SPRINGVILLE -- A major hamburger chain has moved in across the street, but Brand X Hamburgers is still filling its picnic tables daily.
The small hamburger restaurant, with its outdoor seating, was virtually the only business operating in its area of north Main Street in Springville when it opened 16 years ago. Today, with various firms operating all around it and houses being built close by, Brand X has a prime location for doing business.Brand X feeds a steady stream of regular customers, some on a daily basis. Employees know some customers so well that they begin writing the order as soon as they see the customer coming. As for Brand X owner Deanna Thorn, while she may not know everyone's names, she can recognize them by what they eat.
"It's the people that have made this business fun," she said while sitting at one of the picnic tables available for customers just outside of Brand X. "Our customers have been so great to talk to."
Thorn said she wasn't worried when a McDonald's opened recently across the street from her hamburger outlet. The competition from the super chain hasn't hurt Brand X at all, she said.
"We have been busier since they've been here," she said. "The kid's meals have even increased."
Thorn lives next to her business, making the commute to work short. "I've beat a path in that asphalt," she said, pointing at the small parking lot between Brand X and her home. She and her husband Bryce Thorn began Brand X with a blue truck they cooked burgers in. Bryce Thorn died 11 years ago; Deanna Thorn has been running the business since then.
"He said, 'We're going to do this, and we're going to be Brand X,' " Thorn said. " He said, 'We'll compete with anybody.' "
Bryce Thorn cleared the land, they parked the truck and began selling hamburgers. It cost the Thorns $1,300 to go into business, and they sold $35 worth of hamburgers the first day. The current building was opened in January of 1985.
"We've never from the day we opened been without customers," Thorn said.
The key to Brand X's success lies in two secret recipes for seasoning salt developed by Bryce Thorn. The salts are now prepared personally by Deanna Thorn in her kitchen; she is the only person who knows the recipes.
One seasoning salt is used on the meat, while the other is sprinkled on Brand X's fries and tater babies. The restaurant uses fresh meat -- not frozen -- and fresh vegetables for toppings and makes its own sauces.
"I eat here because it's the best hamburger place in the valley," said Quentin Holmes, Springville, who eats at Brand X on a fairly regular basis. "It's consistent, it's clean, it's good. It's excellent food."
Brand X regulars don't just come from Springville. "They're from everywhere. They drive clear across the valley just to get lunch," said Chris Asay, Brand X manager.
Brand X has a simple menu: burgers, chicken sandwiches and BLTs. It only offers one shake flavor: chocolate. During the winter months, the restaurant sells Thorn's own homemade chili.
"People still cry for it during the summer, but we don't have time for it in the summer," Asay said, emphasizing that the chili is made from scratch.
About 20 people work at Brand X. The work can be hard and stressful during peak times, but Thorn said employees like working with the people who come to eat there. "As a general rule, the employees who stay will stay for years here," she said.
"They have a nice personal touch, and they make a hamburger that's more like the old-fashioned hamburger," said Dennis Hunsaker of Orem. "I've never come in without it always being busy."
Brand X is located at 1515 N. Main in Springville and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The Deseret News regularly features stories on businesses that create or produce products in Utah County for the retail market. Got a story idea? Call 437-7602 or e-mail Sharon Haddock at haddoc@desnews.com.