Who remembers the fast food chain Burger Chef? A few years ago, I passed through Laurel and saw a relatively intact Drive-In that was being used as a coin laundry it had a distinct look, one that I couldn’t place until I saw a similar building in Gulfport when it clicked with me. The Laurel and the Gulfport buildings both shared overhanging eaves and white enamel panels with large orange diamonds. The buildings were once part of a national fast food chain, Burger Chef.
I’m familiar with three different locations all in the southern part of the state. In addition to Laurel I know there were locations in Gulfport and Biloxi. While Burger Chef was started in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1954, the Gulfport Burger Chef was the first to open of the three I’m familiar with, announcing $0.15 hamburgers in 1962. Laurel’s location opened in 1963 and Biloxi opened in 1964. I cannot tell you how much of my business the Biloxi location would get if they were still around! Unfortunately, the Biloxi location right at the intersection of Porter Avenue and Judge Sekul Drive was demolished a while back.
Per the Wikipedia entry for Burger Chef, the chain had 1050 locations nationally and in Canada at its peak. I’ve learned there were Burger Chef locations in Hattiesburg (at the intersection of Hardy and Highway 49), Greenville (1939 East Highway 82) and one in Vicksburg (on Clay Street near Baldwin Ferry Road). However, all these locations have been demolished. Surely there was one in Jackson, perhaps other places across Mississippi. Do you remember eating at a Burger Chef?
More about roadside Mississippi . . .
Categories: Biloxi, Building Types, Cool Old Places, Demolition/Abandonment, Greenville, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Historic Preservation, Laurel, Lost Mississippi, Modernism, Vicksburg
Preservation in Mississippi 
There are 2 in Columbus. One is a Chinese restaurant that used to have panels with oriental designs inside, close to where the cash register was. I think the menus were in the places where the panels are. I’m not sure if they are still there, as it’s been a while since I was there. That was the only thing that I remembered looking like the old Burger Chef though.
The other one is an insurance office across from the big park on Main St. I never went in there, so I don’t know what it looks like.
I don’t think either was a drive in, but they were Burger Chef restaurants.
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DO you remember the location of the Burger Chef that became the Chinese restaurant?
I looked across the street from Propst Park and couldn’t identify a building that could have been a Burger Chef, so unless it is heavily modified, I think it’s gone.
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There was a tire store just before you got to it, going north on 45, and another tire store across the street. The restaurant was named Peking, and it was there in the 80s. It was just past the mall.
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Speaking of Chinese restaurants in Columbus, maybe Dixie will speak of the Rube Goldberg Dream House that the local Chinese restaurant owner built in the late 1990s. Quite a row over putting it square in the middle of the historic homes area. And they say Chinese have no sense of humor… and have no word for sarcasm–except on Seinfeld.
I cannot find anything on this story from Newspapers dot com.
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I worked at the one in Natchez the summer of 1983.
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I remember the one across from Propst Park from the mid-late 1960s, when I was a student at The W. At that time its next-door neighbor was Gibson’s Discount store, to the west. The significant thing I remember was that both had long driveways from the highway/Main Street because of the huge ditch in front of the two businesses. I have not been to Columbus in years, so have no current knowledge about them.
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Were they all drive ins? I thought there was one on Ellis Ave in Jackson in the 70s. It was in front of Woolco near Raymond Rd. I may be remembering the name wrong.
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I think you’re right about Burger Chefs not all being drive-ins. Looking at the historic photo of the Laurel location it looks like the canopies for curb service were added at a later date. Initially they were all counter service.
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The building is still there at 1766 Ellis Ave. when we got to “go out to eat” we always went there (my father never liked McDonald’s). There is a similar building at approximately 4755 I-55 N Frontage Rd behind/next to the old IHOP, now both part of a cosmetology school. I suspect that was also a Burger Chef. Of course, neither of these is half as interesting as the drive-ins.
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Is it buried inside another building? I couldn’t find it.
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Ellis: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ellis+Ave,+Jackson,+MS/@32.2839413,-90.2273417,3a,75y,118.04h,92.98t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6zLXHX7hwio5pslzt_CIeg!2e0!3e11!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x862834790ed20bf3:0x94f832757413f541!8m2!3d32.3018552!4d-90.2277689
55 N Frontage Rd with back of old IHOP on right: https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3595488,-90.1515193,3a,75y,313.61h,88.74t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sM4er5fs_KO9U-zEyGYHgOg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DM4er5fs_KO9U-zEyGYHgOg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D276.84552%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
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Are the Burger Chefs entombed in former Pizza Huts?
