By Melissa Wagoner
If you don’t believe in time travel, you just might change your mind.
This July, the year 1985 is returning to Burger Time in Mount Angel.
The restaurant will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with a trip back in time to the original grand opening celebration complete with balloons, clowns and door prizes as well as special prices on specific items reflecting the original menu.
“We’re thinking deluxe cheeseburger and a small fry with a medium drink is $2.29. That was the original price,” owner Liz Ipox said.
Ipox and business partner Chrissy Butsch have owned Burger Time, a staple of Mount Angel restaurant culture, for six years.
“I love a lot about it,” Ipox said. “We both grew up in Mount Angel. We love the community. This (the business) is like our second home.”
Burger Time has been a part of the lives of many Mount Angel residents. Eva Chaparro remembers going on dates to Burger Time in 1992 with the man who would become her husband.
“We both worked at Benedictine Nursing Center and Burger Time was our place to go to eat and to make googly eyes at each other. That was some 23 years ago. Today we still visit Burger Time with our three kids. We moved back to Mount Angel almost nine years ago and it’s still one of our places to visit,” Chaparro said.
Both Ipox and Butsch were employees before purchasing the business. In fact, Butsch’s parents bought the restaurant from the original owner, Del Stevens, in 1996. She was able to train with Stevens for several months before the sale was finalized.
“I’ve always worked with food in one form or another,” Butsch said.
Both Butsch and Ipox are excited about the upcoming anniversary and have done research about the history of the restaurant in order to get ready for the event.
Here’s what’s happening in July:
July 9 – 11: Clowns, balloons and door prizes
July 9: deluxe cheeseburger, small fries and
medium drink return to the 1985 price of $2.29
July 10 – 11: hamburgers and hot dogs 39 cents each
Burger Time is at 450 N. Main St., Mount Angel.
“Every year, we have an anniversary party. It’s a way to say thanks to our customers. Finding more and more research for this one has been fun,” Ipox said.
Ipox has been able to unearth old newspaper clippings featuring stories about the building of the restaurant and some information about the original owners.
“From what I gather [Stevens] and his wife owned the A&W in Silverton,” Ipox said.
“They were looking to franchise it and it just didn’t work out,” Butsch said.
Instead of making the new business a second A&W, Stevens created Burger Time and kept the restaurant as a unique Mount Angel establishment with its own charm.
Although the menu is fundamentally the same one that was established in 1985, Butsch and Ipox have made a few changes through the years.
“We changed the size of the patties, we got a reader board and we have seasonal milkshake flavors,” Ipox said.
The duo has also made sure to use the tastiest ingredients.
“I said, ‘let’s go with only US meat and we’d like it close by us,” Ipox explained. “Our meat is fresh from the Northwest. It’s fresh with nothing added.”
This attention to detail is appreciated by their customers.
“I never eat fast food but I love going there,” customer Breanna Conley said. “Their milk shakes are delicious too.”
Along with great food comes down home service. Burger Time, housed in the original 800-square foot building, employs seven part-time employees.
“We have two seniors here and we’ve got a lot of college kids and some that will be finishing college,” Ipox said.
Employee Jake Woelke has been working at the restaurant off and on for the past five years.
“A lot of people come to see him,” Ipox said.
The tradition of great, long-time employees, which can be difficult in food service, is not new to Burger Time.
“I worked at Burger Time back in high school,” former employee Laura Miller said. “Later, my two sisters did too. It was like a family tradition. Great memories working there with friends and getting to know the community.”
Butsch and Ipox work hard to maintain the community connection, particularly by supporting school sports through fund-raisers for the Mount Angel Booster Club.
“We believe that since both our kids have grown up in Mount Angel we need to support the sports,” Ipox said.
This year’s three-day anniversary celebration July 9-11 will be one more way for Burger Time to give back to the community that supports it.
“I think a lot of our success is the community. Not just Mount Angel but Silverton and Scotts Mills too,” Ipox said.
When asked what the future holds Ipox said, “We’re hoping to keep a tiny business. I think the future looks good.”