From the service to the sizzle, there's something distinctly familiar about CaliBurger for anyone who's spent time in the Golden State.
"We're bringing the California burger experience to the Pacific Northwest,” said Reyaz Kassamali, who franchised North America’s first CaliBurger in Seattle’s University District.
"I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I'm from Vancouver, I spent a lot of time in Seattle as a kid,” he said. “I've lived all around the world, and I've always had it in my head to come back home.”
CaliBurger has been labeled an "imitator" of wildly popular California chain restaurant In-N-Out. The similarities are decidedly obvious.
Both restaurants specialize in a “double” burger with two patties.
Both restaurants feature hand-cut fries.
Both restaurants offer “secret menus.”
There are even palm trees adorning the logos of both restaurants.
"If what it takes to have people talk about it and come in and experience it, is to make that comparison, we welcome it,” Kassamali said.
But CaliBurger also has features other places do not, like Northwest beer on tap, Stumptown coffee, and locally produced ice cream.
There's also a high-tech dining room, with phone charging stations at every table and a video wall with in-store gaming.
But ultimately, it's the menu that really matters.
Does it taste the same as that other place?
Watch the video to see reactions from former Californians Kim Holcomb and photographer Erica Hintergardt.
CaliBurger is open from 11 am – 10 pm daily, and is located on University Way Northeast.
CaliBurger
4509 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 420-8199
