Burger Factory has been a town favorite eatery since it first opened its doors in 1980 by the Yager family. Since then it has only had 3 owners – Yager’s, Chase’s and now Mike and Rhonda Erstad (both CHS graduates) who bought it in 2012. They have done some remodeling and upgrades to the building and added new daily specials to the menu but the high-quality customer service and food has always been a standard with Burger Factory. When it came up for sale Rhonda stated “We felt the community needed Burger Factory. Many families have worked here – my family has had 3 generations work here at some point since its first opening.” In addition to Mike and Rhonda, their daughter Jill, Mike’s sister (who helped Max Yager open) and Rhonda’s mom have all shared memories behind the counter working at Burger Factory.
A little history on Burger Factory – there used to be 3 of them. Back when it first opened the Connell was the 2nd location – the first was in Prosser and then a 3rd location in Othello. Both the Prosser and Othello locations are now closed and no longer standing but the Connell’s Burger Factory is still a fun place to grab a bite to eat and visit whether you call ahead to place your order, dine in, or go through the drive in.
Burger Factory menu offers good All-American food – burgers, chicken strips, fries, tator tots, onion rings, 16 flavors of milkshakes with real ice cream, slushies and cream slushies – are just a few of the local favorites. However, they are most known for the Eagle Burger as Connell is the only place to get it – it’s the most popular Daily Special which is offered on Wednesdays and comes with a large fry, and don’t forget the famous Fry Sauce either! There is also a kid’s menu.
Burger Factory currently has 7 employees. Burger Factory and the Erstad family are great community supporters and she stated “We try our best!”…. not only does that apply to the their successful 6 year long business with Burger Factory but also in all that they do to help the community too. Burger Factory is located at 452 S Columbia Ave, their phone number is 234-4511. Open 6 days a week their hours are Monday – Friday 10:30am – 7pm and Saturday 11am – 7pm. Stop by and get a shake or a slushie or a quick bite to eat with a friend on these hot summer days!!
