British restaurateur Tom Reaney is seeking to raise £30,000 (roughly $50,117) through online-funding platform Kickstarter to transform his Burger Bear pop-up burger stand into one permanently housed in two stacked used cargo containers. The project will be funded if the total is raised by March 14, 2014.
According to the Kickstarter page, the restaurant -- which will be located in the Shoreditch district in London's East End--will be unlike any other burger joint in the city. "Expect panoramic views of Red Market and its street art from the glass-walled overhanging upper container. The vibe? Down and dirty street food, as ever. You can still take away like the good old days. And if you care to linger -- downstairs or up -- it's a high-stalled, neon-lined, diner-style PARADISE! (the Burger Bear kind)." In addition to the disco vibe there will be craft beers and cocktails.
"The interior will be built largely from second-hand, reclaimed materials, by volunteers, so it's as sustainable and cheap to do as feasibly possible," according to the Kickstarter page. A "gigantic spinning burger" is envisioned atop the containers.
The stand's menu includes a namesake Burger Bear classic cheeseburger; Angry Bear with jalapeňo relish and hot sauce; and Grizzly Bear with bacon and the restaurant's signature Bacon Jam (which it sells). Its Black Forest Bear burger (above) was a winner at last year's London Burger bash. A larger menu for the proposed container restaurant will have more burgers and Chicago all-beef hot dogs.
Burger Bear, opened in mid-2012, also is known for accepting payment in bitcoins digital currency, which it began doing last November. In January, the Wall Street Journal reported that one in five Burger Bear customers were using bitcoins to buy their burgers.
Although certainly not common, other restaurants have been fashioned from shipping containers. Among them are El Rey in Washington, D.C., and Red Fish Blue Fish in Victoria, British Columbia.