Emerson College students may have noticed a new glowing storefront beckoning passers to peek in through its windows around the corner of Little Building. The gleaming orange light comes from Burg and Shaw, a freshly opened American-Egyptian fusion fast-food restaurant where customers can get a juicy burger or shawarma for less than $9.
The restaurant, which opened on Jan. 16, has only three main menu options, each representing the merging of Western and Middle Eastern cuisine that co-founders and brothers Ahmed and Farouk Kadous formulated.
The story goes that in a small town, Burg, an American master of the burger, and Shaw, a Middle Eastern master of shawarma, were once rivals. Burg symbolized the mainstream and Shaw represented cultural tradition. But then they had an epiphany — why be competitors?
The result of this realization was Burg and Shaw, where, according to the restaurant’s website, “flavor doesn’t choose sides.” The restaurant’s simplistic neon sign visualizes this narrative behind the restaurant’s branding, depicting the restaurant’s mascots, Burg and Shaw, standing side by side with their arms behind each other’s backs.
This cultural fusion is noticeable even in the brand’s tiniest details. Ahmed Kadous told The Beacon that the choice of green and orange has a deeper meaning than just being an eye-catching color combination.
The dark green hats worn by workers represent the East, Ahmed Kadous said, while the bright orange interior of the restaurant embodies the energy of the West. The inside cover of the restaurant’s to-go boxes displays the brand’s story in the form of a mini comic strip.
As the name implies, customers can order between the Burg or the Shaw. The Shaw, which features shawarma-style meat instead of a patty, is offered with either chicken or steak. The Burg is paired with caramelized onions, melted cheese, and lettuce. The Shaw, with steak, includes tomato, cilantro, and marinated onion, while the chicken version contains pickles, mint, and garlic sauce.
Garlic seasoned fries and two signature sauces, one for the Burg and one for the Shaw, can also be added on. Both the Burg and the Shaw with chicken are made to order with their own house-made signature sauce.
The choice of offering only three main options with varying flavor profiles is intentional and rooted in the brothers’ life experiences.
When growing up in Egypt, Ahmed Kadous said a shawarma vendor was stationed right down the street from him. It was there that he fell in love with that staple of Egyptian street food. Having also eaten burgers from all around the world in his travels, he wanted to combine his appreciation for Western and Eastern food. He decided to pull on the knowledge from his countless tastings to research and develop a bun that would work for both burgers and shawarma.
“The icon of American food is the burger,” he told The Beacon. “And the common thing between the two is the bun.”
The final recipe that makes up the bun being used at Burg and Shaw is a secret, as it’s what Ahmed Kadous said makes their product unique.
When the brothers were in the process of figuring out who their target market would be, Ahmed Kadous reflected on his own time being a student, understanding the unique demand for quick order food available late into the night. With their hours running from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., he said that he hopes to see many Emerson students coming to Burg and Shaw to satisfy their evening cravings.
Some Emerson community members have already checked out the restaurant.
Olivia Lampert, a freshman theatre and performance major, said her interest was piqued when she saw the restaurant’s promotional content on the outside of the building. She told her friend that they had to come and try out the food and was pleasantly surprised by the sociability of the space and staff.
“It’s just such a positive environment and I’ve never experienced that with a fast food-type restaurant. It’s usually very quick, but everyone here is very personable,” she said.
Her friend, Aviva Gladstein, a freshman theatre and performance major, came to Burg and Shaw the first day it opened. She didn’t order any food then, but said that after trying her friend’s fries from the restaurant, she determined that she had to come back and try it for herself.
After a year and a half of development, Ahmed Kadous is excited to see where Burg and Shaw will take him and his brother, and how people in the area will respond. “We have big dreams,” he said.
Situated a quick right turn outside the back exit of Little Building with an attractively cheap menu offering flavorful comfort food, it seems like Burg and Shaw could become a new Emerson community staple.
