Lost Jacksonville: Milligan's Beefy Burgers
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Metro Jacksonville looks back at a long lost Jacksonville institution: Milligan's Beefy Burgers
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-aug-lost-jacksonville-milligans-beefy-burgers
Good history salvaging Ennis. During the late sixties, I worked on Blanding Blvd about two blocks from the Milligan Burger, which was located about 1/4 mile north of 103rd street. It's interesting how distinctly different those burgers were from Krystal or others. The meat was cut in about 2.5" squares, placed on square buns, and all they put on them was a little sauce and pickles. With fries and a coke, they were tasty, but much like the classic Krystal burgers, one couldn't eat them all day every day, which I suppose is the case for most foods. For lunch, I would occasionally eat about four. They of course were beat out by the aggressive BK and Mc D's.
I can barely remember going to the big M on Lem Turner..
As a child growing up on the Northside in the 60's I remember going to the Milligan's on Norwood Ave before or after a shopping trip to Gateway Shopping Center. We would also go to the Burger King at 17th and Main. It was the closest burger joint to home until they built the McDonalds at Tallulah and Main in the 70's.
Those buildings remind me of the old Skinners' Dairies. Are any other of the buildings still around?
I hope Warren Motors keeps the building. What a great design.
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on August 21, 2012, 12:41:40 PM
I hope Warren Motors keeps the building. What a great design.
It would be quite an engineering feat to turn the "M" into a "W". :-)
History of Insta-Burger King via Wikipedia:
The predecessor to Burger King was founded in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King. After visiting the McDonald brothers' original store location in San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners (Keith J. Kramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns) purchased the rights to two pieces of equipment called "Insta" machines and opened their first restaurants, based around a cooking device called an Insta-Broiler. The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to use the device.[6][7] After the company faltered in 1959, it was purchased by its Miami, Florida franchisees, James McLamore and David R. Edgerton. They initiated a corporate restructuring of the chain, first renaming the company Burger King. They ran the company as an independent entity for eight years (eventually expanding to over 250 locations in the United States), before selling it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_King#History
Quote from: TheCat on August 21, 2012, 01:03:18 PM
History of Insta-Burger King via Wikipedia:
The predecessor to Burger King was founded in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King. After visiting the McDonald brothers' original store location in San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners (Keith J. Kramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns) purchased the rights to two pieces of equipment called "Insta" machines and opened their first restaurants, based around a cooking device called an Insta-Broiler. The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to use the device.[6][7] After the company faltered in 1959, it was purchased by its Miami, Florida franchisees, James McLamore and David R. Edgerton. They initiated a corporate restructuring of the chain, first renaming the company Burger King. They ran the company as an independent entity for eight years (eventually expanding to over 250 locations in the United States), before selling it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_King#History
I wonder if the 17th and Main location was the original.
Quote from: urbanlibertarian on August 21, 2012, 09:33:08 AM
...the McDonalds at Tallulah and Main in the 70's.
Recently closed down and reopened at 41st and Norwood.
Quote from: Tacachale on August 21, 2012, 12:30:19 PM
Those buildings remind me of the old Skinners' Dairies. Are any other of the buildings still around?
The one on Lem Turner is still being used as Jack's Sandwich Shop.
Quote from: Tacachale on August 21, 2012, 12:30:19 PM
Those buildings remind me of the old Skinners' Dairies. Are any other of the buildings still around?
Three locations that I am aware of, still exist. This one, One on Blanding in OP (Still recognizable by the M on the building), and the Green Cove Springs location (Now greatly modified and hardly recognizable ) .
Was a great little restaurant. Thanks, Ennis for the article :)
Ah yes! Hamburgertopia!
Milligan's in Fairfax was the scene of the great burger wars, between several of the local high schools. About the same time as the 'bean gun' fad, we'd all pile in somebodies car, go up and buy 100 burgers or so, then proceeds to throw them at cars of kids from the opposing high school. Sorry millennial kids, THERE WAS NO THIRD LEVEL! The darn things only cost a nickel or a dime each (way cheap even then) so most cars always had an ample supply of ammunition... well... unless they ate it.
