Few in Britain will know of Mark Wahlberg’s burgeoning burger chain In the US, he’s still best-known for being a Hollywood A-lister.
The rbrand will open its first branch outside North America in London on 20 May. It will be the 31st in the chain, a chain which Wahlberg hopes to see all over the world in the next few years.
“We plan to scale here in London,” We’ll open our first location, then we’ll go from there.
Wahlberg, 47, launched Wahlburgers with his brother Paul, a chef, and musician brother Donnie, in 2011. It’s a family operation. The actor recalls: “My brother Paul came to me and said I want to open a restaurant.
“Then the entrepreneur in me started to think about the opportunity and potential, and so I said ‘okay, I want to do it, but I want to do it in a big way’.”
A burger-based reality TV show and 30 restaurants later, Wahlburgers is happening in a big way. London is only a scene in a much more powerful act.
“We’re going to France tomorrow. Italy. Australia. Asia. The Middle East. I just had a meeting about Australia, Singapore, Vietnam. Possibly Qatar…”
None of these are confirmed, obviously, but the actor’s ambitions in the burger market are resolute. And Wahlburgers’ global expansion will be boosted by the launch of an express model – a takeaway, booze-free version of what has always been a sit-down restaurant. Wahlberg says express branches have already opened in airports in Toronto, Vancouver, and Seattle, and says he hopes to see “anywhere from 100 full service and 100 to 200 express model” restaurants dishing out burgers, tater tots, and fried jalapenos in the next five year.
There’s no doubt this is also the case in American cities, but London’s burger market is saturated. It has been for some time. There are acclaimed gourmet brands such as Honest Burger and Bleeker in a city pumped full of big names like Five Guys and Shake Shack. To some, burgers are getting boring.
