LAMON KRONICLES: Celebrated 30th Years With Burger Machine On A Valentine's

Thank you for 30 years of
Burger Machine in my life!

14 February 2021

We used to live along Mayon corner Dapitan in QC. It was a quiet neighborhood with family livelihoods, and it was typically a low/middle income neighborhood. As of my visit in 2017 to our old neighborhood, almost everything is gone except the church, our old apartment building in that area, and that Royal agency which I have been seeing since 1987. Everything is now almost upper class. You see, gentrification doesn't really improve communities, it displaces families and livelihoods!

Anyway, my point is that back in the 90s when we used to still live there until Feb 2001, it was just an isolated area. Not much bustling other than jeeps and trucks passing this route. At the time, Dapitan arcade was an annual thing and the whole neighborhood was really quiet. By 7PM it was already dead quiet, there was no such thing as night life, and 7-11 came into our neighborhood around 1998. They were situated along Mayon in front of Suki Market. Wala na rin sila ngayon but a Mini-Stop took over. Anyway, when they opened there, it was THE only night life blocks away.

Civilization was far away -- you go to Espana or Retiro to see fast food restaurants. Like I said earlier, it was a community and there were small eateries and bakeries around. Did you know, I hoped many times na magkaroon ng Mcdo sa kanto namin. Well, they opened in Feb 2017, wish come true! How things have changed. Now you see condo buildings everywhere over there.

My mother used to give me treats from Burger Machine around 1991. I loved their burgers lalo the hotdog sandwich (they used to have it), mura pero masarap. Around the mid-90s (1995), we used to buy from BM along Laong-Laan gas station, sa tapat ng dating Glori's Supermarket. Now the Glori's is also gone, hindi ko na nakikita yang area for many years and don't know if they still exist. Anyway, to find burger chains and fastfoods in our neighborhood meant that we had to commute far away. Those few BM excursions were really very special.

This Valentine's 2021, I just wanted to do a simple celebration. What I love is that mura pa rin ang BM yet still masherep. The crew also always remember your preferences and orders. The Big Beef Burger was still PhP 50.00 as of that night, but days later it was already raised to PhP 57.00 -- mas mura pa rin sa fast food equivalent and still worth it!

Back in 2017, madalas ako mag order ng Cheezy Burger (buy 1 get 1) and like 4 orders of it, so nakakalamon ako 8 burgers. I still order it once in a while, but Big Beef ang madalas ko orderin ngayon. It's a fully loaded burger, the patty is huge and generous, beats fastfood equivalent. Mas lalo masherep if you add eggs and it adds a soft mushiness or creaminess to the burger in your mouth.

Thank you for the memories BM, happy 30th anniversary in my life!

From our neighborhood BM

(Mayon corner Don Manuel,

Baranggay Salvacion)

Bottom: Big Beef Burger

Announced November 2013

Php 50.00 (as of 2021)

Big bun

Big meaty beef patty

Coleslaw

BBQ sauce

Mayonnaise