Meet Bernardo Medellin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernardo Medellin.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Some quick background on me, I’m originally from southern California but I grew up in Minnesota for most of my childhood. I moved to Chicago nearly ten years ago at 18 when I enrolled at DePaul University as a freshman. I’ve been here ever since. I’m super lucky and blessed to have met a lot of great people in Chicago who have become like my second family. I also met my wife while at DePaul, and I think she still likes me so I’ve got that too. I work in the tech industry, but outside of work I enjoy spending time on hobbies like the podcast I started, Chicago Millennial, and teaching myself how to design websites which is pretty entertaining and amusing.

Our burger club started out as an excuse for the guys to get together once a month, but the actual mission of Burger Club Chicago is to find the best burgers in the city. We all obviously love burgers, but it’s also a great way for all of us to hang out once a month and catch up on life. None of us really consider ourselves food critics, columnists, bloggers, or Instagramers, but we really have fun getting together and Burger Club is the perfect way to do it. One of our club members, Pierce, actually inspired the idea of creating this club along with his father who started Steak Masters(in Silicon Valley).

The club will get together once a month, and a few days later, our ratings and reviews are posted on our website, BurgerClubChicago.com. If you follow our IG page, @burgerclubchicago, you can see all the pictures and get updates when new reviews are posted. Our rating scale is a (4) four-star scale that is inspired by the Chicago flag and represented in our club logo. If you live in Chicago, you know our flag is kind of a big deal, otherwise you probably won’t get it. Chicago has always been a beacon of culture, art, music, food, and is quite literally the heart of our country, so people who live here are understandably proud of that. Midwest is the best.

Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, the hardest part of all of this is getting the guys to turn in their ratings and reviews after every meet-up. Going out and eating Chicago’s best burgers and drinking beer is really fun, and pretty easy. The trick is getting everyone’s ratings and reviews so I can get them posted on our website within a reasonable time and keep our IG page up to date.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Burger Club Chicago story. Tell us more about the business.
Our group is basically about three things: eating burgers, drinking beer, and hanging out with friends. The cool part is that we also get to share our opinions, and give people a deeper look at Chicago’s best burgers – both the famous and the obscure. I’ve also realized along the way that a bi-product of all this is that it’s a great way to stay active in our Chicago community and support and promote local businesses.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The big shift is already happening, it’s already happened actually. All of the big names in restaurants and fast food are losing market share to the smaller and savvier restaurants who hustle harder, understand the power of social media marketing, and make a name for themselves in local markets. For anyone who loves food, it’s a great time to be alive.

Contact Info:

• Website: BurgerClubChicago.com
• IG :@BurgerClubChicago
• IG :@Bernardo.Medellin

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