of resurrecting things. (I always identified strongly with BC, because my father was W.J. Fowler and I was W. J. Fowler, Jr. In fact, when I was about 8 years old, he gave me a blue blazer that had the BC emblem/patch on the lapel – and of course he had the matching blazer!).
There was a Burger Castle in Springfield MA that is not listed. It opened in the late 60’s or the early 70’s. It is currently a AT&T store and the address is 826 Boston Rd. Does anyone have any more info or pictures of this location? Thanks,Alan
I remember the store Greg Fitzpatrick mentions. It was located next to a McDonalds. I preferred Burger Castle, actually. Less busy, maybe a cent or two cheaper on the burgers. Also remember their rather crude tv commercials (even by 1968 standards) of a cut out of the giant moving back and forth on the screen with a jingle playing ” Burger Castle..Ho! Ho! Ho!..giant burgers.. Ho! Ho! Ho!…”
Hi. I must have been 5 or 6 yrs old when we lived in Perrine, FL. All my friends were talking about McDonald’s & Burger King, but my father thought their food was bland. He only took us after we begged for days. Then he tolerated the meal. Our mother was more, “Oh, let them enjoy it.” But dad was about quality and flavor.
However, he found this place called “Burger Castle,” which he tried to sell us on. It wasn’t on a main drive, US-1, but off one street or so and north of the McD’s and BK. I remember the whiter colors, the King sign outside.
One night I recall that as we walked in, we were greeted by a very nice gentleman, who was maybe your dad. He greeted us and before we could order, I recall specifically that he asked, “Would you like a free milkshake tonight?” I was surprised and thought, this never happens. He than said, “Would you like a black berry or some kind of berry flavored shake?” I said, yes.
Again, I’m between 5 to 7 yrs old, but I will always remember how nice I thought that was. I asked my father why did he do that? My dad said, “Well, they want people to have a positive experience and to try things on their menu that maybe they haven’t thought of trying.” I was good with that.
But you know now, after having worked at a few places when in and just out of high school. I’m guessing they just made an extra by mistake and rather than waste it, they decided to use it for advertisement with the next customer. Boy, did it work. I was starting to believe my dad. This Burger Castle was becoming my favorite.
Now, to the burger. Burger Castle had a large burger, larger than the Whopper. Whoppers always had a machine-like taste, something not quite home-made to me. But that large Burger Castle burger was full of every good thing it was my fav after the first or second tasting. They had the Whopper beat by size and flavor. Hands down. My father was right. This was one of the best chains in our town.
He used to go to Royal Castle, as well, but it had all that chewing gum under the counters. The service was less personal and they only had 3-4 things at first. .25 cent burger, which dad always ordered in 4’s, so it was a dollar a shot. Then pie, and ? ? who knows. They were open late, but very sterile. My mom never liked it there. Cold and impersonal, I think was her impression.
But as always, crowds like to do what crowds do and buy. I worked at WordPerfect when it was the top Word Processer in the world. However, Microsoft pushed their marketing of MS Word, the less superior product, & it got market share. WordPerfect sold out to Novell, Inc, and Novell, only wanted their Groupwise email product to add to their networking software.
WordPerfect the word processor got sold off to Corel in Canada. What a loss! It’s still a superior product. When I was a consultant at Kennecott Utah Copper, they mandated we only use MS Word by Jan 1st that next year. They forced the issue, but the lawyers called me and said, “Can you get us a copy of WordPerfect, as we can’t do our job with MS Word. We’ve tried.”
Most lawyers were power users, some of the best. They said, “MS Word is junk. We can’t get our work done. All lawyers use WordPerfect.” So, we worked a deal. I got them WordPerfect and saved the company 1.3 million dollars in fines they would have had to pay had their docs been late because they were forced to use MS Word.
I wish Burger Castle was still around. It would fly today. Think of In-n-Out. People love retro. Besides all their food was better. Their shakes had a better flavor than the pathetic, plastic flavored shakes of BK and McD’s.
It would be a fun run to try and resurrect Burger Castle and rock the world with it. The colors were and still are unique and they could have the biggest burger and best shakes and a few other things to add. I would love the big King out there again. He was unique.
