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Sofa King Juicy Burger
What's in a name? If you never heard this middle-school joke that's been going around for decades, try saying "Sofa King Juicy" three times fast.
Sofa King Juicy Burger sparked a flame-broiled controversy in Chattanooga, Tenn., after a local columnist fretted that he wanted to "shield" his kids from the sign so he wouldn't have to explain the yet-to-be-unveiled burger joint's name. (If you never heard this middle-school joke that's been going around for decades, try saying "Sofa King Juicy" three times fast.)
Business partners Greg Beairsto and Jeff Brakebill told TODAY that one of the things that surprised them after their story spread online was the number of people who still don't get the name. Although they're not surprised that the name has drawn some local ire in the town of 170,136. "We are in the buckle of the Bible Belt," Beairsto said. "It's a red state."
The name -- which Beairsto said the pair figured out "by rolling around the floor laughing. We never considered another name" -- is a double entendre. There's the joke, but the duo spent six months traveling from Manhattan to Memphis chowing down on burgers to figure out their perfect patty recipe, and the result, they assured us, are burgers that really are exceptionally juicy.
There will also be an actual sofa in the 1,500-square-foot facility at the corner of Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Boulevard in Chattanooga, the color of "nasty '50's Naugahyde." So when you sit on it, you really will feel like a member of royalty. The $1 Pabst Blue Ribbons and other dollar canned beers will also help in that department.
"It's just who we are," said Beairsto. "We love food, we love the food experience. I'm a 22-year-old trapped in a 50-year-old's body."
While the name may be silly, the burgers are for real. The pair will use only grass-fed locally sourced beef, ground daily 20 minutes up the road. Grass-fed tastes so much better than traditional grain-fed, said Beairsto, because, "it's like when you eat your mom's chocolate cake versus a cake from Wal-Mart."
Brakebill added that the result is a patty that's "less fatty" with better beef taste. "Big hydroponically grown lettuce" will go on the burgers, he said, along with fresh local tomatoes and an "awesome" bun.
The original plan was to grind the meat on-site. Instead, they're putting in a "milkshake laboratory," visible to guests where "milkshake scientists" sporting labcoats and goggles will blend in liquid nitrogen to freeze the in-house ice cream mix into a frosty delight.
"It's unreal," said Brakebill.
"Kids are gonna go bananas," said Beairsto.
That is, if their ears and eyes haven't already been corrupted by the foul name, right?
Beairsto scoffs. "I'll give you a million dollars if you can find me a 10-year-old that gets the name without adult intervention," he said. "It boils down to parenting."
To parents who want to control everything their kids see, he says, "Godspeed."
"There's no rule book," said Beairsto. "You gotta fill their toolbox with the right tools."
Sometimes those toolboxes are a little lighter than others.
"And some of them have rusty old tools from the '20s that their grandparents gave them," said Beairsto.
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Leave a Comment:
OH THE HUMANITY!
This guy is Sofa King We Todd Did.
So Faking Juicy. Big deal. Now if the name was Sofu King Juicy. Then people might have a right to complain.
Besides we have been living with Wendy's Hot and Juicy.
You pronounce "sofa" as "so-fay"?
Yes, she is. Redheads are hot!
Wouldn't "sofu" rhyme with tofu?
Wow, for all the plausible things "Idiocracy" predicted, I didn't think burger joints with F-bombs in the name would ever really come to pass.
500 years earlier than predicted too! I was thinking the same thing.
Can't wait to sit on the nasty naugahyde, Sofa King, comfortable couch, and taste the burger.
- Emerson Biggins
I think Rich Lather approves.
Mike Litoris and Seymour Butts say Hi.
don't forget the Dixie Normous World Famous milk shakes.
Dick Hurtz from Holden, MA was not offended.
I think anything that inflames the sensibilities of bible thumping areas a plus. This is hilarious and I wish him well. With good grass fed beef they will be Sofa KIng Juicy Burgers for sure!
probably wind up being the same steroid/drug infested feed lot shi# mcD's or booger king sells
It is amazing to me how few people actually have a sense of humor any more. Its a great name and the it sounds like the owners are truly serious people that enjoy a good laugh.
