Burgerville to try beer and wine sales

 Burgerville plans to test a pilot project to sell beer and wine at its Salmon Creek location at 13309 N.E. Highway 99 near Vancouver once it is issued a liquor license. Jeff Harvey, Burgerville president and chief executive officer, says beer and wine sales could expand, depending on how the initial test performs. The chain operates 39 restaurants in Oregon and Washington.
VANCOUVER -- Burgerville over the years has beefed up its image as more than just a fast-food joint.

It uses local food suppliers if possible and trumpets its seasonal menu creations. It pays health insurance for most of its employees, buys wind power credits, recycles the cooking grease and strives to be the family friendly neighborhood gathering place.

Introducing beer and wine into the mix could change that chemistry.

The privately held company is seeking regulatory approval to serve beer and wine at one of its Vancouver-area restaurants as a marketing test, starting perhaps as early as mid-April. It's a move critics say could alter the chain's image for operating family-friendly venues.

But some customers welcome the addition.

Burgerville officials hope their experiment at the one restaurant will show that regionally-produced wine and beer have a rightful place near the seasonal fruit milkshakes. A decision on the chain's 38 other restaurants will come later.

They offer multiple reasons for serving wine, starting with the menu's star.

"This is a food strategy first," said Jeff Harvey, president and chief executive officer of The Holland Inc., Burgerville's parent company, "and wine strategy second."

Starting last month, the company began featuring seasonal items not typically found on a fast-food menu board. So it was only natural to look at beer and wine pairings, restaurant officials say.

Consulting Chef Grace Pae, manager of Artemis Foods in southeast Portland, worked with a team of Burgerville restaurant managers and others to pump up the menu.

February featured the Yukon & White Bean Basil Burger Sandwich ($5.29) by Chez Gourmet, the Wilsonville-based vegetarian patties supplier. For March, it's a freshly baked French baguette that's toasted and topped with a chicken breast, rosemary aioli and frisee -- a curly kind of lettuce ($5.29).

In April, look for a spinach and chicken salad with toasted walnuts as well as a spinach florentine breakfast sandwich; May is asparagus month, with lightly battered and fried whole spears and a sandwich built of grilled sourdough, provolone cheese, mozzarella, tomatoes and asparagus spears.

The restaurant, which is tapping regional suppliers for the ingredients, has scheduled seasonal flavors through the rest of the year, too. The wine and beer suppliers have not been selected.

A lot of restaurants in this economy are "going value meal based," Harvey said. "We're going gourmet based."

The company also has an eye on demographics with its new offerings.

Company research shows a loyal base between ages 30 and 60. It's hoped the wine, beer, and enhanced menu will attract customers in ages 20 to 30, Harvey said.

"Those are the folks out there looking for a different experience," he said, adding that Washington State University Vancouver is near the restaurant.

The Salmon Creek restaurant, where the wine and beer would be served, is like no other Burgerville restaurant. The ultra-Northwest-themed structure was built at greater expense than other Burgervilles and it's the place to try out new ideas.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board will decide whether one of those new ideas will include beer and wine. The board will like vote on the application no earlier than mid-April, a spokeswoman said.

The liquor board's Burgerville case file includes only one complaint. But it doesn't take much searching in the Pleasant Highlands neighborhood, about two miles from the restaurant at 13301 N.E. Highway 99, to find more than that.

"It is inappropriate for them to be serving," wine and beer, resident Doug Palin said.

Paul Lauch said he and his wife "think of this restaurant as a family place to take the children out for a meal and we don't think it needs to add alcohol to the menu."

Palin and Lauch say they would stop going to the restaurant if it serves beer and wine.

But James Olson, neighborhood association president, approves. He's a fan of Burgerville's commitment to buying from area farmers -- and, in this case, vintners and brewers.

"More power to them," said Olson, who figures, based on an e-mail survey, that neighborhood sentiment is running 3-1 in favor of serving alcohol.

Neighborhood resident Lynn Stiglich said it would be better to spend money at this Burgerville than two nearby restaurants that already serve alcohol.

Nancy Swanger, associate professor of hospitality business management at Washington State University in Pullman, said Burgerville should expect to lose a customer or two. That's based on personal experience, she said, in a previous work life overseeing the introduction of beer at a Taco Time in Moscow, Idaho.

The addition was intended to attract University of Idaho students, which it did, but, "it actually was a turnoff to some families," Swanger said.