Whopper stops traffic at new Harrison Burger King
It was a whopper of a crowd that stopped traffic as cars lined up five deep on Freeport Road on Monday for the opening of the Burger King in Harrison Township.
While there were half a dozen cars waiting in the drive-in queues at each of the nearby Wendy's and McDonald's restaurants, it couldn't compare to the throngs of walk-in and drive-in traffic at Burger King.
They came for what they say are the best burgers.
“I love the Whopper,” said Linda Eberhardt, 53, of South Buffalo Township.
Eberhardt grew up with the iconic burger when she worked and frequented two former Burger Kings in Harrison and New Kensington.
Residents at Monday's opening remembered those long-closed Burger Kings.
They also talked about the “Big Wink” served by the former Winky's, a bygone burger that was a fast-food favorite at its former location on Freeport Road near Burger King's new home.
Eberhardt remembered and sang while in line Monday the Burger King's old theme song: “Hold the pickles. Hold the lettuce. Special orders don't upset us.”
Burger King had to hold the Whopper on Monday as the broiler of its famed flame-broiled burgers broke down for a little while.
Kevin Davis of Brackenridge bolted out the door when he couldn't get his Whopper on Monday.
But a Burger King employee caught up to him and immediately handed him a coupon for a free Whopper. “I'll be back,” he said.
Matt Carpenter, CEO of TOMS King, a Burger King franchisee based in Chicago, came to Harrison to attend the opening, which featured a short ceremony in front of the new restaurant with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 894 in Natrona Heights.
“The traffic has been brisk all day there,” said Mike Stanoski, 58, of Harrison Township.
“My wife and I have been discussing this opening for the last two weeks,” he said. “We decided we don't have to go grocery shopping now that the Burger King is here.”
Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.
