“The food was in a brown paper bag. The fries were in a Dixie cup,” one befuddled customer told WPXI-TV’s Timkya Artist about the apparently faux BK that had been serving noticeably non-Burger King items for about a week.
When the WPXI cameras attempted to film inside and ask management about what was going on, they were ejected from the property.
Eventually an assistant manager explained that the restaurant was in transition to a non-BK establishment, and that if people looked at their receipts they would see they no longer referenced Burger King, but the new eatery’s name.
Still doesn’t explain why the signage and menu boards were all still Burger King-branded, unless BK has suddenly decided to let just anyone sell “Whopper” hamburgers.
Within hours of WPXI’s initial inquiry, the Burger King sign had been taken down, though the negative space left behind still reads “Burger King” to passersby:
When WPXI called the city’s health officials, they were informed that the restaurant would be closing its doors temporarily as it can not continue to operate without changing the name of the business in the city’s files.
UPDATE: A rep for Burger King provided Consumerist with the following statement:
Burger King restaurants are dedicated to providing high-quality food, made fresh-to-order for millions of guests every day. We recently experienced a dispute with the former franchisee, who independently-owned and operated this restaurant. We’re working to place a new franchisee in this location very soon.