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O.C. burger chain expanding to Middle East
August 3rd, 2009, 5:18 am · 28 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
EZ Take Out Burger, founded 40 years ago by an ex-In-N-Out employee, is headed to the Middle East.
The 8-unit Aliso Viejo-based burger chain is partnering with a Bahrain developer to build 50 EZ Take Out restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa over a 10-year period.
EZ Take Out's Wid Thing burger (middle) comes with fried mustard and grilled onions. Remind you of any other burger?
Al Safar Group will build the first two restaurants in Kuwait and Dubai, followed by locations in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, said Lou Franson, head of brand development at EZ Take Out.
So how does a small, burger chain from Southern California cut such a big expansion deal?
Serendipity, of course.
As it turns out, the son of one of Al Safar’s key owners is attending Cal State Long Beach. While studying here, Franson said he took a liking to EZ Take Out.
He told his father, whose company is also developing Rainforest Cafes in the Middle East.
“He stumbled on EZ Take Out in Costa Mesa, and fell in love and convinced his dad that it would be a great product for the Middle East,” said Franson.
EZ Take Out menu board.
EZ Take was founded in Upland in 1969 by Bob Love, a former In-N-Out employee. Love modeled the menu after his former employer — offering a limited menu of fresh burgers, fries, sodas and shakes. It even sells a Wild Thing burger, which closely resembles an Animal-style burger as its key ingredients are fried mustard and grilled onions.
Love called the first restaurant, EZ Out. But, according to Franson, In-N-Out apparently didn’t like that, so Love changed the company’s name to EZ Take Out. The chain is now owned by Shannon Bane.
Deal alert: The two EZ Take Out restaurants in Orange County are in Yorba Linda and Costa Mesa. The Costa Mesa restaurant is offering a 99-cent burger every Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the chain’s 40th birthday. On Sundays, after 4 p.m., the Costa Mesa location sells 6 burgers for $6.99.
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No! They have to stay here and it’s belong here, not dumb middle eastern crap
here is there web site
http://www.eztakeout.com/
I went to the one in Costa Mesa, they were ok, but no way are they even close to being In-N-Out.
Thanks Beach Bum,
FYI: the EZ Take Out website link is in the first link you see in this story. Sorry if anyone missed that.
I bet the Car Bomb Burger meal deal will go over big there.
Now that one made me laugh out loud!!!
Easy Take out off of La Palma in Yorba Linda needs to step it up… Although they have great food, it’s definately apparent that the employees don’t know what they are doing there. Although the menu is simple they still don’t seem to get it that it shouldn’t take 20 minutes to make a simple burger. If you can fancy the time, it’s worth the wait…
Never heard of this place.
EZ Take Out is great! Their fries are much better than In N Out’s fries are. It always seemed like a complete rip-off of In N Out though.
50? Wow. They only have 8 right now. Interesting. Would be nice to see more locations here first. I think they are better than In N Out and could easily compete with them here.
Wow. Talk about luck. I wonder why the rich kid isn’t attending UCLA, Stanford or Harvard.
I am sure all of the Bible references EZ puts on its packaging will go over real well in the Middle East.
Hmm, never heard of them before.
Is this the same chain that had a store in HB on Edinger across from the old Montgomery Wards…it was very short lived
There was a location in HB that was converted from a Wienerschnitzel to an EZ Take Out. The owner had a beef with Wienerschnitzel corporate and decided to show them by turning that store into a burger stand. A few months later he defaulted on his lease, lost his business and filed BK. He really showed those Wiener dudes.
Uh oh. Now that they’re on the verge of making big, I’ll bet InNOut suddenly pulls the big guns out.
Look out EZ TakeOut. In-N-Out is looking to take you out!
They have really good food, and nice employees.
No matter how good the burger is, there’s something very fishy about this deal. What can an 8-location local franchise have to offer the Al Safar Group? Does EZ Take Out have extensive contacts in the Middle East and North Africa? Do they have experience running restaurants in those areas? Does the EZ Take Out name have some cachet in those regions?
This place has been around 40 years? I have never even heard of them and I’ve lived in Orange County for 40 years.
I’ve seen this place but never been. The burgers in the photo above look good,but would look a whole lot better with some cheese,lol! This doesn’t make sense though. Wouldn’t they want a more recognizable name to do business over there?
I’m glad they are getting the opportunity to expand halfway around the earth but I wish they would have more locations around here. Their burgers are fantastic, the fries are the best around and I love the Blueberry shakes there.
People, you don’t have to be “well known” to have a good product that is desirable to overseas investors.
Z Pizza has or is putting in stores in many Middle Eastern countries. They aren’t big like P.Hut or anything. These areas of the world are opening up to outside investments and/or have a higher percentage of Americans living abroad there and those people want the comforts of home. Don’t we have “Pho” here now?
Most likely, EZ Take Out has some connection or relationship with the group and are using those contacts to expand.
Does daddy know his son is eating non-kosher meat?
this is their website
http://www.eztakeout.com/
I tried it once a while ago and it was awful. Not even close to In N Out. I still dunno how In N Out does it. It’s such a simple burger yet it’s so good
Haven’t eaten at EZ Burger but I did eat at In N Out this past Saturday and I gotta say, it was as lousy as ever. I asked for grilled whole onions and got burnt diced onions on a wafer thin hamburger pattie. The fries were almost raw and I swear the chocolate shake cup has shrunk, again. I would have taken it back, but I was tired (reason I ate out in the first place) and didn’t want to drive anymore.
My POV - I don’t like In N Out and I will probably not eat there again.
But all you folks that do - go for it. Variety and all that.
I agree with you, I don’t like INO either. I think they are way overhyped. Couldn’t agree more about the fries, I have never had fries from In N Out that were good. They are usually either almost raw or flimsy and soggy. The meat on their burgers are nearly non-existent and the bun is over toasted. People are always saying “I don’t know how they do it…” What I don’t understand is how they are able to stay in business this long.
EZ out is decent. They need to upgrade their cheese from the American slices they use. The burger is ok, and the buns are alright. Fries are decent too, and they give you a lot of fries. I never heard of them until this story and tried them yesterday. Not in -n-out, but not CrapDonalds either.
Their website needs to be improved. Doesnt provide even a menu.