The Hamburger Mary’s restaurant franchise has today announced they will be adding a new “hate-free” southern style chicken sandwich to their popular hamburger menu.
Their press release states: “Hamburger Mary’s is a popular bar & grille known for serving gourmet half-pound burgers with a “side of Sass.” With a flare for wit, Mary’s is adding her voice to the increasing number of campaigns to counter Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s controversial public stance against marriage equality… by offering a southern-style chicken sandwich while advocating diversity.”
Jeff Edmondson, general manager of the Kansas City Hamburger Mary’s reports that he and his partner of the Kansas City restaurant, owner Eric Christensen, had been thinking of creating their own version of the sandwich at the same time it was being planned by the corporate Hamburger Mary’s. “Many people thought of it at the same and I was thinking about something along the same lines, said Edmondson. “We did a little bit of personalization but we wanted to mimic it as much as possible.”
The press release also describes their version of the chicken sandwich. “Hamburger Mary’s introduces its “hate-free” southern-style chicken sandwich today. It starts with a fresh chicken breast, marinated and battered with Mary’s secret recipe flour and spice mixture. It’s then deep-fried and served with dill pickles on a bakery fresh bun, much like the Chick-fil-A sandwich is. And a portion of the sale of the chicken sandwiches will be donated to support equality causes.”
What originally began as a counter culture restaurant in San Francisco 40 years ago, Hamburger Mary’s now has twelve locations nationwide. In addition to the other charity events held weekly at the Kansas City restaurant, this new chicken sandwich will not only be a “hate-free sandwich” but will also help support a local organization. Their press release also states that “Mary’s is hoping that the August “burger”-of-the-month will bring a positive spin to the controversy over Dan Cathy’s comments, and let people know that a “hate-free” chicken sandwich option is out there.”
Edmondson said they will call the sandwich the “Mary’s Southern style chicken sandwich,” on the menu. He said that they are also going to be carrying waffle fries and they already have lemonade.
“Each store will give a percentage of sales to whatever charity they wish. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is where we will make our donation.”