New York native William LaFlower and his brother Daniel bought a Winnebago in 2018 and went on a cross-country spree, attending hundreds of concerts and eating burgers in 42 states. While sitting at a burger joint in Colorado, LaFlower turned to his brother and said, “I know I can do this.” 

He noticed how enamored consumers were with the simple burger concept—an iconic pillar of U.S. fast-food culture since the mid-1900s—and began designing his own. 

Bandana Burger’s menu is simple—burgers and wings—but the novelty comes with the bright, paisley-printed bandanas they are wrapped in. Burgers are named after various bandana-wearing characters, including The Bandit, The Pirate, and The Cholo, encouraging guests to rock the bandana their way. 

“I like to say sometimes we’re selling the bandana and experience, while giving you the burger for free,” LaFlower says. “People want to participate. They want to be a part of something … Everybody wears their bandana differently, just like they eat their burgers differently.”

The fledgling burger chain started off as a virtual concept in Savannah, Georgia, just one night a week in January 2023. LaFlower served out of the back of numerous kitchens in Downtown Savannah, working up to four nights a week by mid-April. 

“We started off as just a hobby,” LaFlower explains. “We were just offering burgers late-night until a local dive bar let me rent out their kitchen every day besides Sundays.” 

LaFlower had plenty of experience operating and opening stores—he started out helping restaurants in the back of house as a teenager, eventually landed a gig opening stores for Chipotle, and even had a brief stint with Slutty Vegan founder and CEO Pinky Cole. Bandana Burger was his first original concept that materialized.

“I was working for a local restaurant in Savannah at the same time Bandana Burger opened,” LaFlower says. “I told my boss the concept was taking off, and he basically told me to go follow my dreams.” 

From the get-go, LaFlower has leveraged ghost kitchens and third-party delivery services including Uber, DoorDash, GrubHub, and SavtakeOut, a local company. He operated the first year without a fryer or soft drink machine and began looking for a new location to allow the brand to spread its wings. 

Bandana Burger settled into Habersham Village, sticking true to its motto of being “good in every hood.” 

“Savannah incubated us … People just love a good energy, and we have that in spades. We are a good space for people to come and congregate together, and we are excited about taking it to the next level,” LaFlower adds. 

The Paisley Pillow Project, Bandana Burger’s outreach program, uses recycled bandanas to make pillows for hospitals and other community missions. Guests have the option of keeping their bandana or putting it into a receptacle where it can then be cleaned, sewn, and given away for a good cause. 

“We wanted to have our concept transcend food,” LaFlower explains. “People want to be a part of the change, and we see a lot of people dropping off their bandanas in the Paisley Pillow Project bin because they want to give back to their community.” 

Bandana Burger launched its franchise program and catering business to push the brand forward and across the East Coast. LaFlower says the next corporate locations will be in Dawson, Macon, and Toccoa, Georgia, as well as New Hampshire within the next 16 to 18 months.

“I’m using this growth as a prototype for what franchisees would come to expect from Bandana Burger,” LaFlower says. “My idea was to open one in the Northeast and close the gap over the next four to five years, eventually going out to Colorado and beyond.” 

He says the brand has the exact type of atmosphere investors and franchisees are looking for— something capable of growing organically with a unique experience and strong grassroots ties. When the franchising program matures, he hopes to match operators to investors and give others a chance, citing Chick-fil-A as his inspiration. 

“My ambitions are huge, but through the backing I have from my wife, my brother, and the community, I know I can [grow this concept],” LaFlower says. “Bandana Burger is taking it to the next level, and we’re so excited.”