Mark Brezinski has opened more than 120 restaurants throughout the years.
Whether it was Velvet Taco or Pei Wei Asian Diner, he still gets a sense of anxiety when creating a new business. And it was no different for Bizzy Burger Merchants.
“A new brand just takes time,” Brezinski says. “It takes an incredible amount of patience and a few sleepless nights. New businesses are not for the faint of heart.”
Bizzy Burger is located right in front of McDonald’s and down the street from Burger King on Monfort Drive. Being sandwiched between two burger giants, Brezinski had to find a way to make his restaurant stand out.
Brezinski is known for taking ordinary food and making it extraordinary.
When creating Velvet Taco, Brezinski knew that every taco restaurant had the same three tacos — carne asada, shrimp and grilled chicken. He knew that he wanted to do something different while elevating the idea of what a taco can be. The same can be said for his new burger venture.
“I see things that exist and try to make that thing better,” Brezinski says. “I know everybody likes hamburgers, but I didn’t want to just do another burger joint, so I did things a little differently.”
Bizzy Burger prides itself on being an elevated version of the everyday burger. There is a simple formula for customers to follow when ordering from Bizzy: Choose a burger, choose a cheese, and choose a topping.
Burgers come in three different serving sizes: Kinda Bizzy, the single burger; Very Bizzy, the double burger; and the Extremely Bizzy triple burger. All come with or without cheese. Patties are made from 80/20 Kobe-style ground beef that is raised locally and brought fresh to the restaurant. Due to its size, Bizzy is able to use higher-quality meats and ingredients. The price for a Bizzy Burger ranges from $3.50-$7.50.
Another big difference between Bizzy Burger and the average fast-food burger place is the toppings; diners won’t find the typical lettuce, tomato and onion options.
Instead, Bizzy Burger offers “Blendz,” which are cooked and turned into purées. All burgers come with one Blendz, but more can be added. There are five flavors available: mixed hot peppers, roasted garlic and sweet onion, wild mushroom, blistered tomato and fresh herbs, and Korean barbecue.
The side dishes are also out of the ordinary. Tot Fries have the texture of tater tots with the physique of French fries, fried onion straws are Bizzy’s take on onion rings, and there’s also spicy house-made kimchi.
Bizzy Burger also offers a vegetarian burger option. Unlike some places that offer a combination of meat substitutes or bean patties for their veggie burgers, Bizzy offers a true “veggie burger.” The Bizzy Veggie Stack includes layers of thinly sliced, fresh vegetables griddled to finish with cheese and one Blendz, just like the beef burgers.
Since opening, Brezinski has added additional items to the menu, per the request of satisfied customers who wanted to know if he could elevate chicken sandwiches the way he did burgers.
Brezinski put on his thinking cap and came up with two items — a chicken parm sandwich and a hot chicken sandwich. The chicken is in the form of a patty, fried in panko breading, with pickles added to the sandwich. The hot sauce used is made in-house and is combined with the mixed hot pepper Blendz.
The ultimate goal for Brezinski is to make better fast food.
“Here at Bizzy Burger Merchants, we want to create better fast-food alternatives that can expand and go into different neighborhoods and become a brand,” Brezinski says. “To be able to do what Velvet Taco did for tacos, but for burgers.”
“We can do better fast food. Eat better burgers,” he says. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Bizzy Burger Merchants, 13251 Montfort Drive, 972.803.615
