(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A new burger restaurant featuring “contactless” food lockers is opening in Cherrydale this Saturday.
Burger Billy’s Joint is attempting to make fast food a little faster at 3800 Langston Blvd with a grab-and-go concept. Customers will order ahead or punch in their orders at the restaurant’s kiosks before retrieving their food from heated lockers.
The lockers, located near the front entrance, are only accessible to customers with a confirmed order number.
Owner Payman Ahrarian told ARLnow that this concept is the first of its kind in Arlington. His business partner, Bob Amin, got the idea for the lockers when he used a similar system at Home Depot to retrieve tools that he had ordered.
Amin described the process as “seamless” and “hassle free,” which is why he decided to apply it to the food industry.
The restaurant’s chef and general manager, Keshaun Winston, who also runs a catering business, boasts of his burgers’ “homemade flavor” and aims to get meals to customers within 15 minutes of their order.
“People are busier than ever before and the idea of the ‘contactless’ is more about the convenience and how quickly we can get the orders ready,” said Ahrarian, who has a retail background.
The co-owners plan on a soft opening this weekend before a bigger event later on.
“We really want to test the concept and build some clientele before we do a huge grand opening event,” said Ahrarian. “We encourage our customers to pick up so that they can get the full experience of coming into the shop, going into the locker, and getting their food out.”
The burger joint’s location, along a busy stretch of Langston Blvd with limited street parking, has been home to a string of businesses that have popped up in its retail bays only to shutter within a matter of months or a few years. The most recent of these was vape shop LA Leaf, which closed next door less than a year after opening.
Despite the block’s history, the restaurant’s owners have faith in their concept.
“There seems to be a huge demand for quick service, quick delivery and contactless [service] where people can just come in and self-serve,” said Ahrarian.