Brazilian Street Food Made to Be Eaten Slowly
This is not a fast food story, actually it is a slower one, about a burger culture that grew up on the sidewalks of Brazil and decided to give a chance to the Canadian culture, more precise in Vancouver.
Not built for speed, built for the meal
Almost all of the burger places today are built around speed, orders in, orders out, next table and things like that. Jhonny`s Burger wasn’t built that way.
The idea from Jhonnys Burger came from Brazilian small cities burger joints, a kind of place where burgers show up dripping a little, the fries don`t try to look neat, and no one asks if you are ‘almost done’, you can eat, you can talk, you can stay, you can enjoy the moment and the environment that the place creates. That is the whole point.
In our words – Jhonny’s Burger was not open to compete with fast service or endless menus options, that is not the point of our brand, because Vancouver has already a plenty of places that do that well. The hard thing to find in Vancouver is a place where food slows things down instead of pushing you through the time.
Having that in mind, we made some choices that other places avoid.
The menu stays small, the burgers don`t change every week, month or season. The tables aren`t rushed, even when it is busy, even if that costs us turnover, we are fine with that. Our burgers follow the same logic, the logic of Brazilian street style burger joints have straightforward builds, good meat, real seasoning, sauces that don`t play. They are all made to be eaten with your hands and probably a few napkins.
This shows up in real ways, not like slogans, if you come to visit us you will notice people hanging around after they finish eating, plates look used, not style, you will feel like you are in the way for staying and this is our tradeoff and we don`t hide it. If you want faster options, there are a lot of choices nearby, if you want something tidy, quiet, and predictable, this might feel messy. But, if you want a burger that comes with time attached to it, you are in the right place.
We are not trying to open everywhere, we are not chasing scale, the goal for our brand is simple: a few locations that people recognize as their place, somewhere tied to conversations, first visits, regular orders, and memories that don`t show up on a receipt.
Jhonny`s Burger isn`t there for everyone, it is here for the people who still like sitting down to eat.
That is our culture of Brazilian street burgers, eat them slowly, appreciate each bite.
The decisions other places avoid
We are not showing points, these are choices we made that cost something, and that show up in how the restaurant actually runs every single day, and below are some choices that we made:
Small menu on purpose – We did not choose that because we ran out of ideas, the reason is because in a small menu every item gets full attention.
We do not rush people even on busy times – You paid for the food, not just the seat, the conversation that our guests have after the last bite is part of why you came, we prefer to turn fewer tables and have people leaving satisfied than turn more and have them pushed out.
The burger is made to look like was eaten not photographed – We don’t use architectural stacking, garnished placed geometrically, we do it different, we do in the way of the Brazilian street food style, where the burger is ready to be held with both hands, we have napkins for a reason.
How Jhonny`s stand out from typical burger places in Vancouver
Since Vancouver is a city of the diversity, of immigrant, we know that are good burger spots in the city, but they are not like us, they are missing some things, and below is what makes Jhonny`s different without the need of the marketing language:
We have a culture behind the food that is not decorative it is functional – Jhonnys comes from a place where the burger joints shops have always been a social institution, that is not a design choice, it is why the restaurant operates in the way he operates.
Slowness is the value – Most restaurants see that as a weakness, we see the slowness culture as a point, that we use on how the menu is built to how staff interacts with people who are sitting twenty minutes after the last bite.
Built for people who loves to eat, not for those who only love to document it – Our food isn`t styled, the space isn`t designed to be a backdrop, it originally cames from Brazilian street culture where things are simple, and even being simple you are gonna have a great time.
Come eat at Jhonny`s burger, bring a friend, stay a little longer
The table won`t be rushed, the food is made to be held, not admired, and you will know that this is your kind of place the moment you sit down.
Dine in – Takeout – Delivery across Vancouver – Open Late
