David Edwards and Jackie Henshaw with Killer Burger Interview with Amanda Smith and Baron Robison - July 30, 2024

It is Amanda and Baron, the ABCs of KSLM Radio.

Because Amanda and Baron are having conversations.

Yes, we are. And so we have Dave and Jackie in here today from Killer Burger. Good morning, you guys. How are you?

Good morning.

Good morning. Good. How are you?

So good. Okay, Dave. Tell me who you are, how you got started, are you married, do you have children? Give us all the juicy stuff.

Oh, boy. Well, I

see what you did there. Burgers, juicy. I think you think

you think you think you're gonna do that. I'll be here all day.

I am married. I have 3 kids. I'm a I'm a girl dad. I have 3 girls.

Okay.

And ranging from ages 11 down to 2, so fun and exciting times of life. Yes. As far as kiloburger goes, got into the business officially in 2023. Been talking to kiloburger since about 2019 right before the pandemic. The pandemic caused some chaos, obviously, not just in, all of our lives personally, but business wise as well.

Okay.

Taking on an existing location, and we also have a development agreement to open 11 more.

Wow. Wow.

And, the the trade areas of Bend, Boise, and Tacoma.

Wow. That's exciting.

Isn't it Bend,

good time. Congratulations.

Yes. Well and what a great timing for the location we have here in town because that was a big old lot for a long, long time, and now it's a wonderful little build out business area, and you guys have a perfect spot right in there too.

Yes. And so, Jackie, what's your position at Killerburger?

Yeah. I'm the general manager. I've been there since, since day 1 with a very busy grand opening. Yeah. I've been, with the company since then, but I I know Dave from way back when, and, used to be a general manager with him for 3 years at another restaurant.

Okay. Awesome. So you guys came together kind of as a partner deal type of thing and worked well together already. Right. That's awesome. Yeah. Okay. What's your guys' address of your location?

Oh my gosh.

You want me to

say it? Yeah. It's I

write it down enough and type it out enough. It's 2540 Kubler Boulevard Southeast, and we're in the, Costco parking lot, basically.

Okay.

On the northwest end of the parking lot, and got some some great neighbors. I'll I'll give shout outs to these great neighbors, but we've got a Chick Fil A next to us. We've got Crumble Cookie next to us, we've got Starbucks, we have Costco. I've heard it called Vice Corner,

by the way. Alright. I'm gonna pause you, and we're gonna pick that up in our next break. Hey, guys. It's Amanda and Barron, the ABCs of KSLM Radio.

Well, for those who

are just tuning in a half an hour ago, you kind of missed the start of the conversation. But Dave said that was so funny to me that you're on Vice Corner. I think that's a great name because you've got you've got, you know, Crumble Cookies there. You've got Starbucks. And then, of course, you guys are there too. You did miss 1. There's a dog food place there too.

Can't forget about the dogs. I know. Mudbay.

I know. Mudbay. But the the other thing that that is really fun is that you have options there. Like, if you want chicken, damn chicken. If you want BFF cheese, you have both those options there, and then you have dessert as well.

saying that right? Phenomenal burgers. Phenomenal burgers.

Right. They they are Smash Burgers, so they have that sear, keeps all the flavor in.

Yes.

And, yeah, they they, they fill up the bun. That's for sure.

Mhmm. Oh, yeah.

It's a big burger. It's a 3rd pound patty.

Oh, wow.

So it's definitely filling. And I I do want to make sure that we know that we have chicken as

well. Okay.

So we have, really good chicken options. We actually have a a new chicken sandwich. So Oh, brilliant. Let's enjoy the the the chicken rather than the beef. We've got, both options that are that are really good.

Looks like you have a BLT chicken burger. That looks really good. You don't see those really often at all. Right.

And

then you have your, crispy chicken and then you even have chicken tender basket for the kids. You know, that's popular one with the kids.

And we even have vegan patties. So everyone Do

you really?

