Brigade Burgers and Brews, located at 208 McNaught Road S. in Roy, has brought traditional burgers and Midwest and East Coast flavors to the Nisqually Valley since late October after rebranding from Varsity Pizza under the same ownership.
The restaurant, which re-opened on Oct. 21 as Brigade Burgers and Brews, offers a small variety of burger choices along with owner Kevin Stephen’s favorite Midwest meal, a fried pork tenderloin sandwich, and restaurant manager Jerry Johnson’s favorite Pennsylvania staple, a Philly cheesesteak. The establishment is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
“A lot of the locals wanted more of a burger and fries cafe,” Stephen said of the change from Varsity Pizza to Brigade Burgers and Brews. “We may even add breakfast down the road. I’m from the Midwest, and we have pork tenderloin sandwiches. Deep-fried breaded pork tenderloins, and you can’t find them anywhere in the state.”
Stephen said the tenderloins are being shipped in from the Midwest but are “selling out faster than they can get them in.” Johnson, who is from Philadelphia, said his Philly cheesesteaks have been popular, too.
“We first wanted this to be the burger place, but we had some wet feet on that. So we ended up doing pizza here, but found out it was too close to our other store in McKenna. We transitioned into burgers after that,” Johnson said. “We get reviews from all the way in the town of Eatonville. There are people who come through Roy for work and have tried the burgers, too. So far, we’ve been getting really good feedback.”
Stephen said the restaurant receives its “fresh, never frozen” hamburger meat from Royal Ranch in eastern Washington. After around four to six months of searching to find the right hamburger meat, Stephen said they finally came across Royal Ranch and thought it was perfect.
“With Brigade Burgers, we’re right outside of Fort Lewis (JBLM), so we wanted to market to the military as well,” Stephen said. “At Brigade Burgers and Brew, we have beer on tap, cider from Mill Haus. We make sourdough bread fresh in store. We have a lady in Eatonville who makes her own bread several times a week, and that’s solid as well.”
He and Johnson each said that Roy and surrounding communities have given the rebranding a good reception so far. They’ve already been serving the local community for over 10 years as McKenna’s Varsity Pizza location opened in 2013.
“I can for sure say that a lot of locals come here,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I see them twice in the same day. If they work out here, I can see that happening more. So far, I can say that I think the community is liking our food.”
Stephen added that they’re locally and family owned at Brigade Burgers and Brews and that they intend to keep it small to ensure the quality remains high.
“We have a small menu. I don’t want a huge menu. We want to be really good at our smaller menu. The cheesesteaks, loins and burgers have been selling really well. If you think about it, there’s not a family-owned burger place from Parkland through Yelm. The 507 Taproom is 21 and older, so you can’t have kids in there,” Stephan said. “You’ll get 4,000 cars a day that drive through Roy. There can sometimes be a mass of traffic, and sometimes that’s been a deterrent — more so for pizza. Burgers have been pretty steady all day.”
For more information about Brigade Burgers and Brews, visit its self-titled page on Facebook. Go to its website at www.brigadeburgers.com to view the menu and place an online order.
“We are seeing the people’s feedback. We have seen some issues with the buns, but we’ve addressed it,” Johnson said. “If we can’t get to the phone, we’re busy inside, but we can take care of your ordering that way online. There’s also delivery through Doordash.”
