Family behind established Boro restaurant Akbar’s opens new burger and Chaii joint
Middlesbrough newest burger and chai hot spot is set to open its doors this week.
Burgerlicious, joined by Chailicious next door, has its grand opening on Thursday, January 6, and is set to open to the public over the weekend.
General manager Amer Ditta, 43, is Middlesbrough born and bred and is excited to bring his new business to locals.
He said: “Myself and my family have been in the food industry for almost 20 years now, we first opened Akbar’s on Linthorpe Road in 2009 and it’s been one of the most popular restaurants in Boro ever since.
“I hope that Burgerlicious will become a true institution in the same way that Akbar’s is.”
Amer explained that travelling to various cities such as Manchester, Leeds and London made him realise that Middlesbrough had a huge gap in the market for family run local businesses with affordable burgers.
Burgerlicious’ signature item is the ‘smash burger’ – which is a regular beef patty which has been flattened in order to intensify the flavour.
Amer added: “It’s one of our biggest goals to use fresh produce so our beef burgers are Angus Prime Beef and our Oldham chicken burgers are inspired by the town of Oldham in Kentucky, where the chicken burger was apparently first created in the 1800s.
“People can customise their burgers by having them either with normal sauce or our ‘sizzler’ hot sauce.
“At the minute smash burgers are incredibly popular on social media, so we hope to have the cheapest smash burgers in the country, starting at £1.75.”
The restaurant will be primarily open for sit in and takeaway, with the hope to expand to a delivery service in the not so distant future.
As well as Burgerlicious, Amer and the team have opened Chaiilicious, which is part of the same building.
Manager Amer said: “Chaiilicious is all about South Asian Chaii which has inspiration from places such as India and Pakistan, we also have Massala Chaii as well as Ginger Tea and Desi Coffee.
“As well as hot drinks we have traditional South Asian cakes and biscuits for customers to try, as well as cake pops and popular milk cake.”
Despite travelling to burger hot spots around the world such as New York, Amer is proud of his Middlesbrough roots after living there his whole life and hopes Burgerlicious can be accessible to all in the town.
He said: “We’re in a great location right in the middle of Linthorpe Road, close to Teesside University and close to the town centre, we hope to offer something the town is missing.
“We’re aiming to fill a gap in the market by being an independent burger company, which provides affordable food and a great atmosphere for our new customers.”
Amer and the rest of the team at Burgerlicious are hosting the grand opening on Thursday January 6, serving a ‘soft-launch’ service to booked up customers over the weekend – and will officially open their doors for business on Monday, January 10.