Bobby's Burger Palace Opens Its Doors in College Park

Grid View

• Even on a rainy day, the line winds around the corner.
• These people have probably been in line for at least 20 minutes, but they are excited to take pictures of... Bobby Flay, who is in the house.
• Bobby Flay, signing books, taking pictures with people, probably kissing babies, too.
• Already jumping a mere 15 minutes after opening.

Bobby's Burger Palace opened its second DC-area location today at The Varsity in College Park and, as promised, celebrity chef Bobby Flay was on hand and the lines were insanely long. The first business of the day was a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the morning with Flay and College Park Mayor Andrew Fellows. Though a spokesperson tells Eater the place didn't open until around noon, anecdotal evidence shows that people — mostly college students — were waiting in line as early as an hour ahead of time for a taste of Flay's regionally inspired burgers.

In fact, the 80-seat restaurant was already filling up pretty fast by about 12:15 p.m and it seemed to be taking people who had arrived the moment the restaurant opened approximately 30 minutes to get up to the registers. Note, however, that the line only kept growing through the hour to the point where it wrapped not only out the door but around the corner. Meanwhile, Flay hung out near the kitchen fielding autograph and photograph requests from people who, having already endured the line to get food, were then waiting in a new line to meet the chef.

The new College Park location looks a lot like every other Bobby's Burger Palace out there, with its serpentine counter and brightly colored walls. They're selling cookbooks, T-shirts, hats and sauces, among other things if you would like to have some Bobby Flay swag to go with your burger. The menu is also about the same as the chain's other locations, including 10 burgers, fries, milkshakes, spiked milkshakes, sodas and more.

· Bobby's Burger Palace [Official Site]
· All Previous Bobby's Burger Palace Coverage [-EDC-]