Come to us. Oh, yeah. We have vegan. Okay.

You can

do a lettuce wrap. You can do a bed of lettuce.

So the ones that are dieting even have options?

Yes. Do no bun at all? Yeah.

Now, I know earlier, Jackie, you had mentioned that there's one burger you guys are kinda known for. Yeah. What is that burger that is?

Our peanut butter, pickle, bacon. That is what you're known for.

Peanut butter, pickle, what a combination of

flavors. Yeah.

It is the perfect blend of the sweet peanut butter and, that nice beautiful, pickle there. And so it's yeah. It's beautiful, it's great, has that dynamic flavor there.

I I I'm looking at all of your options, and I'm not sure which one is my favorite, but I think the fun guy, that one looks so good. It's got the bacon, mushrooms, Swiss fondue, house sauce, grilled onions, and pickles.

Just for the record, do you know why that's called the fun guy?

Because it's everything?

Because it has mushrooms on it.

Fun guy.

Fun. Mushrooms are fun

guy. Brunch.

I get it.

I get it.

And and there's one there that's called the Bender. Mhmm. Not the blender. I mean, I think it's the blend. The Bender. What makes the Bender so special?

Yeah. It's got that, spicy barbecue sauce on there that we make in house, and then the crispy jalapenos. So it's our spicier burger.

Okay. Yes. I see the crispy jalapenos. Those are so good.

Yeah. Adds that texture crunch, but also then a little kick of the heat.

Yes. And the one whose name is attracting me right now is called the, Jose

Jose Mendoza.

Yeah. What makes that one so special?

Yeah. It's got, roasted green chilies on it, and we put them on the grill and get them a little char on the top, so it adds that extra flavor.

Smokes. My mouth is watering. You guys bringing lunch today? Oh, yeah.

Well, I'm not sure if there's one that is bad. And what's the most popular one?

The classic is gonna be our most popular burger. It's your classic burger. But then right after that is that peanut butter pickle bacon.

We're known

for it for a reason. Absolutely.

Let's dive into a few more of those in a half an hour.

I'll be right back. Hey, guys. It's Amanda and Baron, and we are talking to Dave and Jackie from Killer Burger. So what do you guys do with fundraisers? I know a little bit on our break, we had mentioned a few of it. Can you kinda dive into what you guys do?

Sure. Our typical fundraiser is a, discount off of your meal with a certain percentage of the discounted order total being donated to the nonprofit who we're working with.

So Yeah.

We've we've we've ran a couple of them over the past year that we've been open, most notably with family building blocks, also with, a few high schools, including South Salem High School.

Awesome. Can you elaborate on the family building blocks one? Because I think that was really cool.

Yeah. The family building blocks one that we did when we first opened our grand opening was amazing. We offered a this was the week before we officially opened. We offered a $10 burger and fry with $5 being donated to Family Building Blocks, ended up raising over $10,000, and we're able to present that check to Family Building Blocks last April.

That's April. Yeah. I'm doing some fast math in my head. You're doing a $5 from each one, and you gave them 10 that's a lot of burgers and fries.

A lot of burgers.

That's a lot of burgers and fries.

We we, it was our soft sell week, so team members would be able to get practice.

They got a lot of practice. They got a lot of practice,

which was great. So I mean, not only were we able to donate money to a a a a great organization like Family Building Blocks, but we also did get a lot of practice and a lot of repetition for our team members, which really helped us in our grand opening and operationally speaking.

Yeah. Well, and you kinda you gave back to our community also by doing that. I know building block building blocks is huge in our community, and they do a lot. And so that was really cool that you contributed to that big time. So thank you for your time.

When I drive past your place is you've got some seed areas outside, and I've never ever seen it not full. Like you have a lot of people out there. And of course, like, it's also summertime and it's better weather, but there's a good community being built there at your location.