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LOL!!! Probably not. I guess the Ellis location was next to the Pizza Hut; it must be gone. I did not recognize that as a PH building type without the cap on the roof … So this means that the I-55 building was never a BC except in my addled brain.
Anyway, the Ellis Ave. building was not one of those fun types with all the angles; it looked similar to the one in the murders in Indiana. It may have been remodeled for the Po’ Folks restaurant in which a sniper holed up; it was abandoned by that time and was burned down during that incident. (Disturbing theme in this paragraph)
Now I’m even more curious about that Facebook commenter saying that there was one on the corner of Northside Dr.
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Hmm well since they are both former Pizza Hut sites, I wondered if a Burger Chef franchisee too a buyout in 1982 and purchased two Pizza Hut franchises to replace them with. But apparently the Pizza Hut was west of I-55 and Burger Chef was east of I-55?
It looks like the Burger Chef on Northside Drive became Mr Snooks in 1979.
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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31594067/construction_boom_on_i55_includes/
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Um, did you notice that article on that newspaper page below this one about the bank building? Wasn’t that the building that started us all finding its siblings around the state? The one in Greenville, according to the Delta Democrat-times, is a Chris Risher design. There was a local supervising architect on the Greenville branch so maybe the architects listed here are also only locals supervising, but it is interesting that Risher is not mentioned here.
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I did! I sent the article to Malvaney for a future post. The article sore of answers my question as to why the Canton Road location is slightly different from the others around the state.
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I’m pretty sure there was one in Jackson on Ellis Avenue in front of the Sac N Sav
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There was a Frostop (sp) at Ellis and Highway 80, the Green Derby was on one of the corners.
Great root beer in those frozen mugs.
Another iconic burger restaurant was the Wagon Wheel on Terry Road in South Jackson.
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From Buzz Barnett, I remember one in downtown Jackson in 67 or 68 , south side between JCPenny and Heidelberg Hotel and one in Starkville, just off of MSU campus. and kudos to previous post regarding Frost Top, Bz
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There was a burger chef in Starkville on hwy 12 between the MSU campus and the Highway Patrol station on US82.
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Is the building gone? I couldn’t find it.
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The Mississippi State Burger Chef building is still there. It is a white building on Google street view. It is one building East of the gas station on Lee Blvd. Google maps show’s the gas stations today as a Chevron gas station. The address of the old Burger Chef building is 418 Lee Blvd a gaming store. ” Down to Game”. The 3 phase 3 transformer power pole is between the gas station and the old burger chef buildings and supplies both buildings. In the mid 1970’s that gas station had pumps that took dollar bills. Burger Chef’s radio ads on WSSO /WSMU was “Burger Chef was “just off campus”
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Thank you for answering this mystery! Its changed a lot but you can still make out the original form. Thank you also for the info on the service station with the cash Pay-at-the-Pump feature. I’am really interested in those systems. I never got to use one but the old adverts I’ve seen for them are great. If I can find my files I’ll post some of the ads I’ve collected.
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The one in Starkville was still operating as Burger Chef in the late 1980s when I was in college. Most of the locations in Mississippi had closed by then, but that one was still branded as a Burger Chef.
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The Starkville Burger Chef later became Mr. Cook in the early 1990’s. I ate at both when I was a kid.
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I ate at the Burger Chef in Meridian as a youngster with my best friend on many Saturdays in the late 1960s. It was at the corner of 24th Avenue and 13th Street. Google Earth shows me the building is no longer extant.
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Also one at College Park where the Popeyes is now located
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An OB/GYN doctor’s office now occupies the 24th Ave and 13th St location
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Also on N Frontage Rd next to Shoneys. I think the slab is still there.
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I ate at the Meridian location. I was stationed at NAS and moved to an old 4 family 2nd house from the 23rd and 14th St intersection. It was offset and our part of 23rd Ave dead ended almost into the drug store on 14th. I could swear the Burger Chef could be seen from our apt, I thought it was between 14th and 13th but could be wrong. It was the old style building too. We moved to 19th Ave in 78 and then back to 23rd in a basement apt 10 blocks from 14th St till I left in 79. My wife is from Lake and all 3 places are long gone now. I’m from Cincinnati but visit her family all the time.
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There was one in Natchez on Homochitto Street- not very far from Dunleith! I believe it’s been gone now for quite some time.
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Might that have been on the north side of John R Junkin Dr, just west of its intersection with Homochitto Street?
