News

Nation's 2nd oldest burger QSR, Halo Burger, reborn at 96

Halo Burger in its earlier days. (Photo provided)

September 17, 2019

Halo Burger is celebrating a long-and-healthy 96 years today, which also just happens to be National Cheeseburger day, which might not even have been around back when Halo Burger started flipping patties in 1923.  

To celebrate its longevity today, Halo Burger is offering its signature QP Burger (an alliteration of the brand's original name, KewPee, and acronym for Quarter-Pounder) for $1.96 from 2-7 p.m. across all of its restaurants 

The Flint, Michigan-based brand is the nation's second-oldest burger chain which started as a box-car style restaurant called Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs. It became Halo Burger soon after when it was bought by former owner, Bill Thomas. Over the years, the brand has transferred hands three times, including most recently in 2016, under current ownership group, Halo Country Llc., which has promised to return it to its former glory. 

Halo Burger's Director of Marketing explained, "When we came on board in 2016, we immediately learned customers were deeply unhappy with the changes made to the brand and went to work to bring back the Halo Burger everyone knew and loved," Halo Burger Director of Marketing Olivia Ross said. "We've gotten as close to the original recipe as possible, restored our ties to the community and focused on creating the best guest experience possible."

Co-owner Daniel Stern said returning the brand to its original burger recipe was key, particularly since it brought back fresh burger meat.

"After consulting the Thomas family, we made some major recipe changes to get as close as we could to what their family served back in the day," Stern said in a release about the 96th birthday of the chain. "We moved back to never-frozen 100% beef patties, hand-cut our produce each morning, bake all of our chocolate chip cookies in store daily and our locally sourced buns are fresh-baked and delivered three to four times a week."

This year the brand launched breakfast, expanded local vendor sourcing and philanthropic efforts, and even started selling beer at its Birch Run, Michigan store. Those efforts join the addition of its first food truck two years ago to make the rounds at festivals and other events. 

"Not only have we received immense positive feedback from our guests," Ross explains, "but the Thomas family has been big supporters of our journey since we took over. It means a lot to us."

Halo Burger will be one of many featured brands highlighted during next year's QSRweb podcast, which runs every other week on this site.