Yeah. No. The the patio area is great, especially on our nicer days. I know we don't get a ton of them, but, on those nicer days, especially during here in the summer, then the other thing is it is facing east. So if you come after noon, 1 o'clock, it's it's gonna be in the shade. So those 90 degree days, you're still in the shade. Oh, yes. Also got umbrellas out there as well, but, great place to sit and eat your burger and have a beer.

Okay. Perfect. Do you guys have a website that people can go and, like, oh and ah over your burgers?

We do. It's just kiloburger.com. Very

simple. Okay. We'll be right back, guys. Stay tuned. Hey, guys. It's Amanda and Barron, the ABCs of KSLM Radio.

This is actually really fun for me because years ago, I was a a part owner at a at a franchise as well. So what made you decide to open a a franchise, and why this one?

Yeah. Killer Burger was very attractive. I have a buddy that that owns the Killer burger restaurants in Vancouver, Washington, so that's what really kind of got me onto it. And going there and eating the product having the product and and eating there with my family really, emphasized for me the intent to get into Killer Burger just because of how good the burgers are.

Yeah. That

was a great product, and it was a fun experience. You've got rock and roll music. You've got beer. You've got stuff for kids. So it wasn't just the burgers. It was the environment as well, and and so, yeah, it was a great opportunity.

The whole vibe of it. Right.

Yeah. Well, it sounds like that idea came to you right before the pandemic, and, of course, the pandemic put that on thing to hold. But then you opened your first one, but you've got plans to open more than 1 or 2 more.

We do. So we'll we'll be taking over the Gresham, Killeberger existing location in in about a month, And then we've got the opportunity to open the restaurant in Bend next year. We've got, the opportunity to open a restaurant in Silverdale, Washington next year. We've got, we're looking at Boise. We're looking at other areas in Tacoma.

So I can so I can see Ben doing really, really well.

Ben's gonna be a fun one.

Mhmm. Yes. Well, and so you so you are kind of the operational not the operation. You are the owner side of it, but Jackie, you're the operational side of this thing.

Yeah. Dave's in the store almost every day as well, but, yeah, I'm there I'm there every day.

So I would imagine to have a business like yours, you must have an amazing staff.

Yeah. I mean, my crew is just, is top notch. I can't say enough about them. They, always have a great attitude. They really bring the energy. We have an open kitchen concept on purpose so that the guests can really see what's going on back in the kitchen. Oh, I like that. And then we can also see the guests. I love when we are screaming a song in the kitchen and

the guests see us and they laugh and they have

a good time. It's part of Killer Burger's brand, to have a party. And that doesn't mean just for my team. That means for my guests. It means for everybody. If we're having a good time in the kitchen while we're cooking your burgers, and you see that, you're gonna have a good time eating that burger.

Oh, yeah. When people are in a good mood, it can be really contagious. So that's I like that whole idea and concept.

Yeah. Yeah. We encourage dancing. We encourage singing along to songs. We're supposed to have a good time. I mean, it's burgers. We should be able to have some fun. Absolutely.

Well, and kudos to you. I sat through a leadership course years ago and the guy said, whatever you see with your rank and file is a direct reflection upon the leader. So if the if the rank and file are grumpy, guess what? The leader is. So if if you're saying this about your crew, it's a direct reflection on you.

Thank you. Appreciate that.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean but I still wanna give the kudos to my crew because they are just they're just amazing. They are all incredibly hard workers, and they're dedicated to making sure that our guests get great service, and they get their food quickly, and it looks beautiful when they get it.

Well, and and we've got about 30 seconds, but you mentioned quickly. You guys have been open for about a year now. I would imagine you've refined the processes over the last year. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We have gotten just exponentially

better. You can realistically get your burger in under 10 minutes every time.

Yeah. Which gives me time to get through my first beer.

There you go.

There you go. Time for a refill.

Well, thank you guys so much for coming in. I truly appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

Alright. Have a good day, guys.