St. Petersburg, Florida - Biff-Burger

When in St Petersburg Florida be sure to visit Biff-Burger on 49th St. Biff-Burger pioneered the flame broiled hamburger --"Roto Broiled" -- in the 1950s. BIFF stands for "Best In Fast Food." The chain grew to over 800 franchises nationwide in the early 1960s. In 1961 two men from Miami bought the chain and called it Burger King! Many franchisees switched to the new chain but some held onto the old BIFF name. Today there is only one original and still operating Biff-Burger in the country in Florida. So Biff-Burger is the corporate ancestor to Burger King. Great hangout for old car enthusiasts on weekends. [Jim Widar, 07/05/2005]

[RA: April 2008: We've heard from a few tipsters that the alleged Burger King connection is incorrect. Twig Gravely writes: "Biff-Burger wasn't the ancestor to Burger King. They were two separate entities. Both originally were based in Florida, but Biff-Burger was in operation for quite some time after Burger King came along. It was never as successful. I base this on first hand information from an original Biff-Burger franchisee, Bill Kenney, who told me the Burger King connection is incorrect. I have heard this echoed by Ralph Havis, another Biff-Burger franchisee as well. Perhaps some Biff-Burger locations converted over to Burger Kings, but they were never connected at a corporate level."]