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newsletter #109 - try our big improvements

Hi Everyone,

Last Monday morning, we wrote to you guys about the “Burger Brigade”, the 17 b.good family members running the marathon in burger suits. (We’re so lucky. Everyone was safe.) We also asked for help giving away the money they raised.

Since then, the Brigade made the executive decision to give our foundation’s 1st grant to the Richard family. This Thursday, we’ll deposit $4,000 into the Richard’s account at Meetinghouse Bank in Dorchester. (If you’d like to contribute $10 or more before Thursday, we’ll add your donation to our grant and a free burger to your Family ID.)

And because of last week’s craziness, we’re extending the vote we started last Monday. So, if you missed it, we hope you’ll vote for our other grant recipient.

Then, we're really hoping you’ll come see us soon too. That’s because today we start a couple of important menu improvements and really want our kinfolk to be the first to try them.

After an intense winter of taste-tests (and screaming matches) with Chef Tony, we’ve added fresh homemade salsa, chipotle puree, and fresh-squeezed lime to our West Side Burger. And starting today, we’re topping our Southwestern Chicken Salad with fresh grilled corn and new-and-improved marinated black beans.

To make sure our family tastes our big improvements ASAP, we’re giving you a FREE West Side Burger when you BUY a Southwestern Chicken Salad or a FREE Southwestern Salad when you BUY a West Side. But, THERE’S A CATCH... you have to buy one today or tomorrow. Then, on Thursday morning, we’ll put the free burger or salad on your Family ID and you'll have to redeem it before Sunday night.

So, to recap:

Step 1: Visit us today or tomorrow & scan your Family ID (your app, keychain, or the code below)

Step 2: Buy a new-and-improved West Side or Southwestern Salad

Step 3: Get a free West Side (if you purchased a Southwestern Salad) or a free Southwestern Salad (if you purchased a West Side) on your Family ID on Thursday morning

Step 4: Eat a free burger or salad before we close on Sunday night

See you soon,
Anthony & Jon

P.S. We’re unleashing more menu improvements in a couple weeks. So, please prepare yourself mentally and physically for the most beautiful Buffalo and El Guapo we’ve ever served.

P.P.S. In our springtime rite or passage, we planted lots of collard greens at a couple of our restaurants last week. We also made this little video to show you how we’ll be growing them on our downtown roof and behind b.good Hingham. And for the record, we plan on beating the 1,100 pounds of tomatoes and 450 pounds of collards we grew and served you guys last summer.

P.P.S. Maybe the only funny thing that happened in our city on Monday was this photo that kept running on Boston.com.

OUR NEWS ARCHIVE

As 17 b.good family members stood at the starting line of the Boston Marathon wearing burger suits, the rest of us got ready to give away the money they raised.
newsletter #108 - a special day

We launched a start-up foundation based on the idea that together, we can help people in our community do good. So, we were looking for some good people with great ideas to tell us about them.
newsletter #107 - help us start something good

Thanks to the help of our dedicated kin, we donated 575 cups of chili to some folks who really needed it.
newsletter #106 - thanks again for the help last week

We wanted our family to help us test some new functionality in our system. So, in exchange, we offered up free chili for others who needed it.
newsletter #105 - help us & help somebody who really needs it

Happy birthday, b.good. On January 12th, we turned 9 so we celebrated with our kinfolk.
newsletter #104 - our 9th birthday

We wanted to wish our family happy holidays in our own special way. So, we made a holiday rap video.
newsletter #103 - Happy Holidays (& today's gift)

Holiday season was here. So, we did what we always do -- get gifts for our kin, wrap them up and give them out.
newsletter #102 - holiday gifts for our family

It was official. Baby #9 entered the world.
newsletter #101 - today's grand opening

We were getting ready to give birth to our 9th baby. And we needed help decorating the walls. So, we turned to our kinfolk for help.
newsletter #100 - help our new baby, get some fries

We temporarily defeated our own technical incompetence and improved our family system. This fix included "fun facts" about kin that would appear on our registers and print on order tickets in our kitchens.
newsletter #99 - give a "fun fact", get a shake

A group of brillant, beloved b.good family members did the impossible. They launched our house-ground beef where no burger had gone before -- outer space. (No, we're not making this up.)
newsletter #98 - our burger in outer space

Last day of summer meant we were on borrowed time. We all had to sip local peaches, homemade peach puree, & frozen yogurt through a straw immediately (if not sooner).
newsletter #97 - our end of summer gift