I do miss this little chain, it was the real (hometown) deal.
Quote from: Tacachale on August 21, 2012, 12:30:19 PM
Those buildings remind me of the old Skinners' Dairies. Are any other of the buildings still around?
Here is a list of what remains in Jacksonville of the old Milligan's buildings.
2441 West Beaver - Concrete slab remains at corner of Beaver and McDuff.
3562 Broadway Avenue - building constructed in 1958 remains at corner of Broadway and Edgewood.
9303 Lem Turner Road - building with trademark M still remains at corner of Lem Turner and Soutel.
1965 South Lane Avenue - building constructed in 1965 still remains near the intersection of Lane and San Juan.
4530 Brentwood Avenue - building with trademark M still remains just south of Gateway Mall.
Revive Milligans!! Seems to me, Krystal and White Castle is along the lines of the same product.
The Green Cove Springs location no longer has the trademark M on the building and the building has a two-story addition added to the back of it .. It is on Orange Ave. Across from Ace Hardware in Green Cove Springs.
Okay, dammit, I love Krystals and loved the Pennyburgers and the Milligan burgers, but to put the words "cuisine" and "beefy" in a story about them is misguided to say the least. And, Ron, to say they were distinctively different, is like comparing Dolly Parton's left and right boobies. (Okay, calling Dolly's breasts "boobies" is like calling the Titanic a motorboat.)
Quote from: WmNussbaum on August 21, 2012, 08:00:55 PM
Okay, dammit, I love Krystals and loved the Pennyburgers and the Milligan burgers, but to put the words "cuisine" and "beefy" in a story about them is misguided to say the least. And, Ron, to say they were distinctively different, is like comparing Dolly Parton's left and right boobies. (Okay, calling Dolly's breasts "boobies" is like calling the Titanic a motorboat.)
Motorboat? Boobies??
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Quote from: Non-RedNeck Westsider on August 21, 2012, 01:29:20 PM
Quote from: urbanlibertarian on August 21, 2012, 09:33:08 AM
...the McDonalds at Tallulah and Main in the 70's.
Recently closed down and reopened at 41st and Norwood.
Actually, the McDonalds that recently closed and re-opened at Gateway was at 50th and Main. The original McDs close to Tallulah and Main is most recently known as Hip Hop Fish and Chicken.
It is humiliating to admit that I remember this, but here's how Milligan's radio and TV commercials used to go. Oddly enough, as you read it, think of it as a precursor to rap, because the announcer didn't sing the words, but recited them at a snappy pace to a kind of rhythm: "Shakes and pies and golden fries and beefy burgers, buy 'em by the dozen, breakfast at any time! Meet me at Milligans, it's always open. Fa-a-an-tastic!"
Quote from: Mike D on August 22, 2012, 08:43:51 PM
It is humiliating to admit that I remember this, but here's how Milligan's radio and TV commercials used to go. Oddly enough, as you read it, think of it as a precursor to rap, because the announcer didn't sing the words, but recited them at a snappy pace to a kind of rhythm: "Shakes and pies and golden fries and beefy burgers, buy 'em by the dozen, breakfast at any time! Meet me at Milligans, it's always open. Fa-a-an-tastic!"
No shame in this Mike, Milligan's was a class act, I'm sorry they vanished. Of course I also miss 'Stand-N-Snack,' 'W.T. Grants,' and 'The House of Bargains.'
Maybe M Shack could revive the existing locations while simultaneously expanding their brand. I doubt it would happen, but it's food for thought!
I recall my grandfather telling me that he and "Bob" Milligan were in the Army (or the Florida National Guard) before and during WW2. My grandfather said Milligan was always saying he was going to go "home" and start a burger restaurant. My grandfather would rather have a Milligan's burger over Krystal any day. Oddly enough, I grew up on LakeShore Blvd...just 3 blocks from the Milligan's on the banks of Cedar River. I still drive by their old home to get to my parents.
The First Burger King was on Beach, where Dan's sandwich shop now stands. The owners lived just south of Baptist Towers in a Duplex on the River.