Zinburger brings wine and burgers to Parsippany
PARSIPPANY – Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar has opened its 11th and largest restaurant, complete with its first test kitchen on a busy corner that has been the site of a restaurant for more than 70 years.
The upscale burger restaurant specializes in gourmet burgers, hand-dipped shakes and floats, pies, 24 beer selections and 23 wine varieties.
Zinburger has been training a staff of about 140 employees for about two weeks at the location which carries a Morris Plains mailing address. Owners hosted a VIP party for about 500 guests on Friday night.
Doors officially opened Tuesday, in time to debut the week’s special – the Ballpark Burger – for the baseball playoffs.
To celebrate the opening, Zinburger is donating $10,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern NJ through a special fundraiser.
A limited 100 VIP Gold Packages are for sale for $100 each, with all proceeds benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters. The package includes a $100 Zinburger gift card, the opportunity for guests to move to the top of the wait list upon arriving at the restaurant, and half price wine bottles for six months.
Owned by the Livingston-based Briad Group and CEO Brad Honigfeld, Zinburger East opened its first location in Clifton in December 2010, followed by Cherry Hill and Paramus. The concept began in 2007 in Tuscon, Arizona, but Briad purchased the licensing rights to expand Zinburger into the 23 states east of the Mississippi River.
The franchise’s first freestanding location – others are positioned at high-end malls - the Parsippany restaurant is located about five miles from Briad’s corporate office. It is the fourth Zinburger East in New Jersey and 11th overall.
Zinburger sits at the corner of Route 202 and Route 10, a heavily-trafficked area that was most recently a Chevy’s restaurant until a fire permanently closed it in 2011. Prior to Chevy’s, the location was home to the popular Llewellyn Farms for about 60 years.
The lot remained unused after the 2011 fire for more than four years until this summer when a “coming soon” sign for Zinburger was hung outside an exterior window of the building.
Zinburger spokesperson Tom Beyer said the restaurant has been in various stages of development for about a year.
“The thought was if it’s not perfect,” Beyer said, "We’re not going to open it."
Executive Chef David Maini oversees all of Zinburger East’s restaurants, but will spend the next few months at the Parsippany location and return regularly to utilize the test kitchen.
Michael Austin will be the regular executive chef for the restaurant, executing Maini’s menu.
Maini said he doesn’t compare Zinburger to other local upscale burger chains like Red Robin and Fuddruckers.
“I think Shake Shack is a great burger, a great concept. But they don’t even compare to us,” Maini said. “We’re in a class all our own. It’s just better quality than Five Guys or Smashburger.”
Maini said he also doesn’t like to call his burgers “gourmet.”
“Fine dining is dead. I like to say we cook with fresh ingredients in a simple manner,” Maini said. “You want to be simple, and I think we are absolutely that.”
All burgers are made with either certified Angus beer or American-style Kobe beef, and signature burgers include the Zinburger - with Manchego cheese and zinfandel-braised onions - and the Kobe burger - with Vermont cheddar & wild mushrooms. Salads include seared ahi with chopped greens, avocado, cashews and Asian vinaigrette. Sides include double truffle fries and zucchini fries.
“We’re very much a family restaurant,” Maini said of the kid-friendly menu. “You can bring your kids here.”
The 8,633-square foot restaurant and bar seats 286 people and includes a private dining room and patio for special events.
The Parsippany location will also feature Zinburger’s first test kitchen where executive chefs will work on menu development, test new technology, create training videos and hold conferences for general managers and chefs.
“It’s where we will work on all menu development,” Maini said. “Zinburger is in a wonderful niche, but we need to be ready if it changes.”
Maini declined to specifically discuss any items he’s currently working on in the test kitchen.
“I’ll say we look at every part of our menu. We want to be continuously looking forward, to keep things fresh and keep people coming back,” Maini said. “There are 80 ways to cook a burger and only one of them ends up on the menu.”
Wednesdays are half-price wine bottle night, and happy hour is 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, featuring discount drinks and food. Zinburger also hopes to schedule local wine and craft beer-paired dinners for small groups, utilizing the test kitchen, about six months from now.
Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
William Westhoven contributed to this story. Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com
If you go:
Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar
Where: 1900 State Route 10 in Morris Plains
Hours: Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.
More information: http://zinburgereast.com