Update, 11.29.12: Victory Burger opened on Friday Nov. 23. (Read Berkeleyfarm’s snapshot review in the Comments.)
Victory Burger, a new venture from the good folks behind Actual Café on San Pablo Avenue, will open imminently, says Sal Bednarz, owner of both operations. How soon? Well, he wouldn’t be specific, but put it this way: burgers are cooking up on the grills already. “We will be open by the time you publish your story,” he told Berkeleyside Tuesday. (Given how quickly we go to press, we would advise readers to follow Victory Burger on Facebook for updates on its actual opening, however.)
The burger place, which is at 1099 Alcatraz Ave., next door to the Actual Café, will serve locally and sustainably farmed meat burgers, with artisan buns and organic produce, along with other sandwiches, crispy fries, and shakes.
Bednarz told Oakland North in May that his goal was to create a simple place where one could get a good-quality burger — something he said was lacking in this part of Oakland. “The good burgers, of which there a few, are almost all fine dining white tablecloth $15 burgers,” he said.
Bednarz raised $25,494 through a Kickstarter campaign earlier this year to fund the launch costs for Victory Burger, in particular for the construction of the interior and the wooden façade. The buiding used to be part of the bait and tackle shop that is now Actual Café and had been vacant for the past 20 years. A large exterior communal table in front of the restaurant makes up for the diminutive space inside. The restaurant passed its final building inspection on Nov. 13.
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