INSIDE: All-Star weekend... Sports, A7
RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 51 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Cardiac warning: Bubba brings burgers on wheels to Freeland By CELESTE ERICKSON Staff Reporter Bubba Flame Broiled Burger brings the nationwide trend of food trucks to Whidbey Island. Inspired by the TV show “Great Food Truck Race,” a reality show featuring competing food trucks, Heather and Greg Koch have found success with their own food truck challenge — a new business. “We have the burgers you know, but better,” Heather Koch said. “Our burgers are made with love.” The formidable burgers feature five handmade sauces, flame broiled burgers and salt and pepper potato chips on the side. Heather recommends Celeste Erickson / The Record starting with the “Loaded Makenzie Peterson, an employee with Bubba Flame Broiled Burger, bites into the Burger” which features a burger, cheddar cheese, pep- “Cardiac Arrest Burger.” The burger is the biggest on the menu for the new business per bacon, lettuce, tomato, in Freeland. Below: The largest burger on the menu, the “Cardiac Arrest Burger,” has a pickle and red onion on a classic bacon burger with a fried egg between two grilled cheese sandwiches. bun with her secret “Bubba Burger Sauce.” ground in the restaurant Her favorite is also the one business. She previously ran she spent the most time cre- the restaurants at Holmes ating, the “Greek Burger,” Harbor Golf Course and which features a flame Harbour Pointe. But she broiled beef didn’t want patty, feta, to work for “We have the Swiss cheese, someone else. red onion, burgers you know, Heather kalamata said the truck but better. Our business olives and is tomato on a burgers are made entirely diftorta roll with ferent from with love.” Heather’s the restauHeather Koch “ B u b b a rant business co-owner, G r e e k because of S a u c e . ” Bubba Flame Broiled Burger the size. The which is fine. “I don’t watch the TV show Prices range storage and “If you guys keep coming, anymore, I live it,” she said. from $6.95 to $13.50 for burg- prep area are in the same so will we,” she said. ers with cash only payments. space in the food truck and Heather said one of her With an order of either employees have their own favorite parts of running the the Inferno or Cardiac Arrest small spots they have to navi- food truck is the variety of burger, the customer is guar- gate through. The truck is people eating her burgers. anteed a siren sound off for licensed and permitted, she “I love seeing people in – Tuesday through the surrounding area to hear. said. ties, painters and teenagers Saturday from 11 a.m. “We’re loud in there, yell“It’s a natural fit for Heather all next to each other, packed to 3:30 p.m. ing and sounding the siren,” and our community,” Greg in our picnic tables,” she said. – Burger prices start Heather said. “We have a said. “The community has Heather said the opening at $6.95, cash only. crazy-fun atmosphere with opened their arms for us.” of her business and the suc– 1592 East Main St., good food. Everyone loves Word has spread quickly. cess it has received has been Freeland. the novelty of the food truck.” Heather said they are often a whirlwind that she can’t Heather leads with a back- slammed during lunch hours, believe.
It’s Bubba Burger time
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Janice and Charlie Kleiner make their case for public land donation by the city of Langley to accommodate their Dog House Tavern plans.
Dog House Tavern owners seek city land By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter Murmurs of the Dog House Tavern reopening were encouraged to become rumblings after the owners requested land from Langley. Janice and Charlie Kleiner of Issaquah asked Langley for two different areas, currently public property. One is a small strip that would prevent a “jog” or sag in their building’s aged floors. The other area, approximately 508 square feet, is between the building and the access road to Seawall Park. After an earlier meeting with the Kleiners, city staff supported the request. “We understand how important the revitalization of the Dog House is to the city,” said Mayor Fred McCarthy at the city council meeting June 17. The Kleiners purchased the Dog House building on First and Anthes streets in 2010 at auction for $590,001. The 105-year-old building and Langley icon has
been closed for more than two years. Known as the Olympic Club in its early days, the building is the only one in Langley listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Charlie Kleiner told the council he recently got word of a tentative and conditional approval of a tax credit. That would help cover the $100,000 to $200,000 cost of renovating the building, including correcting a bow in the floors and straightening the frame, a process that moves one-eighth of an inch per day. He stopped short of positing when work would begin, and well short of declaring a re-opening date. “Our goal is to renovate the building, join the community and stay here,” he said. “We anticipate to extend the life of the building 100 years.” The old building sits on prime real estate in Langley’s commercial SEE DOG HOUSE, A3