These same complainers probably were highly upset at the "Fuddruckers" chain too.
What makes it a great name? By the third time you read it, the humor is gone (assuming you're in the seventh grade and thought it was funny to begin with), and there's *certainly* nothing appetizing about it. Does "Sofa King" honestly make you want that burger?
Anything that pisses off prudes and religious fanatics, makes me happy. That is what makes it a great name to me.
If I lived in the area I would absolutely go eat there.
The bitching and moaning of the idiots is like sweet sweet music to my ears. 2013 is shaping up to be a good year.
I happen to think the idiots are the ones who think "OMG SWEARING LOLZ!", but I guess that's why I'm not in marketing.
We learned how to grill up Sofa King Juicy Burgers a long time ago, by my uncle, Phil McKracken.
I suppose McDonald's, Wendy's and Hardee's are much more appetizing names? Not to mention Nathan's and Oscar Mayer's weiners. If only we all still had as good a sense of humor as a seventh grader.
Those sound like they're named for whoever runs the place. Puns aside, "Sofa King" makes me imagine a fat guy covered in ketchup and pickles, too fat to get off the couch. Either that, or it will taste like foam rubber or cotton.
I'm so old, it took me a while to figure it out!
Now I am pretty much of a linguistic prude, but I think it is hilarious. If your kid is old enough to figure it out, s/he is old enough not to have a problem with it. I was disgusted by Hooters instead, that was not nice to explain to my daughter. I still think that name should be banned.
uh...their logo has a picture of an owl...Keerist! But the waitresses...even if the food was crap, I wouldn't notice.
I asked my two gay Irish friends Patrick Fitzgerald and Gerald Fitzpatrick what they thought and they like it!
I thought their names were Neil and Bob?
ha ha ha !! This is the most fun thread I've seen in a while. More corn than Nebraska!!
Have to admit I had to google to figure out the punch line. When I said sofa king juicy 3 times real fast it came out as sofa king juicy each time. DOH.
I hope Patty O'Furniture will be there along with Sofa King!
My only question (sadly all of the truly great Sofa King jokes have been taken) would be:
Is there a Hooters in town? And if so, why haven't those in outrage over this tried to squeeze them out also?
You can't control everything, and if everything were controlled just the way one person or one group wanted, geeze, the world would be Sofa King boring.
Hee hee, "squeeze" "Hooters" "out"!!
I tried saying Sofa King Juicy three times fast and I could not produce the required sound that is wrong. I guess I have very good diction. I had to watch the SNL skit to figure it out. I speak very well even when I talk ultra fast.
Lawrence
If you ever saw Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, they used to do a skit about the Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary - they would say that name so quickly it sounded like "Look that up in your Funken Wagnalls" - say it fast and...
Pure idiocy, through and through. This is what sells these days, I guess...
It's no worse than Fuddruckers, which is a spoonerism of "Ruddf**kers."
:P
You know what would go good with that burger, I nice big Dickens Cider.
I think they should add a big penis and vagina on the sign. Sex jokes are funny! So is using the f-bomb, especially in a creative way! HAHAHA! It never gets old - no matter how old I get...without actually maturing. HAHAHA! Everyone else is just being prude.
I guess the subtlety is too— subtle— for you. Point lost.
Err - not subtle enough. But I think the word you're looking for is "played".
Beavis and Butthead, at it again...
The majority of these comments are priceless! Sofa King Awesome!
Google shows about 15,400,000 results for "Phucket Thai." There are restaurants all over the world with variations on that name. (Yes, I know the pronunciation is not supposed to be what many people think.) If "sounds-like-swear-words" business names are sofa king horrible to any of you, maybe it's time to phuckett all and just accept that language can be fun and funny sometimes without being insulting or debasing. Maybe you just need to go to Hell...the town in Michigan, I mean, where the only Thai restaurant is called "Bangkok Cuisine." (Whoops, I said "Bangkok," sorry prudes, it's everywhere I look today!)