So whatever happened is too bad. Sad that someone was upset, but they were the best and Id say someone could give it another run and beat out In-n-Out, or 5 Guys. Sorry, but 5 Guys is hyped up to the moon, but their food is a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s just there, nothing to comment on. I’ve been there once. Period. Never going back. I only went because a friend invited me.
And, it’s unhealthy food. My son’s friend worked there during high school for 2, maybe 2.5 years and he had high blood pressure by the time he graduated and it took about 3 years before he could get it down to normal, as a 20 year old. So, not healthy food, I’d say. He ate all he could there, as he only worked after school and during weekends. There could be other factors, but the oil and frys and the greasy burgers…I had a grease slick on the table under my burger and I don’t see that at In-n-Out, or anywhere else.
So, yeah. If anyone wants to talk about resurrecting Burger Castle, drop me a line.
Thanks for posting this info. Good memories.
Steve
I went to the National Avenue location in West Allis, WI I remember they would put the whole burger if I recal correctly into a steam press before packaging it and giving to the customer. The food was very good!
My father owned the company and was the Chairman of the Board and CEO, after having sold his insurance company. Although it seems that a fast food chain couldn’t really fail back then, somehow it did, and it drew him into personal bankruptcy (from which he never recovered). I’ve been trying to find out more about the company, since my father refused to discuss it, and passed away when I was in college. I’d really appreciate anyone sharing any info that they have on the company, or any sites I can use to make more progress!
My Dad & two partners formed the company in Miami when I was a kid. It was a franchise operation & I recall there where stores in Maryland too. They must have sold it to your Dad.
Hey Doug – was Charlie Krebs one of the partners? (He lived four houses away from us, and I think maybe he was involved as well?). Any info is greatly appreciated!
Hi,
I was a kid during that period so my knowledge is limited. From what I recall my Dad (an Airline Pilot) was one of 3 partners who was involved in the early stages of the business. He was involved in Real Estate when not flying & his function was to locate new locations. When the company had grown to 15 or so the other partners said he either needed to come aboard full-time or sell his stake. He sold. The names that I recall are Charlie Krebs & Frank Erwin but I can’t say for sure what they had to do with any of it. I remember visiting stores & the main office. Doug
Douglas L. Turk
Director of Flight Operations
Life Lion Air Medical Service
Office: (717) 531-8760
Cell: (717) 215-3147
Thanks Doug for your input. As I’m getting filled in a little bit more, I think my father bought the company from Charlie Krebs (and who ever the other shareholders were at the time) after they had built it to a certain size (perhaps not long after your father sold his stake). Of course, it was a sore subject with my father so I never really heard what happened that took it down……. (recession?, poor planning?, law suits with Burger King?). Still curious as to what happened. Please feel free to add any insight or email me at bfowler1000 at gmail.
Haven’t a clue as to why the chain went under as my Dad moved on to another venture. He used the proceeds as a down payment on a piece of commercial property on US1 in Kendall. That venture almost sunk him (us) but he was able to sell it at the last second. Used the proceeds from that sale to build a vacation house & got out of the “business world” entirely. I spoke with my brother (who is older) & he confirmed the 3 original owner where Charlie Krebs, Frank Erwin & my Dad -James Turk. Charlie & Frank bought out my Dad & then sold the whole thing to someone who must’ve been your Dad.
Well, thanks for helping me piece things together. Charlie Krebs’ son Gary is a few years older than me, but we lived just four houses away. I’m going to try and get a hold of him. Glad your dad dodged the bullet.
I have Gary Krebs email address.
That would be great if you could get me that! Thanks.
Bill
My late father (Harvey Brant) and his business partner, Art Budwig, owned the BC on SW 87th Ave (Galloway Rd) at Coral Way. They were the original owners, around 1963, and sold it a few years later, doing owner finance for the buyers. A couple years later, the new owners quit making loan payments so we took over the store and ran it for a couple more years before selling it again. This time, the new owners tore it down and put a Burger King in its place.
