How the son of a Burger Baron turned the chain's history into a 'surprisingly' successful documentary
CBC
Somewhere along Macleod Trail in 1957, an ambitious Irish-American businessman named Jack McDonnell opened one of the first two Burger Baron locations in Calgary.
Known for its iconic mushroom burgers, the storied franchise with a cult following is a staple for those who grew up in this province.
That loyalty exists despite the fact that there seems to be no consistency among the remaining 25 Burger Baron locations in Alberta.
The logos of the different locations are conceptually similar, featuring a cartoon baron brandishing a spike and shield, but some are dressed in red, others in blue, black or lime green. All of them are drawn differently.
Menu items, aside from the mushroom burger, vary from one branch to the next; some locations have donairs, some have pizzas, some have spring rolls — and some don't.
None of the owners of the Burger Baron franchises pay a franchise fee.
But the one thing the locations do have in common is that they are all run by Lebanese-Canadians.
It's that history, and a familial connection, that drove filmmaker Omar Mouallem to start investigating Burger Barons about a decade ago; eventually turning that investigation into The Lebanese Burger Mafia — a documentary film he said has been surprisingly successful.
"I had a lot of unanswered questions about it," he said.
"How was it that my family was able to run this chain restaurant, this franchise of a chain restaurant, but as far as I know, we didn't do anything that the other restaurants did?"
The feature documentary explores the unique and mysterious history of Burger Baron, while highlighting the cultural contributions of the Lebanese and Arab community to Alberta.
It made its CIFF debut on Sept. 23 and will be shown again on Sept. 26, marking a return of sorts for the restaurant to the city it was partially founded in.
Soon after he was born, Mouallem's family moved from Slave Lake, Alta., to High Prairie, where his father was going to open a restaurant called Prairie Pizza and Steak.
But his great-uncle convinced his father otherwise.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
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