There’s nothing quite like a home-cooked “cheat meal.” Who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese or a juicy burger?
However, sometimes going out to the local food market isn’t possible with busy schedules and hectic work weeks. For the cooks who don’t have time to grocery shop, but still want to whip up food for the indulgent soul, BurgaBox is here to help you out.
Coining itself the “drunk uncle” of healthy meal-box delivery companies like HelloFresh, Burgabox seeks to attract a new type of subscriber, one that prefers juicy burgers over comparatively bland salads. The meal startup was founded by Paul Malvone, Chuck Sillari and Sebastian Fricia, the three founders and owners of Boston Burger Company. The official launch of the startup was on Sept. 1, according to Brooke Battersby, a spokesperson for BurgaBox.
“We offer gooey, ridiculous burgers, fries and sides that you can make in your own home,” Sillari said.
Each box comes with two burgers, two sides of cole slaw, two sides of their “famous” baked beans, a tray of mac and cheese and a “16 oz. tray of specialty loaded fries,” according to BurgaBox’s website. The food replicates what is sold at the Boston Burger Company’s three locations in Cambridge, Boston and Somerville and, according to a press release, is designed to take under 30 minutes to prepare.
Burgabox isn’t the first player in the meal box industry. Monthly deliveries of curated products and recipes have proliferated since the 2010 launch of Birchbox, according to Aihui Ong, the founder and CEO of Love with Food, a food consumer analytics platform.
“Meal boxes take away from the face-to-face interactions of the restaurant with the customer,” Sillari said. “We [at BurgaBox] still find great joy in providing a messy, delicious, over-the-top experience for our customers, just in the comfort of their own home.”
Generally, boxed-meal subscriptions cater to individuals with limited time and a desire to cook recipes outside their comfort zone. With eccentric ingredients, meal box services cut the cost of buying large quantities of unfamiliar spices by providing specific amounts. For example, according to Sillari, Burgabox’s two best-selling burgers are “The Hot Mess” and “Mac Attack,” topped with wacky combinations such as sweet potato fries and jalapeños.
Malvone, Sillari and Fricia founded Boston Burger Company in 2009 and are famous for their enormously gooey and impressively stacked burgers. The innovative styles range from the “Artery Clogger,” a beer-battered and deep-fried burger with bacon and barbecue sauce, to “The Sophie,” which features prosciutto, goat cheese and a balsamic reduction.
BurgaBox finds success in being innovatively indulgent.
“Ours is not your average, healthy, vegan, all-natural, ‘frou-frou’ delivery box,” Sillari said.
BurgaBox’s website calls healthier meal subscriptions purveyors of “skimpy healthy meals.” Malvone said he believes BurgaBox’s success comes from the comfort of fast home cooking. Delicious burgers are no longer a T’s journey away.
“Now you can have [Boston Burger Company] right in your own home without having to worry about getting dressed up, leaving the house or leaving a tip,” he said.
Another standout feature of this Boston-based startup is the personality that comes with each box. The BurgaBox blog notes that the founders are “three overweight burger loving dudes from Boston.” The site also features humorous videos of bland-looking, kale-filled meal boxes versus towering burger boxes.
“I tried the Killer Bee, and it was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time,” Ethan Wu, a resident of Norwell, Massachusetts and a senior at Norwell High School, wrote in a message. “Sixty dollars seems a bit steep for two burgers. A better price would be 30 dollars per month.”
BurgaBox aims to expand its reach and continue serving comfort food in their customers’ own homes, dorm rooms or apartments.
“Give us a try,” Sillari said. “We love our college town and want college students to see BurgaBox as an easy and fun way to get friends together for dinner and treat them to something fun and wild.”
