Bartley's Marks Its 50th Year

Mr. Bartley's Gourmet Burgers is celebrating its 50th year of serving up some of Harvard Square's best burgers and frappes. Over the last half-century, well-deserved praise for the delicious burgers from publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Esquire Magazine has transformed a simple burger joint into a Harvard Square icon. To commemorate Mr. Bartley's Golden Jubilee, we sat down with Joseph Bartley, the restaurant's founder and namesake, to find out what it's been like to spend 50 years in Harvard Square.

FlyBy: Reflecting on 50 years at Bartley's, is there any experience that you find particularly memorable?

Mr. Bartley: Years ago, Jackie O. and Caroline Kennedy came here on a busy Saturday night. The place was packed and noisy, but, right when those two walked in, total silence fell over the restaurant. I still remember what Jackie ordered: a Muenster cheeseburger and a glass of skim milk. That's way before your time, though. I remember a couple of years ago, Skip Gates called me and asked me to change his menu item from a chicken sandwich to a hamburger. I heard a lot of noise in the background, so I asked him, 'Skip, where are you calling me from?' He was calling me from the hospital—he had just gotten hip replacement surgery!

FlyBy: What has been the most consistently popular burger over the course of the last 50 years?

Mr. Bartley: It's hard to tell because our menu is constantly changing, but I'd say "The Ted Kennedy" which is "a plump, liberal amount of burger with cheddar cheese, mushrooms, and French fries." "The Viagra" is also very popular. The Viagra is a blue cheese burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and French fries that invites you to "rise to the occasion!"

FlyBy: What is your favorite burger?

Mr. Bartley: Me? My favorite is "The Burger Deluxe." I love the onion rings.

FlyBy: Do you have a favorite drink to wash that down?

Mr. Bartley: Oh, definitely the Vanilla Oreo Frappe.

FlyBy: What was Mr. Bartley's like 50 years ago?

Mr. Bartley: Well, I got the idea after working at my uncle's restaurant in Garden City, New York. I bought a grocery store in the Square and converted it into a burger joint. The novel aspect of the restaurant was that we charged 48 cents for a burger! I wanted to make the restaurant seem like a dorm, so I bought a bunch of long wooden tables and tons of posters.

FlyBy: People really like the posters covering the restaurant from floor-to-ceiling. Do you have a favorite poster?

Mr. Bartley: We've got this great poster of Larry Johnson and Larry Byrd playing together as babies. It's a great unifier. I really like it. In fact, someone offered to buy it, but we couldn't let it go.

FlyBy: What do you expect Mr. Bartley's to look like in 50 years?

Mr. Bartley: I don't know, but I hope it's still family-owned.

FlyBy: The Cambridge Chronicle, reporting on Bartley's 50th year, noted that you "might just deserve an honorary degree from Harvard." What do you think?

Mr. Bartley: I actually just called Skip [Gates] about this the other day. I told him that I want a BS (burger science) degree. I mean, I've been feeding protein to the Harvard brain trust for 50 years now. Protein is great brain food. Without it, all of these bright students and professors might've ended up at Yale!