Schroeder's Hamburgers—A Burger Chef Survivor in Danville IL

In the Burgers of Michigan thread, JimInLoganSquare wrote:Maybe because Henry's was never as totally, stupendously awesome as Burger Chef. Nor was Henry's based in Indianapolis...
Anyway, I understand that, 25 years or so since Hardee's bought out the chain, a couple of Burger Chefs continued operating under the Burger Chef name at least until very recently, and some Hardees have been serving certain Burger Chef signature burgers.

At the very real risk of destroying your rosy childhood memories, you might want to visit Danville, where a fairly well preserved Burger Chef still serves much of the original menu.





It has gone by the name Schroeder's for the last twenty years but they seem to making a real effort to remain true to the old Burger Chef spirit, even maintaining a small museum in a back hallway. If they fail it's not for lack of trying.



I never experienced the glories of Burger Chef in its heyday so I can't comment how close Shroeder's comes to duplicating the original experience. According to the Wikipedia entry, one of Burger Chef's innovations was sealing their burgers in plastic bags closed with a red adhesive dot. The dot is gone but the bags endure.



As you might guess the bag traps steam resulting in a rather sweaty burger. We probably should have ordered a Big Shef (I think it has a slightly different name at Schroeder's) but I couldn't resist trying their bratwurst burger. Thankfully this one comes wrapped in paper.



A surprisingly good fast food item, even if (or because?) it wasn't a Burger Chef original. Nicely charred patty, toasted bun and plenty of fresh raw onion make this sandwich a winner.

In the What Chain…? thread, third coast foodie wrote:My earliest dining out memories are of Burger Chef, I would love a funmeal about now.

Schroeder's sells a Fun Meal (I assume Hardee's retains rights to Funmeal, the original name) so you can relive your childhood (but reread the warning above). Burger Chef was a pioneer in marketing aimed at children. Speaking of innovations, Schroeder's still offers a salad bar (but I don't think the Works Bar remains), another signature fast food offering of Burger Chef. All kinds of memorabilia is displayed throughout the store, including the highly collectible wren house.

On Burger Chef collector's items, Wikipedia wrote:Burger Chef wren houses are also selling for top dollar. Those are a kit that was sold at the front counter. The flat packaged kit consisted of an instruction sheet and enough pieces of wood and leather fastening ties to construct a wren bird house that could be hung up outdoors.

I suspect readers of this fall into two distinct groups: the vast majority who have little or no interest in visiting Schroeder's and a select few who are already consulting maps to figure out where the hell Danville is (it's about 35 miles east of Champaign-Urbana). Who says it's always about the food?

Schroeder's Hamburgers
432 N Gilbert St
Danville IL
217-446-1034

Edited to restore photo links.

What makes the whole thing come together for me about Schroeder's is its pricing model: a double cheeseburger costs 99 cents while a single cheeseburger runs $1.29.





True dogfood

PIGMON wrote:What makes the whole thing come together for me about Schroeder's is its pricing model: a double cheeseburger costs 99 cents while a single cheeseburger runs $1.29.

We fell for it, didn't we? When asked about their most popular item, the nice lady behind the counter told us (not surprisingly) it's the double cheeseburger. A double hamburger is also $0.99 while a single is 17 cents more.

PIGMON wrote:True dogfood

I'd rate the bratwurst burger higher than true dogfood. The patty is probably mostly white slime though. In any case, remember it's not all about the food. What other "quick service restaurant" features a wren house?

I do remember the heydays of Burger Chef in the 1970-80 time frame. I really liked it as you could get a $0.49 hamburger, head over to the "fixings bar", place 1/2 pound of tomatoes, lettuce, onions and pickles, and have a meal. By the way, the size of the burger was definitely the inspiration of Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" campaign as it was about the size of the Eisenhower dollar.

If it was truly a Burger Chef, it would have to have the fixings bar!

Hah! great post. I do,in fact, remember Burger Chef.

I also remember the first McDonalds in Hammond, IN circa 1958. in the era before sales tax for 50 cents I got the following: 2 burgers (15 cents each), one order fries (10 cents)l and order soda (10 cents).

You have destroyed my rosy childhood memories. Thanks.

Just kidding. It's interesting to see this in the way that we are fascinated by watching Star Trek episode #52, "The Omega Glory." Do the staff here also recite garbled versions of Burger Chef and Jeff ad copy while engaged in a blood feud with the inferior Mac Klow Hoon race in the hills?

mmmmmm..Burger "Death" as we called it in college....I am Googling now!....

