la.foodblogging

I have some friends who are loyal to In-and-Out while a few others swear by Fatburger.

But on this occasion, I’m sure we can all agree to tip our hat to Fatburger Founder Lovie Yancey who died at age 96.

To read more about Lovie Yancey, please see this LA Times article.

Excerpt:

Yancey launched her foray into fast food by partnering with Charles Simpson, who worked for a construction company and reportedly used scrap materials to build a three-stool hamburger stand on Western Avenue near Jefferson Boulevard.

Opened in 1947, the business was called Mr. Fatburger.

“The name of the store was my idea,” Yancey said. “I wanted to get across the idea of a big burger with everything on it . . . a meal in itself.”

In 1952, Yancey shed both her business partner and the “Mr.” in the hamburger stand’s name, and Fatburger was officially born.

“I think of that stand as like a little postwar survivor that’s a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of an African American woman who really did usher in what became a very good model for a franchise business,” Adriene Biondo, chairman of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee, told The Times on Friday.
………….
Santa Monica-based Fatburger Corp., owned by Fog Cutter Capital Group, currently has 93 locations in the United States, Canada and Macao.

“We feel privileged to be part of the culture Lovie created,” Andy Wiederhorn, chairman of Fatburger, said in a news release.

Yancey, who was born in Texas on Jan. 3, 1912, established a $1.7-million endowment at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte in 1986 for research into sickle-cell anemia. This was in fulfillment of a promise to her 22-year-old grandson, Duran Farrell, who had died of the disease three years earlier.

In addition to her daughter, Yancey is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

By Rene (see more of his posts). You can find more of Rene's writing at his own website Rene's Ramblings