Umami Burger: Where did “U” go?
Honestly G’s up to my cousin that put me on burgers at the ripe age of 19. That’s right - I never had a burger before then. I think it was a burger from the Canadian chain Harvey’s but I can’t remember which specific one. All I remember is taking a bite and having a That’s so Raven moment, but the opposite where I have a flashback to all the times I declined having a burger and regretting it. Clearly, I was no burger connoisseur because I quickly found out that there were far better ones out there. Especially when I had my first Shake Shack burger…and this was before it became the global chain brand it is now. 2015 Shack Stack at the OG MSP location was ICONIC to say the least. I have since moved on to 7th Street Burger because I love jalapeños in burgers and the loaded fries are top tier. What is not top tier are the outrageous prices for a smash style burger! I’ll save my rant on pricing of smash burgers for another post…
Anyways - Umami Burger was also an up and coming burger joint during this time. It was because of this spot I came to learn and explore more about umami. Their “U” branding on their buns were flooded all over Instagram. I still remember how their menu consisted of lots of truffles, parmesan, onions, umami ketchup, beer cheddar cheese and miso. They had a few locations around NYC. My friend and I had visited the one at Brookfield Place in December of 2015. We ordered the “Manly” burger and perhaps it was the house beer cheddar cheese that prompted a masculine name. The burger also included bacon lardons, smoked salt onion strings, umami ketchup and mustard with a thick beef patty. I decided to include my chopped pic of the munch (this was back when it was cool to have a white background on your pics in insta - do you know what I'm talking about?).
From what I remember - I definitely enjoyed this burger! I’m not a big fan of bacon/pork but I do remember still relishing in the savoriness of the meal and loving the umami ketchup. Of course this burger ended up being around $20 bucks and because of that, as a broke college student, this was definitely a one time ordeal. However, I was shocked when I tried to visit this spot again after a couple of years only to learn they had shut down not only this branch, but all of their east cost branches. Why??
Adam Fleischman apparently bit into a Double-Double In-N-Out burger and had an epiphany that umami might explain why pizza and burger joints pop up more than any other food spots in America. Or at least, that is along the lines of what a New Yorker article wrote. He experimented with some ingredients he purchased from Mitsuwa in West LA that had the most amount of glutamates (umami properties) and tried to incorporate them into every element of a burger. He mentions in a Forbes article how he got the inspiration to deconstruct and then reconstruct elements of a burger from the legendary British chef Heston Blumenthal. This process led him to sell his wine business to open up Umami Burger on South La Brea Ave, Los Angeles in 2009. The patties used were primarily from American wagyu beef that were ground in house and seasoned with '“umami dust”. The tomatoes were slow baked overnight in house with a soy based sauce. Their iconic parmesan crisp was made using 18 month aged cheese and of course made in house. They also had different types of sauces like Umami Master sauce which was a combination of soy, tamari and miso. Their umami ketchup incorporated elements such as mushrooms and fish which would explain its delicious nature. The bun was also made in house and shaped so that the burger has a 2:1 ratio between the patty and bun. I found a great vid that detailed this all out on reddit and linked below. I explain all this to hint at the level to which this burger chain had to operate which is extremely impressive but also probably contributed to it’s downfall…
Within the span of ten years, Umami Burger went on to open many more locations, even one in Japan, once Adam partnered with SBE Entertainment Group, Nimes Capital and Fortress Investment Group. By 2014, so only 5 years, there were more than 20 locations. Celebrities endorsed and partnered with the brand by coming out with “special burgers” such as the Sand Burger for Andy Sandberg and the Alton Brown burger. The Black Keys, Mindy Kaling and Chef Michael Voltaggio also had their own burgers. What was nice was how each celebrity would partner with a charity and for every burger sold a dollar would go towards that charity. However, this influx of capital and publicity didn't seem to support the rapid expansion of the brand.
It’s never a good feeling to see a restaurant lose: lose customers, lose staff, lose money and ultimately lose integrity. Which is what would happen to a burger chain that specializes in the intricacies of crafting a whole product in house while also over-expanding in such a short amount of time. The whole process of making the burgers was laborious and perhaps not enough time was spent in finding ways to make these processes scalable. I think also in terms of marketability, this was a burger of luxury. A meal the average person would indulge in from time to time rather than your classic smash style burger that may be greasy but is cheaper and quicker and also super delicious. Perhaps the business plan developed for the expansion of Umami Burger was just not the right one when considering all these factors. I really couldn’t find a good article or case study that clearly stated the reasons as to why Umami Burger closed their stores as quick as they opened them, so all of this is just an assessment of what I can find. I would LOVE if HBS made a case study of this.
I don’t think it would be fair to analyze Umami Burger without delving into the type of person Adam Fleischman was. Leadership/management are also critical to any business’s success. However, I could not find any article online that dove into first hand experiences with him other than reddit threads which personally, I fux with but for blog post reasons I think I shouldn't rely on (but also so odd that there is literally NOTHING, not one article on his working style). I can definitely empathize with his various side quests such as building 800 Degrees Pizza and PBJ.LA. Sometimes it’s just hard to focus on one project when there are other exciting projects or ideas to get involved in. But could this also have been a factor in Umami Burger’s decline? Who knows?!?! SOMEONE get on that case study.