Hey Jeffrey – I’m guessing your father and his business partner were owners with the original founders, which included Charlie Krebs. If you know what actually happened to lead to the company’s ultimate demise, I’d love to hear your thoughts…… (just curious, since it was a taboo subject with my father).
Good article, thank you. We had a Burger Castle on S, 109th and W. National Avenue in West Allis, Wisconsin. I could not remember the name of the chain, but when I saw the picture at the top of the article, no one could mistake that sign of the giant. Thanks much.
I have an 8×10 of some folks ( 4 men and a lady)… their clothing and hairstyles say mid 60s to me and the only partial vehicles seen are a very very small part of a 1964 Cadillac and a 1964 Rambler American in front of a Burger Castle sign…obviously a promotional or commemorative sorta thing. I’m wondering if it was for the opening or if you can identify who they are?
I worked at the Bird Rd. Store thru high school (71/74). What a great bunch of kids and the owners were like family. I remember my check had 3 FBM as employers. I had to ask one of the owners what that meant ? He stated three former bread men! These three guys all worked for Holsum Bakery and wanted get away from the bakery and to own a start up place. After HS I went into military and never went back to Miami
That’s cool, I’ve never heard about the FBM.
Greetings All.
Just an FYI. The Perrine, FLA location that had just the LEGS left of the sign.
Well, the stucco legs are gone. Just the steel up rights and the sign remains.
Sorta sad. Growing up in the “RIDGE” I had quite a few burgers there.
Regards, Ed
Oh no, I didn’t know those had been removed.
did this make it thru? lost control of the screen.
there was a Hardee’s facing 107th in the plaza on the s.e. corner of 107th and Kendall, the summer of 1988. was this where the BC was located?
Carlito’s Cafe is currently at the same address.
there was also a Burger Castle in downtown Springfield strip mall across from the New Post office at that time on main Street next to Union Market. 1960s thru 70s
Springfield in which state?
I can’t recall a ‘special sauce’ we’d serve with the steak sandwiches at the NJ Burger Castle circa 1970. The steak sandwiches(at $1.19 or so) were a popular item and fairly expensive at that time. They were also the only item on the menu that employees could not have for free during their break.
My first job was at the Burger Castle on Lincoln Street Worcester Massachusetts. I was 17. I remember allowed to use some of the equipment because of my age. What I remember the most is the sauce we put on the burgers. Wish I had the recipe. The steak sandwich was the best. Actually all the food was so much better than McDonalds. Not sure if you will get this post but reading some of the other posts brings back good memories. Al, from Worcester.
Al, my man, I wish you had the recipe too!
I worked at the Burger Castle on route 46 west in Parsippany, NJ circa 1970 when it was first opened. The franchise was owned by a guy named Roger Craig. The food was very good, superior to the other burger outlets and our branch sold a steak sandwich and strawberry milkshakes, neither of which I see listed on the menu on this website.
Hey Stephen
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about trying to resurrect Burger Castle. Apparently he bought the company from Charlie Krebs and another partner. (Charlie lived just four houses down from us in Miami Shores). He had done quite well in the direct-response mass-marketing of insurance products, sold the company, and we moved from Chicago down to Miami. He played golf and goofed around for a year or so, and then eventually wound up in fast food. He wound up losing everything, and refused to file bankruptcy because there was no honor in doing that……. and he thought “I’ll pay the banks back one day”. About 8 years later they forced his hand and he filled bankruptcy…. (I was a freshman in college).
Would love to hear your story, and perhaps toss around the idea of resurrecting things. (I always identified strongly with BC, because my father was W.J. Fowler and I was W. J. Fowler, Jr. In fact, when I was about 8 years old, he gave me a blue blazer that had the BC emblem/patch on the lapel – and of course he had the matching blazer!).
Give me a shout!
