Burger Patch opens Land Park restaurant and lab, eyes “double-digit” Bay Area expansion

Floor-to-ceiling windows at Burger Patch’s new location offer a view of William Land Park, one of Sacramento’s outdoor treasures. Yet the all-vegan fast food restaurant’s founders are looking further, beyond city and even regional limits.

Burger Patch’s new Land Park restaurant held its grand opening Saturday morning after two weeks of invite-only test runs. The 3,500-square foot building at 4400 Freeport Blvd., Suite 160 is two to four times the size of Burger Patch’s three other area locations in midtown, East Sacramento and Davis.

The Land Park restaurant includes a central kitchen, which will supply the other Burger Patches with items such as Beyond Meat patties, housemade egg substitutes and proprietary sauces. That’ll be crucial to the coming growth: Burger Patch is planning a “double-digit store expansion” in the Bay Area, co-founder Phil Horn said.

It’s not uncommon for Bay Area restaurants to establish a Sacramento presence, but reciprocation is rare beyond one or two stores. If Burger Patch is successful, it will be the only Sacramento-based restaurant chain with such a substantive foothold in the Bay Area.

“Thinking about it like that is fun. It’s sort of uncharted territory. I always liked the underdog mentality (where) there’s probably a big sister somewhere that’s challenging you a little bit,” Horn said. “If San Francisco doesn’t know about Burger Patch or some of the quality things that are coming out of Sacramento, we’d be happy to be the first to show them.”

Past the counter, Land Park customers can peek into Burger Patch’s Kitchen of Innovation and Discovery (k.i.n.d.) lab, where employees experiment with seasonal and new menu items such as a cayenne-dusted hot chik’n sandwich or burger with mac-and-cheeze, tater tots, faux bacon and egg-free mayonnaise.

A few Burger Patch staples are different at the new restaurant, too. Green leaf lettuce now comes from Gotham Greens, which opened a 10-acre hydroponic greenhouse outside Davis in December. Cookies once grilled on flat-tops are now pre-made and left in a counterside warming container, similar to what one sees at Subway.

After replacing hot pot restaurant Shabu Pub in Land Park, Burger Patch is probably done expanding in Sacramento proper, though Horn said there could be future restaurants in Elk Grove or Roseville. The future Bay Area locations are already mapped out, Horn said, but none have been announced. One hint, though: Horn’s wife and co-owner Danea Horn will soon start a two-year post-doc at Stanford University.

“That sort of Bay Area expansion is imminent for us, and having this central kitchen was kind of the linchpin for us to pull before we can do that,” Horn said.

The Land Park restaurant is open seven days a week, starting at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday for breakfast sandwiches and other morning bites. It will close at 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday during summer months and at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.