Chicago to Welcome a ‘Good Burger’ Pop-Up to Tap into Nickelodeon Nostalgia
Chicagoans will soon be able to visit the home of the Good Burger, drink an orange soda and live out their ’90s Nick Kid dreams at a new Chicago pop-up restaurant!
After a successful run in Los Angeles, the Good Burger pop-up inspired by Kel Mitchell's fast-food sketche on Nickelodeon's All That (and the beloved 1997 movie adaptation of the sketch) will make its way east to the city in 2020. Organizers haven't announced an exact location or an opening date yet, but that's not going to stop fans from getting stoked about finally trying Ed's secret-recipe special sauce for themselves!
Good Burger LA will end a three-month run on Sunday, September 29 with delivery continuing though December, according to a news release.
Reservation tickets can be purchased at https://www.goodburgerpopup.com/. Fans can follow the Good Burger experience on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Update (2/3/2020) - ViacomCBS Consumer Products and Saved by the Max will be taking part in a discussion panel at the 2020 Licensing Leadership Summit!:
Feeding the Fans: Elevating IP Through Branded Dining Experiences and More
Date: Monday 16th of March
Time: 3:15 PM - 3:55 PM
Location: Mercury Ballroom
Duration: 40 minutes
SESSION DESCRIPTION
This session will delve into extending your brand through licensed dining experiences and restaurant pop-ups, all while delivering an authentic experience. The discussion will include recent category trends, the importance of social media, and case studies such as Beverly Hills 90210, Breaking Bad, Saved by the Bell and Star Trek for super fans and nostalgic audiences. Join Veronica Hart from ViacomCBS and Derek Berry, an innovator in the restaurant pop-up space, for this interactive discussion.
The nostalgic pop-up comes from the same team behind the Saved by the Bell-themed concept Saved by the Max, which turned a Wicker Park storefront into a neon-lit diner that served Bayside Burgers and Snack Attack sundaes throughout the latter half of 2016.
Derek Berry, a partner at Beauty Bar in West Town, created the officially licensed Saved by the Bell pop-up in 2016 and the restaurant exceeded expectations with a year run in Chicago. He brought the Max to LA in 2018 and it closed in April 2018. Good Burger launched in July as a tie-in to Nickelodeon's All That revival. The Max’s success inspired many Chicago bars to hold pop-ups based on nostalgic pop-culture properties.
Eggslut founder and celebrity chef Alvin Cailan consulted on the pop-up's menu, bringing dishes like the signature Good Burger and Good Chunks (honey mustard chicken tenders) to life. The menu also features an assortment of sides (Good Fries, Good Rings, Good Pickles, Good Salad), desserts (Good Shakes, Good Pies, Good Cookies) and several orange soda-inspired cocktails. It’ll also features a meat-free Beyond Meat burger.
Cashiers also greet customers with Ed's iconic catchphrase, “Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?”.
Cailan has experience with pop-culture properties as he developed Blue Apron’s burger kits themed after Fox’s animated series Bob’s Burgers.
Visitors may visit to try the food, but they'll want to stick around for photo-ops inside of the recreation of a locale that they likely last experienced on a standard definition television set. When the event launched in L.A., the space even included an old-school arcade with all games set to free-play mode. Throughout its run, All That cast members, including Kel Mitchell (aka Ed the Good Burger Guy) and Nick Cannon showed up for surprise appearances. Though neither detail has been confirmed for the Chicago run, fans are hoping Chicago native Mitchell swings by his old stomping ground for a visit.
While pricing hasn't been been announced for the Chicago location yet, at the L.A. incarnation of the pop-up, a $30 ticket included one signature Good Burger menu item, a side and a commemorative paper hat just like the one Ed always wore. Additional entrees, desserts, milkshakes and boozy cocktails can be ordered à la carte, so there's no need to worry about going home hungry.
The pop-up was designed by multi-disciplinary artist Floyd A. Davis IV who states “The goal of the design is to create a connection between the nostalgic visual legacy of Good Burger’s iconic past forms, and the updated aesthetic of the new season of Nickelodeon’s All That.”
The Saved by the Max space is currently occupied by Dorian’s, a restaurant/bar that hosts live music and run by Berry’s business partner Zack Eastman. Eastman (who also owns the East Room) and Berry also partnered with Steve Harris, the veteran Chicago bar owner behind Debonair Social Club. The team recruited chef Brian Fisher to create the menu for the Saved by the Bell pop-up. Fisher, who presides over Michelin-starred Entente, isn’t involved with Good Burger.
Eggslut was founded in LA in 2011 and now has four California locations and one in Las Vegas, with plans for Japan, London, and Kuwait. The restaurant specializes in egg sandwiches on fresh biscuits. There’s been rumblings of a Chicago expansion, so this move may intensify those rumors.
Good Burger started as a sketch on the TV show All That before Hollywood adapted it into a 1997 movie. The premise involved characters who work at a fictional fast-food restaurant. In the movie, Mitchell’s character, Ed, develops a beloved secret sauce that distinguishes Good Burger from the competition. The sketch frequently featured Kenan Thompson, the comedian who’s spent 16 years on Saturday Night Live — the series’s longest-tenured cast member - with Thompson also co-starring as Ed's co-worker in the theatrical.
The team’s success in working with NBC and Saved by the Bell has made an impression in Hollywood. Berry has moved to LA with his family, and when the LA crew behind a Beverly Hills, 90210 pop-up needed help, CBS hired Berry to spruce up the Peach Pit.
Check out video and photos from L.A.'s Good Burger pop-up and stay tuned for additional information about its Chicago debut, including opening date, dude.
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Who loves orange soda? | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
The signature Good Burger | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Kel can take your order. | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
The Beyond Meat vegan Good Burger lettuce wrap | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Yes, these are Kel Mitchell’s real shoes. | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
The Good Chunks chicken tenders | Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
Photograph: Stephanie Breijo
The All That revival is now available to watch on Nickelodeon!
More Nick: Nickelodeon Teases 'Bikini Bottom Experience'!
Sources: Time Out Chicago, Eater Chicago; Additional sources: Wiktionary, Google, Kidscreen.
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon, All That, Kenan & Kel and Good Burger News and Highlights!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have your say by leaving a comment below! NickALive! welcomes friendly and respectful comments. Please familiarize with the blog's Comment Policy before commenting. All new comments are moderated and won't appear straight away.