Flameout: The Rise and Fall of Burger Chef

by John McDonald

This is the story of the greatest might-have-been in the history of fast food. In 1971, Burger Chef Systems commanded an empire of 1,200 restaurants, adding one every 48 hours. Less than 100 locations stood between them and slower-growing McDonald's Corporation. They were winning big. Fast forward to 1982: reduced to less than half of their peak size, Burger Chef disappears from the landscape, merged into a larger rival. How did the people responsible for more fast-food innovations than any other lose their way? Author and historian John P. McDonald guides you through the experiences that forged Burger Chef and it's leadership, and shows you what happens when corporations replace scrappy business savvy with process and control. It's a lesson as relevant today as it was a half century ago.

Genres: Business, History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Sam Dakota · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by Amazon, and, having read several corporate histories in the past, I was expecting a similarly well-researched, thorough story of one of America's forgotten corporations.

Instead, I received a very brief, 10,000 foot overview, with little cohesion or plot. The author jumps from vignette to vignette, anecdote to anecdote, without any ties to the larger narrative. It's not until the reader is about 25% into the book that Burger Chef is even mentioned; the first quarter is dedicated to the circus.

Honestly, this felt like a term paper written by a senior in college who forgot about his assignment until a week before it was due. He went to the library, picked up a few books, googled a few articles, and then stayed up all-night to write the paper.

Honestly, if you want a history of Burger Chef, I'd recommend the Wikipedia article over this book. It's sourced about the same, and is much pithier.

[Merritt Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was in May 1976 as a young sophomore in high school I started working at Burger Chef in downtown Beech Grove.

Burger Chef was a local Indianapolis business, at least at the start. In 1982 before I was even done with college. The chain was all but disappearing.

This book tells the story of how some World War II veterans started a restaurant equipment business, morphed that into a business that would sell you a turn key, Resturant, and ultimately morphed into Burger Chef.

Like many great American success stories, the downfall of this one started when the business was sold to General foods, a much larger company. This much larger company did not have an understanding of the business, or the customer needs, or the needs of the franchise owners.

So with a constant change in logos and management directives in a fairly short period of time, they drove this company into the ground. I believe they knew what they were doing, but couldn’t really help themselves, given their large corporate mindset. They did bring in a person who turned things around , but that person left the company for a better offer shortly thereafter.

This book is a quick read, and filled with facts. It explains things very well. And really focuses on the people behind the business. And these were some very good people. The founder, Frank Thomas, was involved in multiple charities, and remained married for 60 years.

[Jeff Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read of local historical interest

Growing up in central Indiana as a teenager of the late 60s I had many tangential connections to Burger Chef. From being a teen hang out in the county seat after 4H meetings. To working for two summers in 73 and 74 to another General Foods operation next two Burger Chef headquarters and in 1974 moving into their old office after they moved.

This book filled in many blanks for me. Helped piece together missing facts. I remember how disappointed I was with the transition to lower quality Hardees food (with exception of the now defunct Hardees fried chicken.

It's a good quick read available as part of Kindle Unlimited.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about a little know chain that could've been as big as McDonalds. The founders were responsible for many innovative ideas and creations that are still used today. It was a textbook for how to create and run a company. It was ruined by corporate greed.
Fun fact, Burger Chef was the first to create a special meal for children. In a first of it's kind promotion, they gave away posters for a little known new movie coming out in 1977 called Star Wars.
I would've loved to have eaten there.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting background

This is an interesting story of a small business that grew large and then the up and downs of running a business. It tells of the people who had a hand in creating this restaurant chain and of those who had a hand its demise. A good history lesson. On the a restaurant that I are at a child many times.

[Charles Yoder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was of personal interest to me since my wife and I lived in Indianapolis, where Burger Chef was headquartered, and it was one of our favorite places to eat. Alas, a few years later it changed ownership, and the people who started it and made it into a success were largely gone, replaced by people who changed many of the things that made it successful.

[Jeremy Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of books on corporate histories. While most cover every nook and cranny of a prominent company's history, this one was VERY high level. While that would typically have left me wanting more, it was a nice change of pace from the much longer reads I'm used to. At the price, it was worth it, and it's a nice gateway book for those looking to eventually get into longer reads.

[Richard K. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burger Chef woulda been, coulda been, shoulda been as big and successful as Mickey D’S, but General Foods corporate structure (greedy management with no idea what they were doing) killed it. A very short book which I enjoyed because I didn’t really want 1,000 pages on a burger restaurant.

[Ken P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and interesting book.

[Kevin Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read on how not to run a business.

Take note Wal-Mart this will be you in 20 years. Businesses thrive because of their employees and taking care of the customers, not constant and confusing change.

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting... I'd like to say I remember Burger Chef... but I'm really not sure...