The Story of Cheeseburger Charley

In 1885, a 15-year-old fellow named Charley Nagreen came to the fairgrounds in Seymour Wisconsin, in an oxen-drawn wagon. There, he set up a food stand—clever lad that he was—and placed plain ground beef patties between two slices of bread and called his production a hamburger. Truthfully, Charley Nagreen is honored by the "International Hamburger Hall of Fame" in Seymour, Wisconsin.

One hundred and three years later, in 1988, Charley Watkins decided to focus on a higher quality, tastier and a more distinctive hamburger. He added cheese to the hamburger, and in addition, allowed his customers to fix their own burgers from a condiment bar and produce display that rivals a grocery store. He made sure that his beef was fresh (never frozen), and always flame-broiled. He named his company Cheeseburger Charley's, to emphasize that the hamburger was no longer the dominant feature. Cheeseburgers are now America's most popular single menu item. He hopes someday his name might make it to a "Cheeseburger Hall of Fame".

But, Charley didn’t stop there. He also noticed that the customers in his generation where looking for something healthy as well. So in 1994 he added the first vegetarian burger to the menu. Often customers would snicker at the lonely menu item. Since then he has added lean Beefalo burgers, low-cal Turkey burgers, and good-cholesterol Salmon burgers.

Although Charley did not invent the hamburger or healthy food, he's justly famous for creating a great cheeseburger (Beef or Veggie).

Try any of his great tasting burgers for yourself!