I meet Abdul Popal around noon at iniBurger, his fast-casual restaurant located in a nondescript Pleasanton shopping center. It’s lunchtime, so customers are milling about with trays of cheeseburgers, crispy chicken sandwiches and crinkle-cut fries, looking for tables in a dining room that’s heading toward capacity.
I’m here to talk to Popal and his wife, Leeza, iniBurger’s co-owner, about the concept’s tasty burgers, clever sizes (“M’inis” and “B’igis”) and how they built this rapidly expanding fast-casual chain after a horrible experience as first-time franchisees of Burgerim, an international fast-casual concept that collapsed spectacularly in 2019.
But before I can open my notebook and start asking questions, a double smash burger lands in front of me — and quite frankly, I’m mesmerized. The thing is gorgeous, starting with a custom brioche and potato roll hybrid, complete with a high and mighty golden dome. The beef patties are generous, not lacy and wimpy; the melted cheddar cheese and diced onions have found their way into the beef’s crevices like some kind of perfect foodie Plinko…