Wichita just came dangerously close to losing this longtime south-side burger joint
He’s been slinging some of Wichita’s best greasy burgers for the last 18 years.
But last week, Buster Farileigh — owner of Buster’s Burger Joint at 1202 E. Macarthur — decided he might be ready to retire.
At 65, he said, he’s tired and increasingly frustrated by the fact that he has to argue with customers over wearing masks in his restaurant. When his son and helper, Garrett Flores, got a new job so that he could qualify for health insurance, Fairleigh decided he might be at the end of the road.
On Wednesday of last week, he told customers via Facebook that he was considering closing his restaurant. He needed a few days to decide, he said, and then he’d let people know. He’d be closed for two weeks either way, he said.
Less than a week later, Fairleigh said, he’s made up his mind. His Facebook post resulted in so much business and goodwill over the weekend that he’s decided he can’t possibly retire just yet.
He’ll reopen the restaurant for its normal hours starting on Wednesday and resume selling the single, double and triple burgers his customers love, along with his famous tots, fries and onion rings.
“I was so humbled,” he said. ”People came in who weren’t even eating just to tell me thanks for being here.”
Fairleigh said that from Thursday through Saturday, he did three times his normal business. On Saturday, 13 people were waiting in line outside when he opened the doors at 11 a.m. At one time, he had more than 60 tickets lined up, waiting to be filled, and he made so many hamburgers that he was out of beef by 12:40 p.m.
People were waiting for more than an hour for their food, and most were fine with that. They wanted one last Buster’s burger, they told Fairleigh, just in case he decided not to return.
He decided that if people wanted him to stay that badly, he would.
“If they’re willing to do that...” he said.
That’s when Garrett called and told him that his other job wasn’t going to work out and that he could return to help him run the place. Though Garrett will continue to look for another job, Fairleigh thinks he has someone else lined up to come help him run Buster’s.
He had to stay closed Monday and Tuesday of this week because he doesn’t use frozen hamburger and was out of product. But he’ll be restocked and ready to fry on Wednesday morning.
Buster’s hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 12:41 PM.
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