The building has been renovated, perhaps even rebuilt, beyond recognition into South China Restaurant. When first it was a Chinese restaurant, the interior still had a ceiling the followed the low slope of the roof, and the side walls had large expanses of glass.
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Got drive through breakfast biscuit at this Burger Chef on the way to work in Natchez for number of years. Great biscuit! Later, I ate at the Chinese restaurant that went in there. Pretty good, But nothing like the Burger Chef biscuit.
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I lived right across the street from the Burger Chef location in Biloxi when I was stationed at Keesler AFB in the early 80’s. We lived at 444 Porter Avenue, the apartments across the street. Used to walk by the building when I walked to work on the base. I cant recall what was in the location however.
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If my memory serves me correctly, Burger Chef was the first major burger chain to locate in the Pascagoula area in the late 60’s. The restaurant was notable for a number of reasons in our community. Primary among the reasons was the fact that it served Blacks without discrimination. It was a popular spot for families and teens on weekends. The store was located on the North side of Hwy. 90. The building is no longer there.
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I was told by old timers that there was a Burger Chef in Oxford on West Jackson Ave in front of the Oxford Mall, next door to the old Pizza Hut. This location became Buffalo Cafe, was demolished and there is a bank on that lot now.
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That is correct.
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Before Buffalo Cafe, it was a Mr. Gatti’s.
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The Burger Chef on Park Avenue was the first “chain” hamburger restaurant in Greenwood, opening around 1966 or so. The location is now a KFC; I thought it might be the same building repurposed but probably not.
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The photo of the Greenville Burger Chef in my post is from a 1962 edition of the DDT.
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There was a Burger Chef on I-55 frontage rd. If I’m not crazy, there was also one in the old Jackson Square shopping center on Terry Rd.
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There was a Burger Chef in Natchez on John R Junkin, leading to the Mississippi River Bridge. It was not a drive-inn when I moved there in 1979. Best biscuits in town.
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The one in Natchez predated McDonald’s by quite a few years…
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I remember the one in Vicksburg. Innocent as we then were, we were excited when a national chain of anything came to town. Burger Chef may have been the first.
And now everywhere looks like everywhere else.
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The I-55 Frontage Road location was just south of the Northside Drive interchange in the vicinity of the former Bennigan’s. The Jackson Square burger restaurant was a Corky’s, Walgreens’ entry in the fast food burger market.
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Dooney, that “South of the Northside Drive interchange” location is correct and I believe the shell of the original building is still there, now a title loan business, formerly a pawn/gold shop. The widening of the frontage road at that location eliminated some of what was the front entrance area. The building has a more exaggerated A-frame roof; don’t remember if that was original or not.
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I think the location was easy if I-55. The A-frame building was a Chicken Chef.
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The old Burger Chef that y’all are talking about is now the Woodhouse Grill at 4559 Office Park Drive. It’s right next to the Dominoes.
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Yes, it was next to what is now Banner Hall. My father’s office was on the street behind and as little girls, my sister and I would walk over to get lunch. It became The Silver Mine and then a title loan place.
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Growing up in Gulfport for 22 of my first 23 years, during 4 – 6 Grades, we lived near Burger Chef as it was only a few blocks west of Northeast Elementary. It was one of the few burger places in the immediate area.
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Yes, loved it. There was one in Natchez when I was a kid. South China restaurant is in that area now.
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Wow, thank you. I never would have guessed, but looking at the lines of the building I can see it under it’s current remodel.
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Does anyone here remember the twins that worked at Burger Chef in Greenwood, MS in the 1960’s … Teresa and Brenda Baker?
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I remember eating at Burger Chef as a kid!
Then in high school, around 1979, I worked at Burger Chef in Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa,Okla.
It closed, I think they all went out of business, reopened as Burger Bar.
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On vacation in Laurel and drove by this old building that caught my attention and seemed intriguingly familiar. It eventually dawned on me that I thought it was an old Burger Chef building. So I googled Burger Chef buildings and decided it must be.
Then I googled “Laurel MS Burger Chef” and found this post. This building seems pretty unique to me and I grew up in Indianapolis suburbs during Burger Chef’s heyday.
I sure hope it survives. I have some photos I could post but not sure the site will allow me.
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I PLAYED FAST PITCH SOFTBALL IN DUNCAN PARK ON A TEAM SPONSORED BY BURGER CHEF AT THE CORNER OF HOMOCHITTO AND JOHN R JUNKIN IN NATCHEZ,,LIVING ON LOWER WOODVILLE ROAD,,GOOD FOOD.
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