New Spot: Banks Burger

INTERVIEWED BY Michaela Stehr IMAGES Christopher Chase and Robyn Beattie

A quirky new burger joint has opened in Cape Town’s leafy southern suburbs. We chat to co-owner Murray Beattie about hip new spot Banks Burger.

Who is involved in Banks Burger?

We’re a family owned and operated business. At present the shop is being run by myself and my sister’s boyfriend, Liam.

Where did the name come from?

Banks was the nickname I gave my grandfather as a little kid, I couldn’t pronounce the word “Grandpa” so this was the name I ended up giving him. He’s always been an inspiration to me so I figured it would be a cool homage to him to name the shop Banks Burger. We like to think the product we serve would do him proud.

How did you decide on your decor scheme?

We have an incredibly talented designer, Christopher Chase, who worked very closely with us from the development of the concept right through to the finishes in the shop, which allowed the space to develop pretty organically. As a brand we wanted Banks to feel welcoming to everyone, and we’ve tried to pull that through to the look and feel of our first shop. I’m a bit of a nostalgia-phile so I really wanted the shop to give our customers a feeling of familiarity, to be a place where they can feel comfortable and welcomed, while not beating them over the head with retro styling. The decor is quite low-key, with splashes of colour and features designed to brighten up the space and create a light-hearted feel to the shop. We’re also trying not to take ourselves too seriously and to that end we’ve tried to steer away from having a strict design ethic. We’re also constantly updating and modifying as we grow, so by having a flexible design aesthetic means that we can keep refreshing the decor as we go along.

What sets you apart from other burger joints?

We’re positioning ourselves as a cheap and cheerful fast food restaurant, and so to set ourselves apart from the more entrenched players we strive to make as many of the components that go into our burgers ourselves, meaning that we bake buns daily, we pickle our own gherkins, make a house ketchup and secret spread for our burgers and make our own patties. This effectively gives us end-to-end control over the burgers we serve, allowing us to make what we think is close to the perfect fast food burger. As with all things though we are constantly refining and tinkering with recipes, and our in-house food process allows us to do this on the fly, meaning that we are able to get closer and closer to that perfect burger. By putting the best ingredients and freshest produce into our burgers we are able to take what is traditionally a purely convenience-based guilty pleasure into something that makes our customers feel good about eating.

Banks Burger is situated at 47 Dean Street, Cape Town. Opening times are Sunday to Thursday from 12pm until 9pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm until 10pm. For more information, visit their Facebook page.