In an expansion nobody asked for, Mark Wahlberg has announced that his burger chain, Wahlburgers, will be hitting Australia very soon.
Marky Mark and his brother’s, chef Paul and actor Donnie, opened the first Wahlburgers chain in Massachusetts back in 2014. The restaurant was subject to the reality television series Wahlburgers. The chain specialises in casual burger fare – think artery-punishing beef burgers, sambos, ‘tater tots, and milkshakes – but with a Marky Mark touch to it all.
The first Australian location is set to open up in Sydney’s Circular Quay, which adds further fuel to my thesis that the closer a restaurant is to the water, the chatter the food will be.
The expansion is part of a $50 million partnership with the Mustaca family-owned United Cinemas chain, and all restaurants will be movie-themed.
“What we are really focusing on now is creating exclusive content just for the customers. So people will see movie trailers early and all that stuff,” Mark Wahlberg told The Daily Telegraph.
Wahlburgers is set to open 15 brick-and-mortar stores across Australia, inside or near United cinema locations. You can expect joints to pop up in Warriewood and Narallen in Sydney, Craigieburn in Melbourne, Indoorpilly in Brisbane and Rockingham in Perth.
The first Sydney location is expected to open up in the coming months, and Marky Mark himself is scheduled to make a special guest appearance.
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Mark Wahlberg finalised the Wahlburgers deal late last year during a trip to Australia. The Departed actor was here Down Under to film an ad for Ladbrokes and, much to the resentment of everyone forced to eat sad fruit salads in stuffy hotel rooms for a fortnight, was allowed to wag mandatory hotel quarantine and self-isolate in a bougie property in Byron Bay.
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