Culture

Strolling through Penrith Mall on a late afternoon the Haze crew notice a roller-door with a spray painted cow shredding on lead guitar ... 'Moocifer' looks upon us and commands us to eat while store owner Paul McKeown opens up shop and fires up the Beefy's grill.

Adorned with music posters and a cheeky beefy menu, as well as offering specialty sodas and brews to match the moo’s, Beefy’s Burgers is frequented by locals for a quick takeaway or a sit in where the music clips on the TV can even win you a free burger! Owner Paul was born in Belfast and came to the Penrith-Blue Mountains area as a kid, attending school in Springwood. “From an early age I’ve had a love for reading, writing, music, art, comics and movies,” Paul says. The references are obvious in the posters on his walls, as well as the names of the burgers (like the Chook Norris!).

“My love for music began through my parents’ record collection and has continued to grow over the years. I love discovering fresh new music as well as having a deep appreciation and interest in the great albums and artists from years gone by. At certain times my focus might be, but I’m not really bound to any genre and love to lump everything together, much like the Beefy’s playlist.”

Paul has also ventured into live music, over the years he’s done plenty of jamming with mates, writing songs and lyrics, “but the furthest we got was renting rehearsal space for a while and when that didn’t work out realising it probably wasn’t going to happen”.

I even lugged my bass to Europe where it remained in its case for 18 months while I enjoyed the vibrant rave scene!

Lab Legend

After school I worked as a lab technician, firstly in pathology and then after my overseas jaunt, quality control labs. I had a rather awesome job at Wattyl paints, the sort of job that doesn’t really inspire you to go work for yourself. When the site was closed I soon realised the real world wasn’t like Wattyl! From that realisation I decided to create something of my own and Beefy’s Burgers was born.

Music is a huge component of Beefy’s Burgers, from it greeting your ears as you walk in, meeting your eyes upon the walls and an interactive playlist where lucky customers can win burgers when hearing tracks from a nominated monthly artist or “Meister of the Month” as we call it. Winning tracks can be found on Instagram and Facebook each month.

“My previous work experience has taught me that certain standards need to be upheld, you must be consistent and adapt the most efficient processes. There’s always room to learn, accept feedback and advice and of course you don’t get anywhere without hard work.”

As a frequent visitor to the city I found the burgers in town had really gone to the next level. The burgers I made at home were good but I decided to buy a meat grinder and started experimenting with different cuts and blends of meat and also creating a variety of burger sauces. At first I only intended to make them for myself, family and friends, but within a month or so we had the Beefy’s Burgers name and logo and were selling our first burgers to the public at Leura markets. About two months later I signed a lease for the shop. So it all happened pretty quickly. At Beefy’s Burgers we have a range of juicy, super tasty and simple burgers to start, but with a fairly extensive range of sides customers can get creative and hack away to their heart's desire! We also have limited edition burgers where we aim to offer something different and at times unusual! Our sirloin patty is unique to Beefy’s and made in-house to guarantee quality, the premium cut creates a different flavour profile than people would be used to. Our poutine is a popular menu item, made from our own recipe of peppery gravy. We even make our own cheese curds. Best quality ingredients, additive free and no hidden nasties - fresh burgers.

Paul has seen the local area around him flourish over the past 12 months. “We really are spoilt for choice. When I first had the idea to open a burger shop there wasn’t one in Penrith and now there must be 100!”