No Randy, No Reservations, No Problem: Inside Foley’s Patio Burger Bar
Ask for the person in charge at Cheeseburger Randy’s and you will get a smile, a great burger, and a small confession: there is no Randy. There never was. There is Alex Warner, the founder with the vision; Marcus Owens, his longtime friend from Colorado who moved to Foley last year to help make it happen; and a staff — Alex and Marcus, Faith, Caleb, Sam, and Sand — who are unusually happy to talk to everyone who walks in.
The name was the point. When renovations on the historic building at 209 S. Alston Street in downtown Foley stretched longer than expected, the partners had plenty of time to kick around names. Cheeseburger Alex’s and Cheeseburger Marcus’s didn’t sound right. Then someone floated Cheeseburger Randy’s, and a critic delivered the verdict that settled the matter: “That is a terrible name; it sounds like where mechanics go to smoke cigarettes.” “That’s exactly what it is,” they said — and kept it.
A Food Truck Concept in a Historic Building
The concept, as Marcus describes it, is simple: “We’re a patio burger bar. I kind of think of it as a food truck concept that we put in a building, because we found this great location that we were lucky enough to get into.” The building itself carries Foley’s history — over the years, the Alston Street address has been home to Rosie Lee’s Fudge and Candies Shop and Sugar, Spice & Soul Café.
Into that space they built a deliberately stripped-down operation: smash burgers, expertly executed, served with lots of smiles, upbeat overhead music, and a menu so streamlined that Alex’s sister Faith can cheerfully describe the whole thing in under a minute. “People love that it’s so simple,” she says. “You go to other places, and it’s hard to do really well with 75 things on the menu, but we’ve got it down to a streamlined science, and it’s so good. I eat it like five to six times a week.”
Three Burgers, Two Sides
The menu’s discipline is the story. There are three burgers, all built the same way: two thin, griddle-seared patties on a pillowy bun with melted American cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced pickles, and a zingy house-made sauce that starts with a base of Thousand Island dressing. Deluxe versions add either sliced Conecuh sausage or a mixture of cream cheese and chopped jalapeños. Sides are fries, onion rings, or a combination of the two.
That’s it. The simplicity is the appeal — a menu the kitchen can execute perfectly, at a pace that keeps the line moving and the patio happy.
The Lunch Launch and the 200-Burger Giveaway
The restaurant opened a year ago as an evening operation, 4 to 8 p.m. — but demand for lunch kept building. When the team added lunch hours, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in mid-September, the response was a clamor of enthusiasm. They ran a trial the day before: a giveaway of free cheeseburgers, a hundred by plan, to get everything up to speed.
“When we arrived, there were probably 45 people already in line, and at 11, when we opened, the line was quickly out the front door and all the way to the corner at the end of the street,” Marcus recalls. “We ended up giving away probably 200 cheeseburgers.” The real lunch service, they knew, would be busy.
Michigan to Foley, With Stops in Seattle and Denver
Alex Warner’s road back to Foley ran a long way around. Originally from Michigan, he spent his high school years in Foley, then set off to explore Seattle and Denver. On return visits, he kept seeing more potential back home — and eventually, in a way, joined the family business: his mother and aunt have owned the popular Copper Kettle Tea Bar in Foley for many years. Before launching Cheeseburger Randy’s, he tested the waters with Bagel Boy just a few blocks away.
The downtown revitalization in Foley has given his return good company, and Cheeseburger Randy’s has become part of the energy driving it — a lively room of happy faces and tantalizing aromas on a street that is increasingly a destination.
Order in Person, Eat It Now
The most radical thing about Cheeseburger Randy’s may be what it refuses to do. There is no phone ordering. No online ordering. No delivery. You order the old-fashioned way — standing in line at the counter, in person.
“You can’t call in, you can’t order online, you have to be here,” Alex says. “Burgers and fries are meant to be eaten now, not 40 minutes later after someone delivers them to you.” He knows he could sell more burgers with those options; for now he holds firm, because the line at the counter is where the hospitality happens. “I want to interact with everyone that comes through,” he says. “I like being able to talk to all the people here and actually look at them so I can see that they’re enjoying everything.”
Frozen Margaritas? Maybe. A Bar? No.
After a year, Warner looks back with relief that they pulled it off and excitement for what’s next. The changes, when they come, will be careful ones. The restaurant already holds a liquor license, and frozen margaritas may soon join the offerings. But the team is deliberate about not drifting from its identity — fun, casual, family-friendly, laid-back. “We have some beers,” Alex says, “but we’re also a very kid-friendly, family-friendly restaurant, so we didn’t want to turn it into a bar.”
That balance — a patio burger bar where the burgers are simple, the greeting is genuine, and the only way to get one is to show up — has made Cheeseburger Randy’s an unlikely-sounding name that Foley now says with pride. Mechanics and everyone else welcome.
Cheeseburger Randy’s is located at 209 S. Alston Street in downtown Foley, serving lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and evenings from 4 to 8 p.m.