A pair of our most insane and beautiful family members actually ran to all 8 of our restaurants. Yes, it was 45 miles and yes, they jogged for 11+ hours behind a flame-covered ice cream truck.
newsletter #96 - the weekend's long, strange journey

We got local corn, tomatoes, and peaches. Naturally, we had to let our family know.
newsletter #95 - local corn is born

It was that special time of year again for our fries. Yes, we kicked off the start of those beautiful few months when the potatoes we hand cut are Frank's.
newsletter #94 - Frank's potatoes are here

Steven called us with the happy news -- the first local harvest was ready.
newsletter #93 - local blueberry shakes

Steven called us with the happy news -- the first local harvest was ready.
newsletter #92 - first harvest

Spring was back. And so was local produce and our annual attempt to grow our own veggies.
newsletter #91 - springtime

More than 8 crazy years and we were still grinding beef, still best friends, and still chasing the dream of making fast-food "real". And this month, that journey brought us to a really important crossroads in the life of our baby b.good -- franchising.
newsletter #90 -- the next big step for our baby

A year of free burgers compelled another woman to do something extraordinary.
newsletter #89 - our greatest customer, Kathyran

Happy birthday to us. On January 12th, we turned 8 so we celebrated with our family.
newsletter #88 - our 8th birthday

Holiday season was here. So, we did what we always do -- get gifts for our kin, wrap them up and give them out.
newsletter #87 - holiday gifts for our family

Our perilous quest to make fast-food "real" moved ahead a bit more. That's because we started melting locally-made cheese on our burgers and making our own pickles.
newsletter #86 - "real" cheese & pickles

It was the most beautiful day of the year to eat fries. Yup, the local potatoes harvest was up and we wanted to make sure our family knew it.
newsletter #85 - local potatoes are here

It was the heart of the summer and living was easy. We had the comeback of local corn and a brand new way to show love to our kinfolk.
newsletter #84 - local corn & improved love

We were a little happier than usual because our menu got a little better. Yes, it was that time of year again -- the first harvest at the family farm that grows all our local fruits and veggies.
newsletter #83 -- local produce, new baby, & lots of gifts

Spring had returned. So, we figured the time was right for new salads and the rebirth of our weird, roof-top garden.
newsletter #82 -- springtime

It was opening day in Boston. So, we unleashed all-natural, locally-raised hot dogs and local ice cream made by a guy named Gus.
newsletter #81 - opening day greatness

It was Valentine's Day and we wanted to make sure our family found love.
newsletter #80 - a Valentine for our family

7 years ago, we sold our first burger. (Unfortunately, we did it while flailing around the restaurant like some kind of spastic, fast-food warriors from hell.) Yes, on January 12th, we turned 7.
newsletter #79 - our 7th birthday

Just like every holiday season since we started our business, we got gifts for our loyal kinfolk, wrapped them up, and gave them out.
newsletter #78 - holiday gifts for our family

Anyway, yesterday we started 4 new "Seasonal Specials" that we're making with the last local produce of the season from Dick's in Lunenburg, MA.
newsletter #77 - some new specials

October was a good month. We blended up Halloween gifts for our kin, built a new roof-top veggie garden downtown, and crowned a new spinach eating champion of the world.
newsletter #76 - halloween gifts

We were really happy to cut fries from locally grown spuds. When potatoes are from here, they're better and we get to know the people who grow the "real" food we serve.
newsletter #75 - local potatoes & our downtown baby

We were in the thick of the summer. And we were happy. We had local corn, our boy Manny, and planning for baby #8.
newsletter #74 -- local corn, Manny, & a new baby

The 28-year-old ice cream truck that we got from a customer in exchange for free food for life (and $1,500) got a name and was street-ready. And we prepared to open another restaurant baby.
newsletter #73 -- Harvey & Hingham

Ah yes, it's spring… and for the second year in a row, we have a weird, roof-top garden.
newsletter #72 -- menu specials, a roof-top garden, & a local farm

It was a historic day for us because all the beef we grind here every morning was now all-natural and from local family farms
newsletter #71 -- local beef is here

365 days of free burgers has such a strange, seductive power over women that it compelled this year's Customer of The Year to hand-make a b.good board game.
newsletter #70 - our customer of the year

It was our 6th birthday. No matter what happens from here, we'll never regret the half-drunken moment in a bar when we made our pact to quit our jobs, go out on our own, and make fast food "real".
newsletter #69 - our 6th birthday

