BY Molly Congdon
The doors of BurgerFi, at 460 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, opened for business on Oct. 24.
The restaurant serves up juicy, Angus beef burgers that the company says are made without steroids, antibiotics, growth hormones, chemicals and additives.
“The decision to open our second location in Saratoga was based on the growth of the city and opportunity to compliment the downtown restaurants,” franchisee William Lia Jr. said. “We are happy to be a part of the history of Saratoga Springs and will be a good neighbor in the community.”
The debut of the business was supposed to occur much sooner. “Our delay was the result of numerous issues with the building and structure discovered during the renovation process,” said Lia.
This is the second restaurant owned and operated by Burger Ventures, LLC, a franchise group made up of the Lia Family and Angelo Mazzone, with their first location in Latham on Route 9 near Latham Farms.
Established in 2011, BurgerFi was projected to have 100 restaurants to be open by the end of 2016.
Now that they are open, Lia and his team couldn’t be happier.
“We are thrilled to be open and part of the Saratoga Spring downtown community,” Lia said. “Our fellow business owners and operators have been very welcoming.”
They are planning more expansion.
“Our third location is planned for Guilderland,” Lia said. “We will continue to look at other markets and opportunities for growth as we develop our next location. We plan to continue to grow the BurgerFi brand throughout the Capital Region in the short term and if we are successful here, we may continue to look to expand beyond the Capital Region.”
The 3,000-square-foot restaurant has a seating capacity for approximately 68 patrons inside the dining room.
For those with food allergies there are options.
“We offer all of our burgers green-style (wrapped in lettuce instead of on a bun),” Lia said. “We offer our VegiFi burger, which is house made from a variety of fresh vegetables. The food we serve is fresh, all natural and tastes great. Our atmosphere is family friendly and fun making for a great all around experience.”
Burgers consist of two beef patties and include bacon cheeseburgers, the Cleo (double wagyu and brisket blend burger, homemade candied bacon-tomato jam, truffle aioli and aged swiss cheese); and an all-day breakfast burger– natural angus burger, American cheese, bacon, maple syrup, fried egg, hash brown, grilled onions and ketchup.
There are also two Vienna beef hotdog options. Side dishes include French fries and onion rings. There are craft beers and wine in addition to soda.
They are open each day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.