NEW YORK Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant and Sports Bar here in 2005 after a 17-year run, the longtime New York operator began to look around for a new restaurant idea he could hit out of the park. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Liederman said he looked at the city and saw “a lot of clutter,” a lot of the same type of restaurants. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“I wanted to present something different—something that would get people’s attention,” he said. “I passed on a lot of ideas. I passed on peas and carrots. I passed on bread and water.” —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Instead, he decided to go with burgers and cupcakes. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“Actually,” he added more seriously, “the reason I chose burgers and cupcakes is because people love them.” —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
The quirky pairing of the two unlikely menu mates, in fact, has helped Liederman’s straightforwardly named Burgers & Cupcakes concept differentiate itself from a new generation of hamburger specialists, like Burger Joint, Zip Burger, Good Burger, BRGR and New York Burger Co., that have opened in Manhattan over the past several years. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“I didn’t want to be pigeonholed just as a burger place,” Liederman said. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
To help reinforce that point of differentiation, he also developed a collection of exotic burgers that would give his menu a decidedly unconventional feel. Customers can opt for a burger made from free-range bison, lamb with rosemary, venison, ostrich, salmon with dill and scallions, tuna, turkey, and chipotle chicken. Vegetarians have a choice of burgers made from fresh vegetables or portobello mushroom. All burgers are priced at $7.95, although Liederman said he is considering raising the tab somewhat on more costly selections. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Liederman, who owns and operates the year-old Burger & Cupcakes with his partner, Nance Greenspan, so far has opened two locations in Manhattan: a 60-seat restaurant at 265 West 23rd St. in Chelsea and a small satellite outlet called Cupcakexpress, located in Beard Papa’s at 5 Carmine St. in Greenwich Village. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
The Burgers & Cupcakes table-service operation on West 23rd Street offers a full menu featuring 11 types of burgers, 15 varieties of cupcakes, side orders and beverages. The Cupcakexpress outlet serves only cupcakes. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
All cupcakes are made with 100 percent butter and are available in a range of flavors including vanilla, devil’s food, carrot, chocolate-peanut butter-marshmallow, cinnamon swirl, chocolate raspberry truffle, lemon meringue and strawberry cheesecake. The cupcakes are priced at $2.95 each. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“We’re trying to position the cupcake as being the new doughnut,” said Liederman, whose brother, David, also created the David’s Cookies franchise in New York in the 1970s. “Doughnuts are only good for breakfast and late-night munchy attacks. Cupcakes are good for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. And our all-butter cupcakes are better for people than lard-fried doughnuts.” —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Burgers & Cupcakes and Cupcakexpress are viewed as two expansion prototypes for future growth. Cupcakexpress, with its small footprint and cupcake-only menu, would work well in airports, malls or any place with good pedestrian traffic flow, Liederman said. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
The full Burgers & Cupcakes concept, while larger, also has been designed for efficient operations. The West 23rd Street store, which cost about $350,000 to open, measures about 1,800 square feet. The restaurant requires a relatively small kitchen—only about 20 percent of the total space—outfitted with a 42-inch flat top grill, two deep-fat fryers and ovens for baking. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Kitchen labor costs are kept low, he said, by hiring “cooks, not chefs.” Three employees work in the kitchen, while the dining room requires one or two servers and one or two people at the counter. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
The full-service Burgers & Cupcakes offers dine-in, takeout and delivery, although delivery currently does not constitute a large proportion of sales. Eat-in, in fact, accounts for 75 percent of revenues. The restaurant, which is located in the residential neighborhood of Chelsea, does between 50 and 100 covers at lunch, and from 100 to 200 at dinner. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“On weekends, we do a steady business all day,” he said. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Since opening during mid-January’s deep freeze, the store has been generating between $25,000 and $30,000 weekly, and Liederman says he expects it will annualize at about $1.5 million. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
He called the price points “very gentle” for New Yorkers, saying the check average for dine-in business is about $15 or $16. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“It’s a populist concept, attractive for all social and economic groups,” he said. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Burgers all weigh 8 ounces each, and about half of the restaurant’s customers who order a burger opt for the standard beef hamburger, which is made from a combination of ground chuck, sirloin, brisket and porterhouse tips. Liederman buys his meat from Ottomanelli & Sons, the New York institution located on Bleecker Street. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
For $1 extra, customers can top their burger with an array of ingredients that include eggs any style, grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, hickory smoked bacon, turkey bacon, chop meat chili, avocado, cranberry sauce and fresh mango salsa. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
A wide selection of cheeses also are available, including pepper Jack, blue, Brie, Stilton and goat. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Each plate is garnished with yellow tomato, onion rings, a pickle and slices of blood orange. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Turkey is the second most-popular burger selection, followed by bison, chipotle chicken and fresh salmon. Liederman estimated that he sells from 10 to 15 ostrich burgers each day. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Nonmeat eaters also can elect to order either the vegetarian burger, which is made from 12 different vegetables, or a portobello mushroom “burger,” topped with Stilton cheese. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
CHAIN FACTS NAME: Burgers & Cupcakes —When Bill Liederman sold the popular HEADQUARTERS: New York —When Bill Liederman sold the popular MARKET SEGMENT: fast casual —When Bill Liederman sold the popular CHECK AVERAGE: $15, dine-in sales —When Bill Liederman sold the popular MENU: burgers, cupcakes —When Bill Liederman sold the popular NO. OF UNITS: 2 —When Bill Liederman sold the popular ANNUALIZED SYSTEMWIDE SALES: $2 million —When Bill Liederman sold the popular LEADERSHIP: co-proprietors Bill Liederman and Nance GreenspanFOUNDED: 2006 —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
All burgers do double-duty as toppings in salads, which are priced at $9.95 each. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Other selections include fresh-cut/twice-fried potatoes, $2.95; cheese fries, $3.95; chop meat chili cheese fries, $4.95; and Caesar salad, $5.95.All potatoes are cooked in peanut oil. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
The blended food and beverage cost is about 20 percent of sales, Liederman said. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
Takeout business so far is derived mostly from the sale of cupcakes, and the restaurant makes about four or five deliveries each day around Manhattan. But when people dine in, he said, they tend to order both burgers and cupcakes. —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
“My dream customer would come in and order an egg cream, a cupcake as an appetizer, a burger and fries, and then another cupcake for dessert,” he said. “I see this as a diet-breaking restaurant.” —When Bill Liederman sold the popular