Like we've done every holiday season since we started, we spread warmth and joy by getting gifts for our loyal kinfolk.
newsletter #68 - holiday gifts for our family

Thanksgiving came and we had lots to be thankful for.
newsletter #67 - giving thanks

They battled with every inch of their esophagus. But, our brave kinfolk couldn't fulfill our fast-food family's dream of destroying a professional competitive eating bully.
newsletter #66 - a champ, a shake, & a way to get more love

Professional competitive eaters were coming back. So, we needed some selfless kinfolk to answer the call to defend our family.
Newsletter #65 - our garlicky-greens eating championship

The perilous road to burger greatness brought us to a beautiful, new foreign land - the suburbs.
newsletter #64 - be our "cousin" in Dedham

It was time to get ready to unleash our 5th baby upon the suburbs southwest of Boston.
newsletter #63 -- suburbs, shoes, & shakes

Sweet, local corn made us feel happy.
newsletter #62 -- happiness is local corn & homemade cookies

We'd now spread b.good love by pedaling a weird, indestructible, free-shake-making rickshaw.
newsletter #61 - King Louie is born

We'd now spread b.good love by pedaling a weird, indestructible, free-shake-making rickshaw.
newsletter #60 - a bigger, stronger, faster shake-cart

Oh yes, it was spring… the perfect time to introduce a new "seasonal vegetable" side and to try to grow our own in a weird, roof-top garden.
newsletter #59 -- seasonal veggies, a garden, & grilled chicken

A man willing to run 26 miles dressed as a burger, a survey, and a drink company that put our weird-looking faces on its bottles. Oh yes, March. You were a strange, mystical month.
newsletter #58 -- March madness

The dream of eating free house-ground burgers for 365 days has a strange, seductive power over women. That's why this one wrote an "epic" sonnet and drew us a picture.
newsletter #57 -- our customer of the year

Happy birthday to b.good. Yes, 5 years ago today, the first baby b.good was brought into the world by two spastic, fast-food amateurs.
newsletter #56 -- our 5th birthday

It's a weird tradition for a fast-food business to give holiday gifts to its customers. But, we have a weird love for the people who support us on our quest for fast-food glory
newsletter #55 -- holiday gifts for our family

The holidays were close. So, we held our annual holiday contest to blend some eggnog love for our family.
newsletter #54 -- eggnog milkshakes & fries

Even though our family didn't win our 5th garlicky-greens eating world championship, we are not losers.
newsletter #53 -- a champion, a catering menu, & a secret sauce

This year, we accepted the challenge from Major League Eating to give real, live professional eaters a shot at our reigning champ's garlicky-greens eating championship belt.
newsletter #52 -- our garlicky-greens eating championship

Change has always been a good thing for us. And in the 4 years that we've been trying to make fast-food "real", we think this change was the greatest one ever.
newsletter #51 -- our new menu and sweet potato fries (finally)

Summertime... ohhh yeah.
newsletter #50 -- tuna, independence, & papayas

Our shake-cart got a really beautiful name. And once she was street-ready, all we needed were some special places to blend b.good love..
newsletter #49 -- a shake-cart named "Terremoto"

With love comes loss. Even our fast-food family can't escape this immutable fact of life.
newsletter #48 -- rest in peace, sweet girl

We decided to revamp our salad menu. And we knew that stirring deep inside one of you was the perfect, weird, little name for one of our new salad-babies.
newsletter #47 -- name our salad

While sewing a "ham-hog" and naming it "Herbert" isn't normal behavior for a Harvard honor student, it's what Pippa did to become our Customer of The Year (and to eat free burgers for the next 365 days).
newsletter #46 -- our customer of the year

4 years ago, 2 weird, spastic, fast-food amateurs sold their first house-ground, hand-packed burger. Yes, on January 12^th, we turned 4.
newsletter #45 - our 4^th birthday

After thinking all month long about the best way to express our love, we came up with our own strange way of spreading the warmth and joy of the holiday season with our family.
b.good newsletter #44 -- today's holiday gift

You can't teach heart (or gullet). And in this month's 4th annual garlicky-greens eating contest, our champion proved his are a lot bigger than everyone else's on Earth.
b.good newsletter #43 -- our new spinach champion

See it's just not supposed to be like this. (It's as if Newbury Street is some kind of beautiful, fast-food alternate-universe where happy small business owners open restaurants without mental pain and anguish.)
b.good newsletter #42 -- be our cousin on Newbury Street

