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The Lockport Legend 100517
The Lockport Legend 100517
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20 | October 5, 2017 | The Lockport Legend dining out<br />
lockportlegend.com<br />
The Dish<br />
Happy Bites Burger strives<br />
for creativity, quality<br />
Thomas Czaja<br />
Contributing Editor<br />
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When regular customer<br />
Michael Garren began to<br />
strike up conservations with<br />
Charlie Patel at the tobacco<br />
shops where he worked in<br />
Tinley Park, they often focused<br />
on Patel’s dream to<br />
open a restaurant.<br />
The two became fast<br />
friends, and Patel told Garren<br />
he envisioned opening<br />
a restaurant that sold beef<br />
and hot dogs. But Garren<br />
suggested Patel shift the signature<br />
item of the future restaurant<br />
to gourmet burgers<br />
— something not as prevalent<br />
in the community.<br />
Patel took the advice, and<br />
he took on Garren to manage<br />
the restaurant, which<br />
he ended up naming Happy<br />
Bites Burger. The merry dining<br />
spot opened for business<br />
on Sept. 18 in Tinley Park,<br />
offering customers gourmet<br />
burgers, chicken sandwiches,<br />
wings and more.<br />
But the dream extends<br />
beyond serving quality eats.<br />
Happy Bites Burger is only<br />
the first step of Patel’s ultimate<br />
plan.<br />
“His goal after getting<br />
enough money from this is<br />
he wants to help Tinley Park<br />
residents who can’t drive,<br />
like older people or handicapped<br />
people, and take<br />
them to the doctor, to the<br />
hair salon and stuff free of<br />
charge,” Garren said.<br />
Before the duo can get to<br />
that point, the focus remains<br />
on assembling unique burgers.<br />
For example, the chorizo<br />
garlic shrimp burger<br />
($7.99) is made with melted<br />
provolone cheese with garlic<br />
shrimp and paprika mayo.<br />
“We wanted something<br />
for everybody,” Garren said.<br />
The Hawaiian BBQ salmon burger ($9.99) is one of the<br />
gourmet burgers on the menu at Happy Bites Burger in<br />
Tinley Park. It and features coconut caramelized pineapple,<br />
fresh avocado, lettuce, fresh cilantro, pickles, jalapeño and<br />
Swiss cheese. Thomas Czaja/22nd Century Media<br />
Another creative option<br />
is the Hawaiian barbecue<br />
salmon burger ($9.99), enticing<br />
palates with coconut<br />
caramelized pineapple, avocado,<br />
cilantro, pickles, jalapeños<br />
and Swiss cheese.<br />
“Everything is hand-pattied<br />
and made the morning<br />
of or night before,” Mike<br />
said. “Obviously, we have to<br />
make some during the day,<br />
after we start running low.”<br />
Patel makes two visits per<br />
day for food to make sure<br />
everything is as fresh as can<br />
be, he said. That dedication<br />
is commonplace for the<br />
owner, who constructed the<br />
restaurant itself on his own.<br />
The hard work and pride<br />
in Happy Bites has paid early<br />
dividends, as the first day<br />
saw the shop have to close<br />
early at 6 p.m. after selling<br />
out of 250 burgers and 600<br />
wings, according to Garren.<br />
While the burgers are the<br />
main items on the menu,<br />
the wings make for a strong<br />
supplementary item to offer<br />
customers.<br />
“Everybody loves our<br />
wings,” Garren said. “So<br />
far, we had people come in<br />
Happy Bites Burger<br />
8021 183rd St., Suite E, in<br />
Tinley Park<br />
Hours<br />
• 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily<br />
For more information ...<br />
Web: www.facebook.com/<br />
HappyBitesBurger<br />
Phone: (708) 620-8223<br />
and tell us they’re not going<br />
to [Buffalo Wild Wings] no<br />
more.”<br />
Happy Bites has also introduced<br />
a Burger of the<br />
Week selection, and Garren<br />
said eventually they would<br />
like to start taking recommendations<br />
from guests if<br />
they have good ideas for<br />
burgers.<br />
“You want the customers<br />
feeling like they are a part of<br />
what you are doing.”<br />
While open to additions,<br />
the objective is to keep the<br />
menu simple yet creative.<br />
“It’s definitely a learning<br />
experience,” Garren said.<br />
“It’s definitely something<br />
we’re excited about, and<br />
I think people are excited<br />
about it the more they hear<br />
about it.”
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