Ryan Reynolds makes gin, Sam Neill's got a bunch of sprawling vineyards in New Zealand and Mark Wahlberg and his chef brother own a chain of burger restaurants around the world. Who says having a side-hustle is just for normal folk? With a whopping (heh) 52 outlets across the US, Germany and Canada, Mark and Paul Wahlberg's Wahlburgers has grown into a burger joint of fairly epic proportions – and, finally, it's bringing its wares to Australia and New Zealand.
In a move that makes sense for a family with solid roots on the silver screen, Walhburgers will open in the region in partnership with United Cinemas, which has a whole bunch of outlets in both Australia and New Zealand. The brothers' chain is set to open the first of its 20 planned restaurants in the region in Sydney's CBD, and expand from there. Some will be stand-alone restaurants, while others will set up shop in United Cinema locations in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and New Zealand. News regarding the Melbourne restaurants is thin on the ground, but considering United Cinemas has an outpost in Craigieburn, it's possible a Wahlburgers might pop up there. And what can you expect to order at the counter? It's classic burger shop fare, including burgs, shakes, beers and 'wahlbowls', or bunless burgers.
The jury's out on whether Mark has a true passion for the bun business or whether it's just because not opening up a burger joint would be a waste of his last name – you can find out for yourself when the first stores open in Australia later in 2021.