At Cal Burger & More, Maya “Yaya” Murchison-Turner smashes burgers in six different ways. The Classic melts American and jack cheese on top of seared beef. Onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce, mayo and a “Go Crazy” sauce complete the order. The craziness lands on more complicated smash burgers like the Mozza Ranch or the Smokehouse. But customers can still have it their way, too.
Murchison-Turner describes herself as a “serial entrepreneur” with previous experience in PR and branding businesses. Cal Burger & More is her first restaurant. At 3am while perusing the internet, she noticed that the similarly named Cal Burger, which sold burgers and burritos, was up for sale. When she went to see the location, right across the street from the UC Berkeley campus, Murchison-Turner saw potential.
While researching other burger joints, she noticed that people loved Cal’s Fried Chicken and Burgers’ Smash N’ Cheese, made with macaroni and cheese. To launch Cal Burger & More, she thought of a cool equivalent thanks to her daughter.
“We went to the mall years ago,” Murchison-Turner recalled. “She ordered this hamburger and it had everything you could possibly think of on top of it, and one of the things they had on there was mozzarella sticks.” The burger was crunchy and had an “awesome cheese pull.”
The Mozza Ranch Smash is her version of that mall burger. “The menu is made up of a lot of stuff that I like,” Murchison-Turner said. Another favorite is the Smokehouse which combines barbecue sauce, onion rings and bacon on a burger. “I add lettuce and tomato, but I know everybody doesn’t. So I did it without lettuce and tomato, but you can add it,” she said.
Before opening, Murchison-Turner read reviews of the Cal Burger that closed. She found comments about the food being inconsistent along with long wait times.
“I made sure the people that I hired were trained to make it the exact same way so that the quality of my food would be consistent,” she said. Her experience as a retail manager in customer service also informed her approach. “If the people [hired] were personable, if you’re having conversations, if you’re taking their input back in, you’ll do great,” she said. “I just felt like I had what it took to go ahead and make it great even though it’s the same location with a very similar name.”
Most burger shops offer milkshakes, but Murchison-Turner is a self-professed lemonade junkie. “It doesn’t matter where I am—what country, what city, what state—if there’s lemonade on the menu, I’m ordering it,” she said.
But Cal Burger & More’s Crazyades are lemonade concoctions made with flavored syrups, fruit, candy or even boba. The syrups are imported from France. A dragon fruit syrup is just one ingredient in a special Crazyade called The Mermaid. Lemon and blue raspberry flavors are in the mix and topped with a candy bowl. If The Mermaid doesn’t satisfy one’s sweet tooth, I’m afraid nothing ever will.
Cal Burger & More also serves six different kinds of chicken wings, onion rings, french fries and mozzarella sticks sans smash burgers. The beef it serves is now halal.
“We started using Harris Ranch certified Angus; it’s really good, excellent quality of meat,” Murchison-Turner said. “But the community, everyone coming in, were asking for halal.” So she decided to switch it up. “I’m getting halal from Harris Ranch and I’m also doing halal chicken wings,” she said. Vegetarians have the option to order a plant-based Beyond smashburger.
The restaurant has its very own app for delivery or for pick-up orders. “The other thing is that we have a queue inside of our dining room,” Murchison-Turner said. “When your order comes into the kitchen, you can actually watch on the screen and see where it is and when it’s ready.” Shy, introverted customers should keep this in mind: If they download the app and upload their picture, it will show up onscreen next to their order.
Murchison-Turner stocked the dining room with board games and cards. “I’ve had a lot of students coming in to eat and do their homework … and that’s what I want,” she said. “I just want it to be a place where they’re like, ‘Hey, let’s go get something to eat and stay for a while.’”
Cal Burger & More, open Mon-Fri, 11am to 8pm, 1805 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. IG: @calburger.gocrazy