After opening our Brookline dream-house, we felt like lifting our arms and screaming in fast-food victory. (Or, at least, going out to get drunk in a Brighton dive-bar.) But, we couldn't since we had to open another one really soon.
bgood newsletter #41 -- newbury street, here we come
 

Sneaky underground gas-tanks. Tricky zoning bi laws. Evil equipment suppliers. There've been lots of challenges in the year and a half since that little, old, abandoned gas station first called to us like the beautiful, Spanish-roofed siren she is.
bgood newsletter #40 -- our Brookline grand opening party
 

July was a strange, emotional roller coaster of a month for us. Yes, those 31 days brought us some of the greatest pleasure and pain we've ever known.
bgood newsletter #39 -- july's pleasure and pain

Summer is a happy time. Especially this summer because the road to fast-food glory is bringing house-ground burgers and hand-cut fries to two great, new lands.
newsletter #38 -- our happiest summer

Well, this month, we lived and learned some pretty important stuff about geography, marketing, and the heart of a proud champion. And we learned it all by driving one of our customers around in a 28 year-old, sweet, little, baby El Camino.
bgood newsletter #37 -- the week with El Tio

Things like grass, flowers, birds, and El Caminos (or at least the one we couldnAt move from a South End parking spot for 6 months) return to make Earth pretty again.
bgood newsletter #36 -- the return of El Tio

There's a saying that it takes a big man to ask for help. If thatAs true, then this month we're pretty huge because weAre asking for lots and lots of the stuff.
b.good newsletter #35 help. please, help.

A young lady's commitment to a year of free burgers can make her do things she wouldn't normally do. Like build and paint a stool. For her to use. In our bathroom.
b.good newsletter #34 our customer of the year

Yes, it was just 3 years ago tomorrow that the baby b.good was unleashed upon the world by a pair of weird, amateur fast-food spazes. (It was such a beautiful baby. It had absolutely no idea what it was doing, but it was beautiful.)
b.good newsletter #33 our 3rd birthday party

When you have a family who reads your weird emails, eats your house-ground burgers, and supports you on your quest for fast-food glory, you love them. And this time of year, the passion you feel in your heart just can't be tamed.
b.good newsletter #32 holiday gifts for our family

We're honored to be associated with the type of lady who would agree to come to b.good, physically assault our crew, and vandalize our restaurant.
our first-ever corporate sponsorship

Fast-food champions donAt live their lives the way that the average burger-eating human does. And our champs proved that to us.
b.good newsletter #31 the new champ

After 2 years of shame and self-loathing, we decided to retire from competitively eating sautéed spinach against our customers.
b.good newsletter #30 - garlicky-greens eating championship

We were filmed to be on Rachel Ray's nationally televised TV show. And while most people who own a restaurant would be worried about a national press appearance, we were not.
our national TV debut

We signed the lease to a burger palace the likes of which this world has never seen. Our dream house was officially ours...but construction and renovation meant it was still going to be a while before we actually got to live there.
b.good newsletter #29 - our new Brookline deam house

July that special Summer month when we celebrated our nation's independence and the fact that our new burger got a name. We held our annual party in Anthony's pathetic excuse for a backyard, gave away free burgers for a year to the guys who named our burger, and gave everyone else in our family weird t-shirts.
b.good newsletter #28 - "el guapo" is here

We decided to bring that beautiful slice of crispy, salty pork to our business. And as usual, we needed a customer to name the burger that we put it on.
b.good newsletter #27 -- name our new bacon burger

She never caved in. Our lionhearted, bastard child of a sports car and pick-up truck transported human cargo twice a day for 5 straight days. And it was a good thing she didn't break down since the guy we chauffeured around had a broken pelvis.
bgood newsletter #26 -- the week with El Tio

Spring arrived and that meant El Tio, the greatest "company vehicle" ever owned was back. To celebrate her triumphant return, we wanted to drive one of our beloved family members around in her for a week.
b.good newsletter #25 -- win a week with El Tio

Help. Please. Help.
b.good newsletter #24 -- help us

We identified the finest patron to eat house-ground, hand-packed steak in our restaurant during the previous year. And we crowned her a champion.
b.good newsletter #23 -- our customer of the year

