Burger Theory was a chain of hamburger restaurants based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded as a food truck in 2011, they expanded to operate three stores in the state. In 2019, they reduced business to a single store following changes to their recipe, then were later absorbed into The Tavern, Flinders University's on-campus student bar.
 | |
| Industry | Food |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Adelaide, South Australia |
Number of locations | 1 (as of June 2019[update]) |
Key people | Dan Mendelson, Rob Dean |
| Products | Fast Food |
| Website | burgertheory |
History
Founded in 2011 by Dan Mendelson and Rob Dean as a food truck,[1] the company is credited with bringing the food truck movement to South Australia.[2] They started before the Adelaide City Council had legislation regarding food trucks in place,[3] preventing the truck from working on city streets.[4] However, a pilot program was created by the council later that year permitting Burger Theory to operate on a limited number of street sites in the central business district.[1][5]
In 2012, Mendelson and Dean opened Pearl's Diner as their first brick and mortar premises,[6] before opening a dedicated Burger Theory store in Adelaide the following year.[7] They subsequently opened outlets at Flinders University and the University of Adelaide.[8] In late 2015 they opened a store in Melbourne,[9][10] but this proved unsuccessful.[11] Still looking to expand, in 2016 they signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese investor in which it was planned to open 120 franchises of Burger Theory in China.[12]
In 2017, they announced that they would no longer sell chicken and bacon at their store, and their existing beef burgers would be a combination of beef fat and kangaroo meat.[13]
In 2019, Burger Theory closed two stores, with one remaining.[14] The final store was later rebranded under Flinders University's The Tavern student bar.
