From food truck to fully-functioning restaurant, speed + quality set Only Burger apart
Beginning their journey as a food truck, OnlyBurger’s mission has always been about creating the highest quality and best tasting burgers and fries.
Their initial food truck was the poster child for Durham’s current food truck scene, gaining a loyal following of customers as they expanded.
After two years of success as a food truck, Only Burger developed into a fully-functioning restaurant on Shannon Road in Durham. Serving humanely-raised, antibiotic and hormone free beef, Only Burger provides a topnotch menu, and its casual environment lends itself well to a fun mealtime spot.
Only Burger is located on 3710 Shannon Road., Suite 118 in Durham. They are open for dining and takeout from Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and closed on Sundays.
We spoke with Wesley Pratt, the general manager of the restaurant, for more in depth details into Only Burger’s history and their specialties.
1. How long has the business in Durham been open?
15 years. Only Burger was founded in the Fall of 2008 as one of the first food trucks in our area not serving tacos or hot dogs. Our first brick-and-mortar restaurant at Hope Valley Square on Shannon Road opened in the fall of 2010. Our second location opened in 2014 at the American Tobacco Campus but closed in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
2. Tell us about the concept of your restaurant. Do you have any particular themes or specialties?
Our concept is to offer the best burgers and fries, period. We do this by using only the freshest ingredients we can find, custom blended beef and house-made generational recipes, all prepared with techniques learned through decades of fine-dining experience. Our theme is a fast casual, old school burger shack with an open kitchen concept that allows our customers to see the action.
3. What made you decide to specialize in burgers?
We launched during the start of the Great Recession in 2008 and wanted to do affordable and tasty comfort food, and we were inspired by the Southern California Burger Shack tradition and the In & Out Burger trucks. After all, what is more quintessentially American comfort food than the burger?
4. What are some of the top selling burgers on your menu?
Our Classic Only Burger & The Deluxe are the top sellers, but The Carolina, The Texan & The Fried Green Tomato Burger are fan favorites. All of our burgers are made to order so they are easily customizable, and we can accommodate most allergy concerns.
5. What makes your burger stand apart from others?
We have created a unique space in the fast-casual burger market. Since we started as a food truck, the idea was to be fast and affordable without skimping on the quality. We make everything to order, so nothing is pre-cooked, and the burgers are easily customizable. We seem to have found this middle ground between fast food burgers and gourmet burgers served in expensive restaurants, and we do it in a casual, fun atmosphere reminiscent of burger shacks of yore.
Where to find Only Burger:
