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March 2006 Edition

The Icon Returneth...Hamburger Hamlet on Bold, New Track Back

The founders of Hamburger Hamlet took hamburgers out of the diner to a higher calling — an upscale, casual dining environment where it was ‘chic’ and fashionable to serve America’s favorite food to customers who also wanted quality ambience and service. Thus, Hamburger Hamlet was born, created by the husband/wife team of Harry and Marilyn Lewis in Hollywood in its halcyon days of 1950. Hamburger Hamlet quickly became an icon of this new restaurant segment — upscale, casual dining — and the chain flourished for more than 40 years on both coasts and in Chicago and Atlanta.

But like many enterprises when founders depart, the ‘Hamlet’ fell on hard times, and after a series of dis-engaged owners, the chain was sold recently to an entrepreneur who had a passion for the old Hamlet. Enter Andrew Tavakoli, a real estate developer/investor and native from Iran, who earned multiple degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, Long Beach State, and USC. “Ever since my first dining experience at Hamburger Hamlet in the early 1980s, I have had a passion for this concept. Even though they charged more than everyone else for a quality hamburger, I loved the concept — the atmosphere, the menu and service. This is an iconic brand that is rich in history and tradition.”

Under Andrew’s watchful eye, Hamburger Hamlet is going through a top-to-bottom restaging, everything from back to front -- new information technology systems to redecorating to new menus to dramatically improving its training and customer service programs. “We’re restaging the restaurant to reflect its relevancy to the neighbor. We are going back to our roots — where the Hamlet is part of the ‘village’.”

The new brand identity is in transition now, Andrew said, and the restaurants are being re-named to Hamlet on Sunset, Hamlet Brentwood, and so on to reflect their intimacy with the neighborhood. Currently, there are eight Hamlets —five on the West Coast (West Los Angeles area) and three on the East Coast (Washington DC area). “This is a very powerful business — it has great cash flows (which landlords love), and it still has the depth and power of a famous brand that will continue to lure customers back after they have experienced the new Hamlet.”

Besides the upgrading of the physical plant, Andrew is bringing on board seasoned, quality executives to drive the transformation. “We hired a new Executive Vice President of Operations to supplement the organization’s leadership, a Regional Manager to improve operations and profitability on the East Coast, a new Director of Food and Beverage to enhance our menu offerings and improve quality of products in the dining room and bar, and a new Manager of Training whose responsibility is to bring the ‘best practices’ to every part of our operation – all within the last three months. We’re improving incrementally...but we’re closing the gap. This will be our year of transformation,” Andrew said.

Passionate about everything he does in life, Andrew finds that re-energizing the Hamlet is no exception. “I approach every day at the Hamlet with such enthusiasm...it is so exciting to be involved in this re-birth. It truly is.”

Andrew has retained The Eddy Company to assist in his expansion program, and he expects to build out in Southern California and the East Coast, “but,” he says, “we’re taking our time to insure that we have everything in place...to insure that our best practices are where they should be.”

The icon returneth!



The Eddy Company is one of America's leading specialty retail leasing consultancies. For information, contact Bill Eddy at our Newport Beach office - 949-640-7475. Please e-mail us: bill@theeddycompany.com or visit our web site -- www.theeddycompany.com.