A fan of MrBeast said he wanted to bring MrBeast Burger to Guelph, so he did.
Jimmy Donaldson, the man behind the MrBeast YouTube channel has over 97 million subscribers. He is known for his stunt videos and extravagant philanthropic gestures. In one of his viral videos he gave a man experiencing homelessness $10,000.
To launch MrBeast Burger, Donaldson set up a pop-up fast food location in Wilson, North Carolina, in 2020. In a video titled I Opened A Restaurant That Pays You To Eat At It, MrBeast gave out free burgers, iPads, Apple AirPods and stuffed takeout bags with cash for fans who pulled in the drive-through.
“He’s done so much good stuff in the society,” said Naseem Kargil, who runs Shawarma Express on 245 Edinburgh Rd. where he runs two ghost kitchens, including Guelph's MrBeast Burger franchise.
Ghost kitchens are restaurants where you order only online for pickup or delivery. No in-store or phone ordering. Several restaurants share the same kitchen space for the execution of the menu.
Kargil said he thinks the restaurant industry is adapting by having ghost kitchens as part of their business. “One restaurant can offer multiple ghost kitchens inside one restaurant.
“It’s just part of being a fan and trying to support him. He supports us as well as restaurant owners,” said Kargil.
“Seeing their faces light up when they see MrBeast Burger here,” he said. “That’s all that matters for me, that somebody is happy at the end of the day.”
Word got out through social media MrBeast Burger was in Guelph.
Kargil has been watching MrBeast videos since 2016, when the channel had around 30,000 subscribers.
Since MrBeast is so generous and gives money out to people in his videos, Kargil said he wants to follow in his footsteps in a smaller way and eventually wants to set up donations for whoever orders a specific MrBeast Burger item.
“I’m a burger guy, I eat burgers everywhere," said Kargil.
The MrBest Burger menu is small, with four styles of burgers, a grilled cheese, two chicken sandwiches, and two styles of fries. Kargil said it is easier to run multiple ghost kitchens when menus are limited.
Kargil said the most popular item so far has been the Beast style burger, which is two smash style beef patties, American cheese, pickles, white onion, mayo, ketchup, brown mustard on a soft burger bun.
Kargil applied to run MrBeast Burger out of Shawarma Express back in April and launched on June 15.
The training for Kargil's staff was done through videos and staff had a live training day where they would make each item on the menu and send a photo. The people conducting the training would send back any suggestions or changes.
