James Gram grew up raised on sandwiches made with love from his parents.
“My parents used to make me delicious homemade bread sandwiches for school lunches. After a while, I got used to them, so I began selling them for money to buy food from the school tuckshop instead. It’s funny to think how that experience foreshadowed what was to come in my later years - owning my own gourmet burger joint.”
Jax Burger Shack is Gram’s creation, in which the food is reminiscent of his youthful days, inspired by nostalgic and hearty flavours.
In the midst of the pandemic, Gram invested everything he had into Jax Burger Shack, despite the many voices saying it was imprudent to do so. Nevertheless, the first week surely silenced the pessimists as Gram ran out of stock and sold-out multiple times.
“This was thanks to my amazing customer base from Smokys’ Manurewa transferring over to my new business, as well as new customers, of course.”
A fish and chip shop turned burger joint, Smokys’ Manurewa lasted four successful years. Under this time and with the guidance of a head chef he befriended while working as a bartender years earlier, Gram learned the tricks of the trade.
Gram never forgot where he came from. Last December, Jax Burger Shack ran a weekly special featuring four popular Smokys’ burgers.
“It was so amazing to reconnect with old customers, as well as bring that blast from the past back for current customers who have always valued what we do.”
Even with Gram’s big goals for expansion going forward, at the centre of Jax Burger Shack is food cooked with love and passion and customer service that matches to produce an environment that resembles a community.
“I now run and operate my business for my wife, child, and future children. To provide for them now and into the future is and always will be my main goal.”
