Los Angeles Burgers Invade New York as Economy Rebounds: Retail

Topped with truffle cheese or port-caramelized onions and not always involving beef, designer burgers aren’t exactly unheard of in New York City. That’s not stopping Los Angeles nightclub owner Sam Nazarian from bringing his vision of “fine dining fast-food” to the Big Apple.

One of Nazarian’s Umami Burger restaurants will open this year in Manhattan, part of a national expansion of the Los Angeles chain. The chief executive officer of SBE Entertainment Group LLC, who bought a 50 percent stake in Umami in July, said he plans to reach more than 20 locations by the end of the year, including in some of the company’s luxury SLS hotels.