Bill Fowler
(704) 564-4360 – cell
[email protected]
There was a Burger Castle in Springfield MA that is not listed. It opened in the late 60’s or the early 70’s. It is currently a AT&T store and the address is 826 Boston Rd. Does anyone have any more info or pictures of this location? Thanks,Alan
I remember the store Greg Fitzpatrick mentions. It was located next to a McDonalds. I preferred Burger Castle, actually. Less busy, maybe a cent or two cheaper on the burgers. Also remember their rather crude tv commercials (even by 1968 standards) of a cut out of the giant moving back and forth on the screen with a jingle playing ” Burger Castle..Ho! Ho! Ho!..giant burgers.. Ho! Ho! Ho!…”
Hi. I must have been 5 or 6 yrs old when we lived in Perrine, FL. All my friends were talking about McDonald’s & Burger King, but my father thought their food was bland. He only took us after we begged for days. Then he tolerated the meal. Our mother was more, “Oh, let them enjoy it.” But dad was about quality and flavor.
However, he found this place called “Burger Castle,” which he tried to sell us on. It wasn’t on a main drive, US-1, but off one street or so and north of the McD’s and BK. I remember the whiter colors, the King sign outside.
One night I recall that as we walked in, we were greeted by a very nice gentleman, who was maybe your dad. He greeted us and before we could order, I recall specifically that he asked, “Would you like a free milkshake tonight?” I was surprised and thought, this never happens. He than said, “Would you like a black berry or some kind of berry flavored shake?” I said, yes.
Again, I’m between 5 to 7 yrs old, but I will always remember how nice I thought that was. I asked my father why did he do that? My dad said, “Well, they want people to have a positive experience and to try things on their menu that maybe they haven’t thought of trying.” I was good with that.
But you know now, after having worked at a few places when in and just out of high school. I’m guessing they just made an extra by mistake and rather than waste it, they decided to use it for advertisement with the next customer. Boy, did it work. I was starting to believe my dad. This Burger Castle was becoming my favorite.
Now, to the burger. Burger Castle had a large burger, larger than the Whopper. Whoppers always had a machine-like taste, something not quite home-made to me. But that large Burger Castle burger was full of every good thing it was my fav after the first or second tasting. They had the Whopper beat by size and flavor. Hands down. My father was right. This was one of the best chains in our town.
He used to go to Royal Castle, as well, but it had all that chewing gum under the counters. The service was less personal and they only had 3-4 things at first. .25 cent burger, which dad always ordered in 4’s, so it was a dollar a shot. Then pie, and ? ? who knows. They were open late, but very sterile. My mom never liked it there. Cold and impersonal, I think was her impression.
But as always, crowds like to do what crowds do and buy. I worked at WordPerfect when it was the top Word Processer in the world. However, Microsoft pushed their marketing of MS Word, the less superior product, & it got market share. WordPerfect sold out to Novell, Inc, and Novell, only wanted their Groupwise email product to add to their networking software.
WordPerfect the word processor got sold off to Corel in Canada. What a loss! It’s still a superior product. When I was a consultant at Kennecott Utah Copper, they mandated we only use MS Word by Jan 1st that next year. They forced the issue, but the lawyers called me and said, “Can you get us a copy of WordPerfect, as we can’t do our job with MS Word. We’ve tried.”
Most lawyers were power users, some of the best. They said, “MS Word is junk. We can’t get our work done. All lawyers use WordPerfect.” So, we worked a deal. I got them WordPerfect and saved the company 1.3 million dollars in fines they would have had to pay had their docs been late because they were forced to use MS Word.
I wish Burger Castle was still around. It would fly today. Think of In-n-Out. People love retro. Besides all their food was better. Their shakes had a better flavor than the pathetic, plastic flavored shakes of BK and McD’s.
It would be a fun run to try and resurrect Burger Castle and rock the world with it. The colors were and still are unique and they could have the biggest burger and best shakes and a few other things to add. I would love the big King out there again. He was unique.
So whatever happened is too bad. Sad that someone was upset, but they were the best and Id say someone could give it another run and beat out In-n-Out, or 5 Guys. Sorry, but 5 Guys is hyped up to the moon, but their food is a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s just there, nothing to comment on. I’ve been there once. Period. Never going back. I only went because a friend invited me.
And, it’s unhealthy food. My son’s friend worked there during high school for 2, maybe 2.5 years and he had high blood pressure by the time he graduated and it took about 3 years before he could get it down to normal, as a 20 year old. So, not healthy food, I’d say. He ate all he could there, as he only worked after school and during weekends. There could be other factors, but the oil and frys and the greasy burgers…I had a grease slick on the table under my burger and I don’t see that at In-n-Out, or anywhere else.
