The Chain That’s Betting Burgers and Lobsters Will Never Go Out of Style

A tank of live lobsters should get you psyched for dinner, but seeing the really big ones behind glass always gets me down. Take the 19-pounder that can be yours at the Russian-owned, London-based chain Burger & Lobster for exactly $380. This mother will feed 14 people, but it's probably older than my friends and me combined. I imagine it has lived well, brawled and mated and grown fat on scallops and sea urchin and whatever the current sent its way. Now it awaits death with its powerful claws tied shut under a sign that reads, Let’s take a selfie!

The “big boys,” as all lobsters over three pounds are referred to in-house, are cooked to order by request—about five or six times a night, according to Vladimir Borodin, the partner who heads up Burger & Lobster's U.S. division. Last year, the chain bought over a million lobsters. This year, Borodin anticipates, it will purchase closer to 1.8 million.