Bios

Paul Mogannam, an entrepreneur at heart, has been living in San Francisco for most of his life. At the aspiring age of 22, Paul started his first small business, a café called Orange Winzit in downtown San Francisco, where he ambitiously focused on providing his customers with great food and service. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to start other business ventures including Mugs Subs, La Coqueta Taqueria, and The Crepery Café.

Thirty years later, the tradition continues. In an article that caught his eye regarding the comeback of comfort food, Paul was inspired by the knowledge that the hamburger is the ultimate comfort food. His vision focused on high-end all-natural beef burgers sourced from local and reputable farms and served in a family friendly environment.

The name BurgerMeister® which means "a mayor or master of a town" in German was motivated by Paul's German sister in law. Paul decided to tweak the word and make it BurgerMeister® or "burger master." The journey to becoming the "master of burgers" began in 1999, when Paul opened his first BurgerMeister® restaurant in the quaint San Francisco neighborhood of Cole Valley. Paul set his concept apart from other burger joints by providing high quality food, great customer service and conducting business with ethics and integrity.

Paul's involvement in the community is a significant part of what makes BurgerMeister® unique. Paul is always happy to help neighborhood and citywide organizations with community events and food donations to ensure success. He is annually involved in the AIDS Walk, and frequently donates to local schools, daycares, and other organizations. Paul's strong beliefs in social advocacy and the well being of our communities have been key to BurgerMeister®'s success. Paul, his family and his team at BurgerMeister® look forward to future opportunities in which both the business and the community can succeed. Paul has received certificate of honors and recognitions for his work from the City of San Francisco, the State of California as well as local community organizations.

Southern California native, Erik Reese has over 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry. His lifelong passion is creating great food, taking care of people, and building amazing restaurants. He received his B.S.B.A at the University of Denver in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He then attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris,France where he had the opportunity to work at Michelin rated restaurants and with some of the best chefs in both Europe and America.

Since 1998, Erik has been involved in opening and overseeing over seventeen different restaurants, in various roles including Asqew Grill (Founding Partner & Executive Chef 98'); Board room Restaurant & Steakhouse (Executive Chef and Director Restaurant Operations 99'); Sushi Rap (Menu Designer & Operations Consultant 00'); The Catch Restaurant:(Opening Chef 02'); Caffe Trieste (Operational transformation 04'); Union Street Carvery (Executive Chef / Director Of Development 05'); Tortilla Heights (Opening Executive Chef / founding Partner 06'); Asia SF (Vice President of Restaurant Operations 07'); Phat Philly (Menu Designer and Operations Consultant 08')

In 2007, Erik met Paul Mogannam and continued to help grow BurgerMeister® to be one of the premier burger concepts in California, having won numerous awards locally and nationally and internationally. Together they have assembled a great team of passionate people, who are dedicated to their customers, their employees and to the continued growth and even greater success of BurgerMeister®.

Craig has been involved in the restaurant industry for the better part of his life. Besides growing-up and working in his parent's restaurant, Craig has owned a restaurant, real estate brokerage and consulting company for the last 30 years.

Craig was recently under contract as a consultant and acting Chief Development Officer for The Counter, a franchised gourmet hamburger restaurant start-up company that is expanding Nationally. He was responsible for establishing their site criteria and development strategy, specific site selection and approval, architectural selection and construction requirements. Craig also established a national broker network to assist The Counter franchisees with their growth. Prior to that, he consulted for BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse for their development in the states of Ohio and Kentucky.

Craig was previously employed as the Vice President of Real Estate for S. B. Restaurant Co., DBA: Elephant Bar, Director of Real Estate for Bravo Development, Inc., Vice President of Real Estate and Development for Il Fornaio (America) Corporation, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Construction for Cucina! Cucina!, and Vice President of Real Estate and Construction for Chevys, Inc.

Craig has a Master's Degree in Engineering (technical degree equivalent of an MBA) from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from UCLA, and has completed many sales and personal development short courses.

Craig is a licensed California Real Estate Broker, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the California Restaurant Association (CRA). He was previously a board member and treasurer of the Southern California Restaurant Brokers Association and part time instructor at UCLA, teaching restaurant site selection and lease strategy in their Restaurant Management series of evening courses.