IT STARTED WITH A
ROAD TRIP
While traveling cross-country in 2002, Craig Carey couldn’t help but notice that every town he visited had a “best burger.” In fact, the regional differences of each burger he had experienced during his trip made him wonder, why was there no restaurant that served more than one style of burger? This simple question became the beginning of our journey.
Our first location
In 2005, Craig teamed up with Tom Racosky, an experienced Chef from Houston’s (now Hillstone), and together they started to mold their vision for Big Buns Damn Good Burgers, a modern “burger joint” with a rotating selection of delicious burgers and craft beer that felt more like a backyard party than a restaurant.
On June 19th, 2007, Big Buns opened its first location in Ballston, Arlington and over the years became a neighborhood fixture. Nearly a decade later, Craig and the growing team spoke about the original vision for Big Buns and began to wonder, what would the restaurant look like today if they could do it all over again?
A decade later
This simple question inspired a new look and seven more Big Buns locations throughout Northern Virginia. The new restaurants were filled with bright colors, murals and bold sound. Dining rooms and patios came standard with communal tables and beer garden vibes. Newly added beer taps and frozen slushie machines fueled the party-like atmosphere.
While some things changed, other things remained the exact same, like the commitment to their founding mission — to serve the world's most delicious + innovative burgers while sharing the idea of an inclusive backyard party with our amazing guests.
Our secret sauce
People often want to know the reasons why we've been successful over the years. More often than not, our answer is pretty disappointing because we have no secrets, just a set of core beliefs that have helped guide us — you can read more about our beliefs below.
Our Beliefs
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We believe that damn good burgers + beer are best served and enjoyed with others in a laid back and hospitable environment. If big smiles, killer tunes and outgoing people aren't your thing, we might not be the place for you.
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We believe that you're only as good as your last burger, so we spend a lot of time working on processes to ensure that your most recent experience is as positive as your first. If your experience isn't great, please let us know so we can fix it. We take this so seriously, we say it twice, if your experience isn't great, please let us know so we can fix it.
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We believe that great products start with great ingredients, so we only use great ingredients. We also obsess over small details that make our products better, like the ideal meat-to-bun ratio and the perfect pickle thickness. Yup, perfect pickle thickness, it’s a thing...it’s also hard to say ten times fast.
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New flavors are fun and exciting. When it comes to our products, we believe in constant improvement and innovation. We also believe that feedback and sales data are the two best ways to measure how guests feel about the changes we make.
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We compensate our staff well and believe in providing each and every one of our team members with an opportunity to rapidly advance and grow within our organization.
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We believe that you can be in either the fast food business or the great food business, and we choose to be in the latter. At Big Buns, our goal is to serve consistently great food in a fun and hospitable environment, so we take the extra time necessary to make our products to order and offer each guest a positive ordering experience.
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At Big Buns, it doesn’t matter what type of eater you are, if you have a dietary constraint, or what you’re in the mood for on a given day…we have something delicious for you. Think of it as food inclusivity, and the reason why you will find so much crave-worthy variety on our menu ranging from beef burgers to veggie burger bowls.