Katelyn Umholtz | The Valdosta Daily TimesBurgerIM of Valdosta will be located at 1650 Baytree Road. 

VALDOSTA — BurgerIM promises Valdosta it isn’t just another fast-food burger restaurant.

Hebrew for “many burgers,” you can expect more than just beef patties at this chain that has plans to open Aug. 6.

“The concept is many different meat and protein types, and you can then have that anyway you want it,” said James Daniel, franchisee and co-owner of the new Valdosta location.

Customers have nine patty options, from the classic Angus beef to the unusual lamb to the meat alternative falafel.

The customization doesn’t stop there, though.

Customers can choose from three bun styles — the BurgerIM bun, gluten-free bun and even lettuce wraps — and a variety of veggies, cheese and other toppings.

There are even non-burger options, such as chicken wings and tenders, milkshakes, fries and onion rings. The restaurant will serve beer, wine and Coke products as well.

“I think the lamb burger is going to surprise people with how good it is,” said Sharon Brown, franchisee and co-owner. “They’ll be excited about all the mixing and matching.”

The lamb burger is actually what Daniel and Brown recommend, though you can get mini burgers — similar to sliders — to try two to three different patties.

Daniel, a former UPS Store business owner, and Brown, a former hospice employee, joined forces to bring BurgerIM to Valdosta because it is something different and exciting enough for them to make a career change.

It reminds Daniel of when he used to own and operate a Valdosta UPS store.

“It was young, unknown and they had a breadth of product that was a new concept,” Daniel said. “This model harkens to that. It’s young and has a breadth of product unlike any other competitor. It checks a lot of boxes for me.”

They chose the Valdosta location to be 1650 Baytree Road directly in front of the Valdosta Stadium Cinemas because they want to catch the movie theater foot traffic.

The space also access to a front outdoor patio, which they see as a great business opportunity.

“We could have live music out there,” Brown said. “We’re hoping to stay open later on Friday and Saturday to attract the football crowd.”

Daniel and Brown understand the menu features a lot, so they plan to do what they can to make ordering from BurgerIM as easy and seamless as possible.

“Training starts on Wednesday for our team members,” Brown said. “As the customers come in, there will be three huge menu boards. We will have strong customer interaction explaining the menu board as well.”

The restaurant’s hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

BurgerIM started in Tel Aviv, Israel, by Donna Tuchner. It was later expanded in 2016 by its current owner, Oren Loni, to the United States with its first location in Los Angeles and now has more than 160 locations from Seattle to Miami.

Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.