After 14 years of flipping and serving high-quality, classic burgers, Johnny B's Burgers and Shakes has closed its doors. John Finlayson, known as Johnny B., and his wife, Sandy, opened up the restaurant back in 2004 because they knew the community needed a good burger joint. So, he drew upon his childhood experience growing up around his father’s family eatery in Missouri to build a place of his own.
“I literally grew up in the restaurant,” John says via press release. “It was such an incredible place, and the entire staff felt like family to me.”
With a drive to create that family environment and do things the old-fashioned way, John and Sandy opened up shop. Since then, locals have come out for not only the joint's fresh ingredients but also for John and Sandy's charismatic spirit.
“This was our place, and we wanted nothing more than to be here,” John says. “It's all about the food, having the best quality and the fun.”
Many Southlake high school students knew what it was like to be a part of that fun. Over the years, Johnny B's employed several hundreds of them.
“To add to that, we really feel like our customers and staff are part of our family,” John says. “We especially loved it when the kids would come back from school to work for the summer.”
And those loyal customers have all made their impact on John and Sandy's experience as restaurant owners.
“It has been a joy for my family to watch them grow and prosper,” John says.
The Southlake Style family will miss the popular local restaurant. We have eaten many of their delicious burgers, fries and shakes over the years. John taught us what it means to be a " Mom and Pop" restaurant in Southlake. They were also titled the Burger Supreme in our 2015 Readers' Choice Best Burger Joints. And it wasn't uncommon for them to be featured in our Best Of Issues. John himself even found himself on a cover of ours a few years back. So it's safe to say they will be remembered fondly.
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