We turned 2 years old. And miraculously, we were alive and well and had sold way more house-ground burgers than we ever dreamed possible. So, we held our annual Customer of The Year contest to give away free burgers to one of our own for the next year.
b.good newsletter #22 - happy birthday

It was our 2nd holiday season with our family and we had a lot to be thankful for. So, in the spirit of the season, we went out and bought gifts for our newsletter family. Yes, they were weird presents from a fast-food restaurant. But, they were filled with love (just like our burgers).
b.good newsletter #21 -- holiday gifts & video

After a long labor filled with intense pain, another baby b.good was about to enter the world in Cambridge. But, before giving birth, we wanted to immortalize one of our beloved customers in b.good history by giving them free burgers for life in Harvard Square.
b.good newsletter #20 -- Be Our Cousin In Harvard Square

While we've known for some time that we weren't beautiful, this month was the time when our little, baby b.good became absolutely stunning with her new menu.
b.good newsletter #19 -- our beautiful new menu

A year later and we were still tormented by the terrible nightmare of that evil, little spinach queen. Seeking redemption, we organized our 2nd annual garlicky-greens eating championship.
bgood newsletter #18 - garlicky-green eating championship

July was a time for celebrating independence at drunk cookouts that we invited our family to. And July was also a time to receive t-shirts with Faris' head on them...again.
b.good newsletter #17 -- Gum-Gow-Wahh t-shirts

We crowned a new champion and named the greatest "company vehicle" ever owned "El Tio". The champ got the keys for a weekend.
b.good newsletter #16 -- Party with The Champions

We made the best $1,650 investment a small business can make when it's goal is to dominate the road to fast-food glory. And we asked our customers to name our beautiful, 26 year-old, Spanish half-car-half-truck.
b.good newsletter #15 -- Name Our El Camino

We figured that the best investment for our business was a used Chevy "El Camino" one of those weird-looking, half-car half-trucks from the 70's and 80's. Now, we just had to find one.
b.good newsletter #14 -- El Camino

The press told us we were good at making burgers and rap videos. But, their cameras told us that we weren't good at making our faces look attractive. So, when a few of our customers wanted to make a tango music video for us, we made sure we didnAt appear in it.
b.good newsletter #13 -- tango video, burger thursday & reggae

To get stronger, we decided to hire some smart, strapping guys and girls to work with us. So you can all land that job of your dreams, we listed our key findings for your own future use at interviews.
b.good newsletter #12 -- reggae music

Those first 365 days were filled with some happy times and some sad times. But, we actually made it. Happy Birthday to us.
b.good newsletter #11 -- Happy Birthday

In our first holiday season together, we gave our beloved family a stupid video and minestrone soup.
b.good newsletter #10 -- Happy Holidays!

It took 10 months for our little restaurant to hit puberty. And even though its voice cracked once in a while and it got an occasional pimple, our baby grew into the pubescent fast-food restaurant that every parent dreams of.
b.good newsletter #9 - Secret Sauce Video

8 months down. By now, we'd learned a lot about healthy living. But, our education to the righteous way of life started a long time ago.
b.good newsletter #8 - Faris's Tips

Yes, we were the pathetic losers in our garlicky-greens (sautéed spinach) eating championship. And yes, we lost to a 4'10", 100 lb., female vegetarian.
b.good newsletter #7 - Garlicky Greens Contest Video

It was a miracle on the scale of witnessing our grill-guy, Cremildo, turn fries into wine. It never should have happened. But, it did. Uncle Faris threw out the first pitch at Fenway in the Summer of '05
b.good newsletter #6 - Faris Red Sox Video

After our first quarter, we weren't quite as stupid as we once were. And to commemorate the wisdom of our leader and inspiration, Uncle Faris, we put a whole bunch of his weird sayings that don't make any sense up on our website and gave out t-shirts with an oversized picture of his face on them.
b.good newsletter #5: Quarter 1

We made it to week 14. So, we started evaluating advertising opportunities for our young business. We decided to give a college kid free burgers to make us a rap video.
b.good newsletter #4: Advertising

Our screwed-up village somehow raised a 2-month old baby who didn't seem to inherit any of our unattractive physical features.
b.good newsletter #3: 2 Months Old

2 weeks after we started our business, we were still alive. But, definitely not well
b.good newsletter #2: First Week

The road to our grand opening was long and hard. Sometimes, we were too stupid to find the road and sometimes the road was mean and tried to hurt us. But, we made it and this was where the real journey began.
b.good newsletter #1: Grand Opening