So, yeah. If anyone wants to talk about resurrecting Burger Castle, drop me a line.
Thanks for posting this info. Good memories.
Steve
Wow, thanks so much for that Steve.
I went to the National Avenue location in West Allis, WI I remember they would put the whole burger if I recal correctly into a steam press before packaging it and giving to the customer. The food was very good!
My father owned the company and was the Chairman of the Board and CEO, after having sold his insurance company. Although it seems that a fast food chain couldn’t really fail back then, somehow it did, and it drew him into personal bankruptcy (from which he never recovered). I’ve been trying to find out more about the company, since my father refused to discuss it, and passed away when I was in college. I’d really appreciate anyone sharing any info that they have on the company, or any sites I can use to make more progress!
My Dad & two partners formed the company in Miami when I was a kid. It was a franchise operation & I recall there where stores in Maryland too. They must have sold it to your Dad.
Hey Doug – was Charlie Krebs one of the partners? (He lived four houses away from us, and I think maybe he was involved as well?). Any info is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Bill Fowler
Hi,
I was a kid during that period so my knowledge is limited. From what I recall my Dad (an Airline Pilot) was one of 3 partners who was involved in the early stages of the business. He was involved in Real Estate when not flying & his function was to locate new locations. When the company had grown to 15 or so the other partners said he either needed to come aboard full-time or sell his stake. He sold. The names that I recall are Charlie Krebs & Frank Erwin but I can’t say for sure what they had to do with any of it. I remember visiting stores & the main office. Doug
Douglas L. Turk
Director of Flight Operations
Life Lion Air Medical Service
Office: (717) 531-8760
Cell: (717) 215-3147
Thanks Doug for your input. As I’m getting filled in a little bit more, I think my father bought the company from Charlie Krebs (and who ever the other shareholders were at the time) after they had built it to a certain size (perhaps not long after your father sold his stake). Of course, it was a sore subject with my father so I never really heard what happened that took it down……. (recession?, poor planning?, law suits with Burger King?). Still curious as to what happened. Please feel free to add any insight or email me at bfowler1000 at gmail.
Haven’t a clue as to why the chain went under as my Dad moved on to another venture. He used the proceeds as a down payment on a piece of commercial property on US1 in Kendall. That venture almost sunk him (us) but he was able to sell it at the last second. Used the proceeds from that sale to build a vacation house & got out of the “business world” entirely. I spoke with my brother (who is older) & he confirmed the 3 original owner where Charlie Krebs, Frank Erwin & my Dad -James Turk. Charlie & Frank bought out my Dad & then sold the whole thing to someone who must’ve been your Dad.
Well, thanks for helping me piece things together. Charlie Krebs’ son Gary is a few years older than me, but we lived just four houses away. I’m going to try and get a hold of him. Glad your dad dodged the bullet.
I have Gary Krebs email address.
That would be great if you could get me that! Thanks.
Bill
My late father (Harvey Brant) and his business partner, Art Budwig, owned the BC on SW 87th Ave (Galloway Rd) at Coral Way. They were the original owners, around 1963, and sold it a few years later, doing owner finance for the buyers. A couple years later, the new owners quit making loan payments so we took over the store and ran it for a couple more years before selling it again. This time, the new owners tore it down and put a Burger King in its place.
Hey Jeffrey – I’m guessing your father and his business partner were owners with the original founders, which included Charlie Krebs. If you know what actually happened to lead to the company’s ultimate demise, I’d love to hear your thoughts…… (just curious, since it was a taboo subject with my father).
There was a burger castle in miami on sw88st kendall drive and 107 ave in kendall mall
i thought i was the only one who knew about the legs…funny
Good article, thank you. We had a Burger Castle on S, 109th and W. National Avenue in West Allis, Wisconsin. I could not remember the name of the chain, but when I saw the picture at the top of the article, no one could mistake that sign of the giant. Thanks much.
Didn’t even know the chain made it all the way to Wisconsin. Thanks for leaving a comment.