Fatburger to open first Mainland China location

November 28, 6:45 PMAsia Headlines ExaminerGlen Loveland

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Fatburger has stores in the U.S., Canada, Dubai, and Jakarta. A Beijing branch will open in January.

Photo by Robyn Lee

BEIJING, CHINA – U.S.-headquartered hamburger chain Fatburger will open a Beijing location in January. The restaurant will open in the Liangmaqiao neighborhood at the Grand Summit plaza, a few steps away from the U.S. Embassy.

Fatburger attempts to differentiate itself from the competition by focusing on its “made to order” lean beef burgers, “homemade” onion rings, and hand scooped ice cream shakes.

Fatburger was founded in 1952 by Lovie Yancey and “Mr. Fatburger” Charles Simpson in South Central Los Angeles. They grew popular for serving beef hamburgers on open grills. Yancey sold the business to New York investors in 1990.

In 2001, former Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Magic Johnson added Fatburger to his business empire. Now Fog Cutter Capital Group is the burger chain’s largest shareholder.

Fatburger’s parent company in Santa Monica, Ca. has nearly 100 franchised restaurants in 14 states and four foreign countries. Fatburger already has locations in Hong Kong and Macau.

According to a 2007 news release from the company, musician Pharrell partnered with Fatburger to open the first 10 locations in China. The release went on to state that Fatburger would open at Solana shopping center, also located in the Liangmaqiao neighborhood, in April 2008 but that location never opened.

While McDonalds and KFC are far and away the most successful fast food chains operating in China, Burger King and Carl’s Jr. are also opening locations around the country.