No more Relish: Fredericton loses 2 popular burger joints
It was a place of Fredericton pride, with hand-pressed burgers and real cheese, and servers calling your name when the order was ready.
Now Relish Gourmet Burgers has closed for good.
Company co-founder Rivers Corbett announced Saturday that the chain is filing for bankruptcy in the coming days.
The two Fredericton locations closed Sunday, along with other locations across the country.
"The desire was there, the pieces were in place to make it happen but circumstances through political, geographical, financial, whatever, it didn't allow us to continue on with the journey," Corbett told CBC News on Monday.
"We just ran out of opportunity to fund it ourselves."
Big expansion plans
Relish opened its first restaurant at 348 King St. in Fredericton in 2010, and a second outlet opened a few years later at 10 Trinity Ave.
The chain specialized in gourmet burgers with multiple toppings, some named after events and people in the city, such as the Harvest Jazz or the Brad burger, which was the brainchild of regular customer and former mayor Brad Woodside.
Following the business's initial success, Corbett said, he and chef Ray Henry wanted to expand the brand.
About three years ago, they sold a majority of their shares to a Turkish investment group.
But plans to grow the brand nationally and internationally did not transpire under the new management, and when their main investor pulled back, the business could no longer sustain itself.
"Now we had operations across the country that required cash flow to make them work and there was less cash coming in then what we needed to fulfil those obligations that we made for the growth," he said.
"So it was a perfect storm."
Individuality and taste
Matthew Gudger could tell something was off when he went to the Fredericton location on King Street on Friday.
The delivery car outside was covered in snow and looked as if it hadn't been driven for a while. Inside, the servers told him the debit machine was down and they only accepted cash.
The staff also did not holler their usual greetings or customer names when orders were ready, he said.
"They give you that over-the-top response and it wasn't there," he said.
Gudger discovered Relish when he moved to Fredericton in 2012.
It quickly became his favourite place for burgers, reminding him of the barbecues he grew up with in the summer.
He liked the individuality of the restaurant and the many ingredients he could choose from. Now he hopes to create the joint's beet relish at home.
Relish was a part of Fredericton culture, the kind of place where you took your friends from out of town to impress them, he said.
"You don't take them to McDonald's, you take them to the walking bridge and you take them there," he said.
"I think it quickly became an iconic little Fredericton thing."
Part of Fredericton culture
At one point Relish's founders had planned to open more than 100 locations across Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
The company opened its first locations in Halifax and Vancouver in 2015 and developed its franchise network with restaurants in St. John's and Edmonton, both of which closed in 2016.
Corbett said all of the company's restaurants are now closed except for two independent franchises in Halifax and Vancouver. He's not sure if they can keep the name, though.
Employees in Fredericton were told Friday that the business was closing. The two Fredericton locations were staffed by about 12 people.
Corbett said the expansion plans were never meant to hurt anyone.
He added the community's response to the closures has been humbling. Without the strong fan base, the two Relish restaurants in Fredericton would never have operated as long as they did, he said.
"We wanted to be part of the pride that people have in this great city," he said. "We wanted people to brag about the fact that Relish started in the city.
"And it became part of the Fredericton culture, like Starbucks is with Seattle. That was our goal."
