Burger and Lobster Magnate Denies Burger and Lobster Restaurants Are for Sale

Burger and Lobster, the formerly three-item restaurant chain that now operates using a menu like everybody else, is apparently not for sale. Co-founder Misha Zelman — also of Zelman Meats, in Soho and Knightsbridge, and Goodman steakhouses, in Mayfair, the City, and Canary Wharf — has refuted a report in the Sunday Times that claimed co-founder George Bukhov-Weinstein was looking to sell half of Burger and Lobster’s nine restaurants alongside the trio of Goodman steakhouses, according to Propel’s Paul Charity.

Burger and Lobster launched in 2011 as a no-menu restaurant, offering a burger, a lobster, or a lobster roll, with chips and salad, for £20. Bukhov-Weinstein’s rationale for the pricing was simple: “if you have £20, you’re not a loser because you can afford lobster.” Focussing on openings in high-footfall areas best known for expensive shopping and tourist attractions, Burger and Lobster’s combination of glitzy straightforwardness and lobster’s aura of class worked on London like a deeply disturbing charm. There are now nine restaurants in the capital, even if what was a game-changer in 2011 has lost some sheen, and the now broader menu reflects concession to how London’s restaurant market has changed in eight years.

More soon.