Big Max Interview
Audrey B.
I was lucky enough to have the chance to interview Chef Max Petty, dad to Thomas (4th grade) and Samantha (2nd grade) and owner of Big Max Burger Co. I learned the crazy amount of burgers they sold in one year during COVID-19 and what it is like to own a restaurant. Keep reading to learn more about the history of Big Max Burger Co and even what Chef Max’s favorite music is to listen to when he’s cooking! 🍔🍟
Did you want to be a chef when you were a kid?
I loved cooking, but no, I did not want to be a chef. I wanted to be a Power Ranger, a firefighter, or a doctor. And I loved animals, so I wanted to be a vet. It changed all the time. But firefighter was my number one.
Can you tell me how Big Max got started?
So, it started as a different restaurant, called Eden Hill Provisions, which I wanted to be a neighborhood restaurant, just for families. But COVID happened soon after we opened it. The only thing we could do was takeout because people couldn’t eat in restaurants. So, we just did burgers and burgers and thousands of burgers — we sold 80,000 burgers that year. It was pretty crazy. And so, then when COVID was over, all we knew how to do really well was burgers. That’s not all we knew how to do, but that’s what we fell in love with. And we felt that since Provisions kept all my restaurants going and kept our family happy for all of COVID, we had to pay more respect to burgers, so we changed the restaurant from Provisions to Big Max.
What was the inspiration for the main Big Max?
Have you been to McDonald’s before? They have a burger called the Big Mac which was my favorite burger when I was a kid. We used to drive down to California every summer — that was the only time we got McDonald’s, and so I always got a Big Mac. And my name is Max, so the joke was always the Big Max. At Eden Hill, we were making secret burgers, and you could only get them at the bar and on Sundays. And so, I called it the Big Max Burger, and it was very similar to a Big Mac, a similar sauce, but my take on it, the Max influence. When we opened Provisions, we just called the burger the Big Max. And so, when we were opening the burger restaurant, we needed a name that people were going to remember. When you hear Big Max or Big Mac, you think of burgers. So, it made the most sense. We knew from the beginning that one of the burgers was going to be named The Thomas, and that Little Sammy was the name of the little burger. And the Hot Mama Hen was named after my wife Jen. So, I wanted all of the family’s names on the menu to show all the hard work that they put into it.
Do you like to listen to music while you cook? If so, what’s your favorite song?
Oof, I love to listen to music when I cook. It’s pretty rare in restaurants, but we listen to a lot of music. My favorite song might be impossible for me to answer. “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston is up there. When I cook — depending on the mood I’m in or the mood the restaurant’s in or if it’s lunch or dinner, or it’s nighttime, the music that we listen to changes. Last night I played a couple of The Chicks’ songs that I can sing really loud and be in my feelings, and that helps me feel more emotional and attached to my food. Sometimes I need the energy to be up, so I play Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, or Ariana Grande. So, it changes depending on the mood that needs to be set.
What’s your favorite food to make?
I like to make pizza the most, because pizza is something that takes a long time to prepare — the dough and the sauce. And then it cooks in about 2 minutes. It cooks really fast, and then you eat it really fast, and it’s gone. Kind of like life, where you prepare for a lot of things, like a test, and then it happens, and then you move on to the next thing. So, pizza is— I don’t know — I tie a lot of emotion to my cooking, so that’s why I like pizza. It’s very emotional.
What’s it like to own a restaurant?
Owning a restaurant is really, really fun and exciting when you love it. And luckily, I love it. It’s really, really hard if you don’t love owning restaurants or you don’t love food. You have to do everything yourself. You have to wake up early. You’re responsible for everything. It can be really stressful. But I love it, and I love serving people, and I love making food, so it’s really, really fun. I’m very lucky and very grateful to be able to do it.
What’s your advice for kids who might want to become chefs?
That’s a great question. You have to love it. You must love creating and being hospitable, which means that whatever space you’re in, you make it welcoming to others, and you make sure people feel welcome. I love doing that. I love hosting. And so being a chef means you have to want to always be around food and around people and work long hours. If you love it, it’s really, really fun. If you just do it for a job or just do it for money, I would recommend not doing it. But if all you think about is food, and that’s what you love more than anything, then you never really feel like you’re working if you get to do that every day. It’s like how I feel when I get to cook burgers or pizza. It doesn’t really feel like working. I just get to play, and it’s really fun. So, make sure you love it before you decide to do it.
Next time you eat at a restaurant, I hope you appreciate how much work the owner puts into your delicious food! And make sure you support small local businesses like Big Max!