Finally, to top it all off, a strange and unsettling report came out in 2023 that Adam Fleischman reportedly was squatting in someone’s home for four months. Flash Shelton, who can be considered as a professional squatter remover, was contacted by a 62 year old woman named Claudia Cummings to help her remove Adam from her property. Apparently the incident began when Claudia posted on Craigslist that she was looking for a roommate. Adam responded to this listing and a deal was made, verbally, on the basis he could help her launch a “pay-per-plate” dinner series. The intent was to bring in guests while being provided the space and the money earned would cover the rent for the home. No lease agreement was signed as it was considered a business arrangement and also it seems as though Claudia was the type of person to be easily trusting of people. A New York Post article mentions that even another tenant, Tiffany Workman, did not have a signed lease with Claudia because she “goes off of her heart”. After Adam failed to pay following the first event and when she realized that he had taken her credit card to pay for all the ingredients and supplies without her permission, she wanted out of the arrangement. Adam refused to leave and never paid rent. Once Claudia’s numerous attempts to remove Adam failed including her allegedly being physically assaulted a number of times, in came Flash with his cameras and astute knowledge of squatting laws in California. There was even a security camera footage of Adam with an unknown acquaintance stating “After she dies, I’ll give you guys first shot at the rooms”. CRAZY. Flash also had another report from another woman who tried to get Adam to leave the property but ended up being beaten up by him. She showed all of her bruises and was understandably distressed. Absolutely abhorrent behavior. I encourage you to go to Flash Shelton’s YT page where he documents the whole eviction process with first hand accounts of speaking with Adam regarding his actions. Eventually, yes, Adam does leave but 29 days after he left, Claudia committed suicide…
I’m honestly shocked that there aren’t more articles on this. It really is only Flash Shelton’s reporting and a bunch of Reddit threads. But there is a whole piece of the puzzle where it is hard to understand exactly how Adam went from having such a successful brand that he built from the bottom up to needing to harass an elderly woman in order to have a roof over his head. Sure we can inference it as a cautionary tale to what success can do to an individual, almost like a double edged sword. But, it is always best to hear a straightforward account from the source. It definitely is hard to find empathy for an individual who beats up women though, humph.
Currently, Umami burger seems to be operating only in LAX?! Their website says otherwise but it doesn’t seem updated because I for sure know they aren’t operating at any NY locations at the moment. I am also not sure how to verify the current ownership stake of the company as well. Well SBE for sure is 100% the majority owner but I am not sure if Adam is still a part of the company. However, I do think that if Umami Burger is planning a comeback and if they can match the quality level they originally started with while optimizing logistics and work on their management - they could probably become successful again. Don’t you think so? For a while the limelight has been on the classic smash burger but I think it has now been overvalued frankly. I still find it delicious but I also believe there is room for a new wave of creative burgers that can kind of shake things up.
Links to websites mentioned/referenced:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/rapid-rise-fall-umami-burger-114016701.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM2xCd2P6WQ
https://ny.eater.com/2018/5/7/17326742/umami-burger-closures-nyc
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/you-think-you-know-umami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzKA4vgsHvM
https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/15xjusp/what_ever_happened_to_umami_burger/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6gOxbBFIDI
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/oakland-umami-burger-closure-17774667.php
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/peninsula-foodist/2020/02/13/umami-burger-calls-it-quits-in-downtown-palo-alto/
https://www.tagexbrands.com/tagex-helps-umami-burger-close-two-new-york-locations-d86/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZZFWGo1LTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjLF2dmNLGQ
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/all-hail-the-umami-burger
https://www.mediaite.com/media/food/umami-cannot-be-trademarked/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradjaphe/2018/04/29/inventor-of-umami-burger-just-wrote-the-book-on-the-elusive-fifth-flavor/
https://www.inc.com/adam-fleischman/umami-burger-founder-the-longer-you-spend-on-an-idea-the-worse-it-gets.html
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/the-scene/umami-burger-is-opening-five-new-virtual-kitchens/2489087/
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/chef-tapping-craving-centers-build-burger-empire/story?id=29062129
https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodLosAngeles/comments/1lwozrp/the_rise_and_fall_of_umami_burger/
https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-umami-burger-hotels-partner-100-new-restaurants-20190301-story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/opinion/bruni-upon-this-burger.html
https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/adam-fleischman-of-umami-burger-pt-2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv-xysAWa0U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gjJU2R_FW4
https://nypost.com/2023/10/06/handyman-who-turned-the-tables-on-squatters-confronts-celebrity-chef-accused-of-living-rent-free/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplk2fh-4iE
https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodLosAngeles/comments/1bj5gm2/adam_fleischman_of_umami_burger_is_a_squatter/
https://nyulocal.com/local-dines-umami-burger-dfccd4ab2b50