The Untold Truth Of Johnny Rockets

Hamburgers may have German origins, but the hamburger as we know it today is truly a symbol of American cuisine. If you need any more proof of that, just look at the sheer number of fast food burger options out there. There's a good chance you probably have at least half a dozen to choose from in relative proximity to where you live. Whereas fast food burgers are meant to be quick, cheap meals with pretty much zero employee flare, Johnny Rockets takes a different approach.

The California-founded, but Massachusetts-based burger chain is all about serving up freshly made hamburgers in a fun atmosphere that pays tribute to the heyday of soda shops. And to stand out even more from the competition, there's a good chance that if you visit, you'll witness the crew bust out some dance moves. It's this commitment to offering more than just a burger and fries — and we can't forget those milkshakes — that have helped Johnny Rockets bring a piece of Americana across the globe. From its early years to where the brand is today, this is the untold truth of Johnny Rockets.

It's not uncommon when looking back at the history of massive fast food chains to learn that the founders struggled before stumbling upon success. For example, KFC's Colonel Sanders couldn't hold down a job, and the McDonald brothers had a failed movie theater before opening their popular quick-service burger joint.

That wasn't exactly the case, however, with Johnny Rockets founder Ronn Teitelbaum.

Before he opened his first Johnny Rockets at age 48, Teitelbaum was already a successful businessman who had worked in real estate and launched a popular men's clothing retail business (via Sun Sentinel). With his business partner, Teitelbaum opened Eric Ross & Co. in posh Beverly Hills in 1967, and another store followed shortly after in Palm Beach. The stores were known for carrying pricy European suits and later designer jeans. In his obituary, the Los Angeles Times noted how in 1972, Teitelbaum nabbed a prestigious fashion industry award and eventually opened 25 Eric Ross & Co. stores in Japan.

Teitelbaum could have easily continued on with his growing retail empire, but instead, he decided to fulfill a childhood dream. In 1984, sold the business to launch Johnny Rockets.

Johnny Rockets might be an American brand that stakes its reputation on creating a one-of-a-kind American burger experience, but it's hardly limited itself to the United States. Whereas lesser burger chains have waited decades before making the international jump, Johnny Rockets did so in a mere three years. By 1989, Teitelbaum had opened a restaurant in Tokyo, and a year later he was serving burgers and shakes in London. Even since its founder's death in 2000, Johnny Rockets has continued its global growth, and in late 2015, it set its sights on Morocco, South Africa, Sweden, and Australia. According to a QSR article, this was part of a massive expansion plan to open 49 restaurants that would put Johnny Rockets on every continent except Antarctica (Keep wishing, Antarctica scientists!).

Such a far-reaching expansion means that a Johnny Rockets globe-trotter could technically visit a restaurant in Chile, before stopping off for fries in Nigeria, scarfing down some burgers in Norway, and then order up milkshakes across in Qatar or Bangladesh. The brand's president of global operations, James Walker, touted that Johnny Rockets had "grown tremendously" with 61 new restaurants in 2016. As of 2019, the chain had 178 international locations spread across 26 countries.

While Justin Bieber might be a Johnny Rockets fan, that's certainly not the case for all celebrities. One celebrity who was most certainly not impressed with the burgers at Johnny Rockets was Anthony Bourdain. The late TV personality didn't simply think the burgers were "meh" but went so far as to describe his sad meal as "soul-destroying." Ouch. And this is coming from a guy who literally ate a warthog's anus.

So what could have caused Bourdain to have such a "soul-destroying" experience at Johnny Rockets? Bourdain wasn't visiting the restaurant with one of his TV shows, but instead was merely trying to grab a bite to eat in an airport. As Bourdain recalled during an interview, the restaurant was deserted except for him and the staff, and he watched in disappointment as his sad meal of a "cold burger" and "pre-cooked" fries was assembled. From there, the staff watched him eat it and everyone "[shared] this moment of perfect misery," Bourdain said, before adding that the misery had lingered with him for over three years (via Eater).

It's probably safe to assume that dancing and belting out a Bee Gee's tune wouldn't have made Bourdain's meal any less miserable.

Other restaurants may use hokey mascots to drum up attention for their food, but Johnny Rockets has taken a different approach. In 2013, a Johnny Rockets location in Santa Monica decided to salute American presidents for President's Day by hiring a ketchup artist. If you've never witnessed a ketchup artist, it's basically exactly what it sounds like, only rather than paint, ketchup is their medium of choice.

Artist Cynthia Kostylo was tasked with creating a tomato-based masterpiece and painting — or to be more accurate, squirting — a landscape of Mount Rushmore. The chain is known for serving ketchup smiley faces with fry orders, but Kostylo's art is obviously a bit more complicated. The artist visits various Johnny Rockets around the country to promote specific locations, often with ketchup paintings relevant to the location. For example, her visit to a Las Vegas Johnny Rockets resulted in a showgirl, and she painted the Statue of Liberty when in New York City.

Depending on which Johnny Rockets you visit, you may notice it's not quite as retro as it once looked. Like so many other chains, Johnny Rockets has set its sights on attracting millennials, and considering that this customer base was born decades after the 1950s, a diner out of the Eisenhower era doesn't exactly scream hip. In 2016, it was announced that a location in Syracuse, New York, would be the first restaurant to get a modern makeover. "We were showing our age. We were looking a little old; a little tired," then-CEO Charles Bruce told The Orange County Register.

This meant that the red vinyl seats were swapped with dark-colored booths surrounded by wood planking and a white brick veneer. Fluorescent lighting was traded for industrial caged pendants, and vintage art on the walls was replaced for wall art that reminded customers of the chain's "fresh, farm to table" food. Crew members were also given a makeover with their soda shop paper hats traded for white oxford shirts and dark denim jeans. Those once-iconic jukeboxes were presumably hauled off to a forgotten storage locker. "Someone dancing isn't really relevant these days," Bruce said of the change.

Here's the thing, though. Bruce's time with Johnny Rockets wasn't particularly lengthy, and by July 2016, the chain had a new burger boss. In January 2020, the chain also announced that some restaurants would be keeping the retro look — complete with dancing waitstaff.

When people go out to eat and spend their hard-earned money, they expect a fresh meal. Unfortunately, that's not always what ends up on their plate, and it's pretty common for restaurants to use microwaves to serve up pre-made food. Thankfully, this isn't the case at Johnny Rockets, and contrary to Anthony Bourdain's claims, the chain adheres to a strict cooked-to-order system with its burgers and fries. "They know it's coming fresh from the griddle," CEO George Michel stated in a press release. "That's why our kitchens are open kitchens. It's not like we have microwaves. It's not like we have holding equipment to heat chicken and meat."

This does mean that customers might have to wait a little longer for their burgers than at a typical fast food joint with a drive-thru, but Michel said most customers are okay with that "because they know they're getting something different." Even the chain's Gardein Black Bean Burger is cooked on the grill. When a vegetarian resource blog reached out to ask if it was possible to get a veggie burger microwaved, they too were told that Johnny Rockets restaurants were "not equipped with microwaves." If you want a burger from the microwave (why?), you'll just have to look elsewhere.