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Editor's note • In this regular series, The Salt Lake Tribune explores the once-favorite places of Utahns, from restaurants to recreation to retail. If you have a spot you'd like us to explore, email whateverhappenedto@sltrib.com with your ideas.
A simple burger joint that once dotted Utah with its franchises may be gone, but its legacy is alive and well.
The Swedish-inspired Fred's Burger Chalet was owned and operated at 2939 E. 3300 South by the late restaurateur Frederick Osterloh. His three sons, Rick, Craig and Mike, still own restaurants throughout northern Utah. Mike, the youngest Osterloh son, now runs Salt City Burger Co. in Sandy, an ode to childhood memories of his dad's place and a sort of resurrection of the charbroiled burgers there.
"It was a fun place to go because it was a really, really good burger," Mike said.
The burgers were charbroiled to keep the flavors in and the burgers moist, Mike said. Most people remember the restaurant's "Smorgas bar," where patrons put their choice of condiments on their burgers.
A newspaper clipping from the 1960s read: "You don't yell out 'hold the onions' or 'gimme lettuce, onions and tomatoes both' (as Wimpy used to say). None of that at the Smorgasburger ... for here is where the 'smorgas' part comes in. They have a lovely little condiment bar where you can put any combination of condiments you wish on your charbroiled burger. And that's where the 'burger' gets its 'smorgas' ... and where you get a taste that is new and delightful."
The condiment bar was the trademark treasure of Fred's Burger Chalet, said former customer MaryEllen Van Engelenhoven.
"It was so cool because you get a plain burger and you go to the table and put on any type of topping you wanted," she said. "As a kid, that's a real exciting thing, to have control of your food. I don't know why, it just gave you power. ... I loved it. I was in control."
Van Engelenhoven also recalls vividly the "hardy, calm, meat smell" of the place — even though, she said, she's nearly a vegetarian now. "I remember you walked in there and the smell was just ... a wonderful meat smell. You just don't really get that anymore."
Mike remembered the restaurant's popular burgers: the Matterhorn had two quarter-pound patties (cheddar cheese on one and Swiss cheese on another) with buns in between. The King Burger, a half-pound burger with large buns, and the Swedish burger with Swiss cheese, were always customer favorites.
For dessert, Fred's offered an ice cream bar complete with toppings.
"There was one counter for burgers, and another counter for ice cream: chocolate, caramel, marshmallow cream, strawberry and nuts," Mike said.
Even with the Swedish concept, at Fred's Burger Chalet, simplicity was king. Osterloh "kept things really simple," Mike said.
Of course, running the restaurant wasn't easy. "He was the hardest-working man I ever knew, which you have to be to be in the restaurant business," Mike said.
Osterloh died in July 2013, having been inducted into the Utah Restaurant Association Hall of Fame, according to his obituary.
Mike said he was "raised at the restaurant," where his dad taught him the craft of making your own burger patties and charbroiling them on an electric grill — not a common practice because it's more expensive.
"We've always felt as a family that it's a unique taste, it sears in the flavors well — we do it because it tastes so good," he said.
Over time, Osterloh opened about a dozen franchise Burger Chalets in downtown Salt Lake City, Logan, Ogden, Granger, West Valley City and even in Pocatello, Idaho. But the original store on 3300 South was always the most popular, Mike said.
Why Fred's Burger Chalet fizzled out is "hard to pinpoint exactly," Mike said.
It seemed the 1980s were unkind to family-owned burger joints. With the rise of fast food chains, Fred's Burger Chalet took a back seat to cheaper, flashier options like McDonald's and even the local chain Dee's. But that's not the reason the chalets ultimately disappeared, Mike said.
Over the years, Osterloh had launched other restaurants, including the Su Casa chain and El Sol in Logan, and business at both Mexican restaurants took off. Plus, Fred's original restaurant, Fredrico's Pizza in Logan, was still a success (Federico's is now owned by son Craig and is one of the oldest restaurants in Logan). Mike said his father was partial to the Mexican restaurant concept, and decided to close Fred's Burger Chalet.
The chalet on 33rd South — the first to open — was also the last to close, in 1985. The site is now home to Big Apple Pizzeria.
But the charbroiled burgers and charm of the "smorgas bar" condiment buffet is still available at Mike's Salt City Burger Co. The menu pays tribute to Mike's childhood playground: "Over the years, we grew to miss the Burger Chalet more and more," it reads. "Fred taught me a great deal about the restaurant business. First and foremost, hamburgers are the greatest food ever. ... Fred's been a wonderful mentor. But then dads are like that."
Van Engelenhoven said the blurb on the menu brought back a host of memories when she visited Salt City Burger Co.
"I was excited when I went to Salt City Burger for the first time. Seeing the buffet bar, I'm going, 'Holy cow! This is my childhood,' " she said.
Salt City Burger Co. isn't a duplicate; Fred's Burger Chalet offered counter service and Salt City Burgers is full service. Fred's had a sundae bar, while Salt City has malts. Most of all, the Burger Chalet was simple, Mike said, a quality not as viable in today's age of the gourmet burger.
"I've wondered about how the simplicity [of Fred's Burger Chalet] would work nowadays. I can see the wisdom in simplicity. But sometimes you have to offer more complex items on the menu to attract customers — it's a never-ending debate," Mike said.
Still, among the many traditions from Fred's carried on by Salt City: Mike's eight daughters have worked at his burger place at some point in their lives, as he and his brothers did at Fred's.
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