Wahlburger Set To Open In Hingham, MA After Wahlberg Brothers Buy Name

Mark Wahlberg made his name in the the early nineties as a pants-dropping beefcake. But now's he's moved on to an enterprise with even more of an upside: selling beef. He and his brothers Donnie, who was in New Kids On The Block, and Paul, a chef, have acquired rights to use the name "Wahlburger" for their soon-to-open restaurant in Hingham, Massachusetts, reports the Boston Herald. The name is owned by Tom Wahl's, a chain of fast food restaurants in upstate New York, and refers a $4.49 burger with swiss and ham. The Wahlberg brothers acquired the rights to the "full spectrum" of uses for the name, almost a year after incorporating in Hingham under the name Wahlburgers LLC.

Wahlburger will be the second Wahlberg-owned restaurant to open in Hingham, which is 15 miles southeast of downtown Boston. It and its sibling, Italian restaurant Alma Nove, are located in Hingham's Shipyard development, on Hingham Bay. Paul is the head chef at both restaurants; his more famous brothers are business partners. Hingham Patch posted pictures of the restaurant, along with more details, two weeks ago.

The Wahlberg brothers' upbringing in blue-collar Dorchester, MA, and Mark's subsequent rise to fame, is the loose basis for the show Entourage, which Mark produces. For that reason, the Hingham restaurants mark something of a homecoming for the Wahlbergs. That said, the Hingham Shipyard, with its million-dollar condos, is hardly Dorchester, and Alma Nove, with its $27 linguine carbonara with lobster, is hardly the Wahlbergs' local pizza joint.