Burger restaurant coming to Florence

Toniolo said the new burger restaurant is an opportunity for the partners to give Florence something a little different.

“Our business model has always been to look at what other great cities have and see what Florence doesn’t currently have,” Toniolo said. “That’s how we got King Jefe. Lately, you’re seeing a lot of great burger QSRs [quick service restaurants] pop up, and Florence doesn’t really have many of those. We thought it was a great opportunity for us to deliver a home-grown version with our spin on it.”

Hardee said the partners are eyeing a September opening.

He said the location, at 846 S. Irby St. is in a place with a high traffic count and the building — which previously was a Bojangles’ — provides them with the perfect layout to have an efficient restaurant.

“It’s a big leap,” Hardee said. “We put everything on the line every time we do this. I can promise we’re going to deliver all the things about Tubb’s and King Jefe that the customer likes. One of the things that is missing in many QSRs is the service. Why shouldn’t there be a warm, Southern hospitality spin put on getting a burger? That’s what we’re going to try to provide: A unique Southern atmosphere with great service and great food.”

Toniolo echoed Hardee’s sentiments.

“It’s about creating a unique customer experience,” Toniolo said. “It’s not about the type of food that you’re serving, it’s about us delivering the best customer experience that we can. When we opened King Jefe, we learned things about the business that we didn’t know with Tubb’s. We were able to circle back and make Tubb’s better as a result. With the opening of Revival Burger, we’re going to be able to do the same thing. It’s really exciting for us.”

The restaurant will offer a variety of burgers with a special Revival house sauce and many other items, including hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. The partners said that they will create burgers using many of their unique products, including their pimento cheese and Tomato Bacon Jam that are both used at Tubb’s.

Hardee said Tubb’s is offering the Florence community a chance to try some of their burgers every Monday for lunch as part of “Moo Mondays.”

“We’ve used Tubb’s as our breeding grounds, not just for this, but for King Jefe, too,” Hardee said. “We sell a limited amount of burgers, and we sell out every Monday. We do the classic ‘Revival Burger,’ and we also do one of the signature burgers. Through that, we get to perfect our recipes and get feedback from our customers. It’s been widely received, and when people eat them, they say that this is the best burger they’ve ever had.”