Burgers Grilled Right can be found filled with middle schoolers on a Thursday afternoon, waiting in line to buy milkshakes and fries. Their voices filter in the air as they try to decide between chocolate, strawberry, oreo, mint chip, or vanilla shakes. With all the authority of an adult, they pay for their meal and head over to a table with their order number in hand, waiting to be served their shake and fries. Paul Sannitti, a Seton Hall ‘13 Alum, opened Burgers Grilled Right, BGR, in South Orange in December of last year, and in the last eight months it has been everything he’s hoped for and more.
When did you get the idea of opening a restaurant?
I had the idea of a restaurant like this when I was attending school. I was a sophomore and I was going out, and I was saying to myself, ‘There’s not a lot of places in this town that really embraced the Seton Hall community.’ There were some places that took some Pirate’s Gold, but nothing actually said, ‘Hey! This is a place for Seton Hall students.’
Besides wanting to have a place for Seton Hall students, what else inspired you to open your own restaurant?
Restaurants is something that is in my family. My father, who also works with me, has over 30 years of restaurant experience. My very first job was working at Friendly’s as a dishwasher. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years. My brother, who works in the restaurant field, and my mother helps out as well. So family owned business, all restaurants, so it’s kind of one of those things that it seemed like, I don’t want to say destined to do, but something that I had a niche for.
Why did you choose to franchise with BGR?
I reached out to a lot of different franchises. This is a rare circumstance where I had actually found the location before I knew who I was franchising with. Normally, when you do a franchise, you pick the franchise and then they help you find the location, but because I wanted to be in South Orange, I’d picked the space before the franchise. After I reached out, BGR contacted me the next day, had their Vice President drive up from their Headquarters in Virginia to meet with me. And without any agreement of anything. That was a huge step. It blew me and my family away. They drove all the way from the DC area just to tell us about their brand. So it was a combination of interested they were in us, and the whole branding of it, just made it seem like it was a perfect fit.
What is the concept of the BGR brand?
We really love their concept of high quality food, open flamed grilling, burgers cooked to temperature. It has an upscale-type feel. Another thing that BGR strives on is the open kitchen. You can look into my kitchen and you can see everything. It creates this interaction with the customers, who feel more comfortable as they can see their food being prepared. They also feel like they are a part of the food process. I’ve had a lot of customers standing with their kids watching as the cooks are flipping burgers and flames are shooting out. It’s almost like a show. It brings about that sense that you’re not just here to eat, you’re here for an experience.
What is it like being a part of an award winning franchise? Does it put more pressure on you being successful?
It’s pretty neat. BGR wasn’t known in this area, this is the very first one in New Jersey. The awards they’ve won – top burger in DC, and 3rd best quality burgers in the world – helped us, because when we talked to people about BGR, they could just search it. They could go and see all these awards. Actually, one thing I was thrilled about was that in the first six months that we were open, we had already cracked New Jersey’s top 100 burgers, which was to me, a huge achievement. We were in the 60’s, either 68 or 69, which I thought was great. My father thought that we should’ve been a little higher. But for me that was a very prideful moment because we created this state recognition already of being a place where people can come. And it does put pressure on us, but I mean it’s that pressure that you want to have. I feel more pressure at sustaining the business at the success rate that it is, more than the pressure of the awards.
When you first opened what kind of response did you receive from the South Orange and Seton Hall community?
Absolute embracement. It was fantastic. We made our announcement on National Day of Play. They close off South Orange Avenue, and they set up zip lines and bouncy castles. It’s a huge event. We weren’t open at that time, but we made our announcement then. Right off the bat, all the townspeople came swarming to us, asking us questions. They were thrilled and excited. We were giving out free burger cards, and we ran out of those because people were just that eager. And the Seton Hall community, as soon as I told them I was alumni, that was the key. It was immediately the same kind of reaction. People asking me to come talk to classes. The whole town and the Seton Hall community has really just embraced me and they’re so excited and that is what I wanted?
Did you expect to be going back to Seton Hall and giving lectures?
Honestly, yes. I saw that as an absolute possibility, just because I don’t know how many of the business owners here in South Orange are Seton Hall Alum, so I thought immediately that this was something they were going to be excited about. I’ve had programs come here for catering events from the campus because they want to help a fellow Pirate out, which I love.
Are businesses around town welcoming?
Very. Every business here is very friendly. It’s interesting because we’re not really competitors. Yes we are, but we’re not. We are kind of a team. The way it works in the food industry is if one restaurant is doing well, they all should really be doing well. I have a great relationship with a lot of restaurants around here like The Above, Tito’s Burritos. I know the owners there and we’ve all helped each other out when we’ve had situations, and that’s the way it needs to be. South Orange is a restaurant town – there’s a lot of places to eat – and the goal in this area is to make it a thriving restaurant town. You want people from all over to come here.
What are some challenges of being a restaurant owner?
This is the food industry: it’s the most unpredictable industry there is. Everyday there is a new challenge. Flawless days are almost nonexistent. You’re always going to have emergencies like being short staffed. You’re going to have some days where you’re so busy you exceed expectations, and you’re running out of products the next day, and the truck may be on delay, meaning you’re not getting your order until 4 -5 hours your supposed to, which has happened to me before. I think just the unpredictability is the hardest thing about being an owner. Very rarely does everything go just the way you planned it to.
I noticed that you have a Pirate Corner with Seton Hall sports memorabilia displayed. Can you explain the reasoning behind it?
That was one of the main ideas I had way back in the beginning. Like I said, embracing the Seton Hall community is what I wanted. I used to go to a lot of places and would see some Seton Hall memorabilia, but I was always baffled by how there wasn’t just one giant wall or space, in any of these places, that said ‘Hey! Look at all these Seton Hall greats!’ There has been a lot of great alumni, especially in athletics, who have walked on that campus. So I immediately knew that I wanted to have a designated space for it. I had to get a lot of stuff, but it’s worth it. It’s a draw. I’ve had people come in here and look at all the people who have played at Seton Hall whether it’s basketball or baseball, while they’re waiting for their food.
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to be known as the person who owns and operates BGR in Jersey, or at least North Jersey. I would love to own and operate several stores along the North Jersey area. That’s the goal. There’s not an exact number, but basically if you come to Jersey and you’re eating at a BGR I would like it to be owned by me. We are actually now in the process of opening a new BGR in Bloomfield. Way ahead of schedule, but that’s what happens when things go above expectations.
What advice can you give others who may want to open a restaurant of their own one day?
Be ready for anything. It’s the classic cliché: plan for the unexpected. It’s hundred percent true. You could have everything drawn out and expect everything to go right, and right of the bat you could have a curve ball thrown your way. Just be prepared. Whatever happens figure it out; solve the problem and continue because not everything is going to go right. It never does.