Mad Men pitches to Burger Chef circa 1969:

No more dogfood in Danville

I had to be down in Vermin County a few times last year and wow, that's all I'll say about Danville. Interesting is an understatement. So of course while down there I had to check out the last remaining Burger Chef, a place I had no familiarity with as far as the old locations go. All due respect to JILS but I guess you have to grow up on it because I'd rather eat Burger King. Or Hardee's. Or Checkers. Or just not eat at all.


The salad topping bar loved by locals

I went ahead and ordered a double cheeseburger and even though this thread mentions it I was surprised to find it came in a plastic bag. I'm not kidding when I say that I had to shower once I got home due to opening the thing. I felt the grease on me the rest of the day. Disgusting. That said as I just looked up the address I found this, Burger Chef is no more. They closed their doors for good last October. So I'm glad I least got there to experience it.


Burger Chef Cheeseburger...in a bag?


My first and last Burger Chef Burger...dressed at the salad condiment bar.

You'll have to drink with me to hear some of the stories coming out of this corrupt county but in the meantime I'll give it a compliment as I love these old school Main Street America type towns, they're the opposite of where I grew up in the city. Like the rest of them, Danville has seen better days. The Main street has quite a few empty storefronts but I still thought it was awesome and even somewhat surreal. Not only was Danville the home to the last remaining Burger Chef but it's also the birthplace of a few well known things including the windbreaker jacket and also Chuckles Candy, a favorite of mine as a kid. They pay homage to these old companies in murals scattered throughout the town. I drove around and snapped some pics.


Old Time Donut Shop with a very good product


The Fischer Theatre was built in 1884 and was known as the Grand Opera House at that time. There's a current effort to get it restored.


A Danville Original: Chuckles Candy (1921)


A Danville Original: Fecker Brewing Co. (1903)


A Danville Original: John Rissman and Son (????)

Note: There's actually a really good burger spot in town and of course I also went there, I'm putting together a post about it and some others. Stay tuned.

Schroeder's Drive In (RIP)
432 N Gilbert St
Danville, IL 61832
(217) 446-1034

The Fischer Theatre was built in 1884 and was known as the Grand Opera House at that time. There's a current effort to get it restored.

The university I work for has a benefactor in Danville who I see a couple times per year. Local lore is that Gene Hackman, Dick Van Dyke and Jerry Van Dyke - all Danville natives - worked as ushers in the Fisher Theatre while growing up.

Today's trivia tidbit brought to you by Danville

Davooda

Da Beef wrote:No more dogfood in Danville
…
Disgusting. That said as I just looked up the address I found this, Burger Chef is no more. They closed their doors for good last October.

Burger Chef fans rejoice; Schroeder's has reopened!



Gone is most of the Burger Chef memorabilia, including the highly collectable wren house, but the beloved Works Bar remains …



… and most importantly, the sweaty 99-cent double cheeseburgers are unchanged.



Speaking of dogfood in Danville, here's an order of deep-fried breaded gizzards from Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, almost across the street from Schroeder's.



They said the gizzards are a big seller. To be fair, I should mention Lee's fried chicken is pretty good, especially if you get it fresh from the fryer.

My name is Jim Ford. I was one of the first employees of Burger Chef in in Danville, Ill. If not the first. I worked for two men, not one.. Henry Schroeder, a heartless businessman and his partner Lou Hussman, a decent and kind human being.

I wax hired to run the French fryer , Blanche and peel potatoes, package and push French fries to the front.. My initial pay was 60 cents per hour. I worked 60 hours per week while going to Danville High.
While Henry was badgering me from behind I accidentally dropped my Thongs in the fryer which caused him to yell at me
I reacted by reaching into the fryer therein frying my hand..

After seeing several doctors ,mi resumed my career at Burger Chef, but was promoted to the window and salary raised to 95 cents per hour ..second only to Butch, Henry's useless son.

The picture you see on the wall of the supposed original crew is not correct....we had no black guy on staff to clean the parking lot. All of us except Butch took turns .

In those early days we had lines and lines waiting to taste our chain broiled burgers @ 15 cents each. The rush was almost impossible to accommodate.

I have much more if you want it .

Jim Ford

This defunct burger chain invented much of what you love about fast food

Burger Chef once had almost as many stores as McDonald's.
Its founders manufactured automatic shake machines, soft-serve ice cream machin, and flame broilers for fast-food chains, patenting the flame broiler in 1954.
Burger Chef was also the first to serve kids' meals that bundled a burger, dessert, and toy.
But the chain expanded very quickly, and hundreds of stores closed throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was purchased by Hardee's in 1982, with the last location closing in 1996.
McDonald's is well known for its Happy Meal, but it wasn't the first to serve a bundled kids' meal.
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