CARBONDALE (WSIL) � An effort is underway to revive a popular Carbondale burger joint. A GoFundMe account has been set up to bring back Fat Patties. The restaurant closed its doors for business in January.
Organizers at Carbondale Spring, a grass roots social movement, say they’re on a mission to bring back what they claim are the best burgers in Carbondale.
Beau Henson, a member of Carbondale Spring, says he was disappointed after the closing, "For me this is where my family comes to eat burgers. It’s still the best burger in the entire town."
The group says the restaurant had viable business before it closed. The former owner of Fat Patties couldn’t comment at this time.
Henson and his business partners, Clare Killman and Nick Smaligo, are working to reopen the restaurant as a worker-owned cooperative.
"We’ve got a large goal ahead of us,"says Killman.
Smaligo says, "All of the employees are also owners of the business. If that company makes a profit then the workers split those profits or decide how they want to invest themselves."
They set up a $45,000 GoFundMe to kick-start the business and help with renovations. The group says those who donated will get benefits after the restaurant is open. If the plan to buy Fat Patties doesn’t work out, the team has a plan B.
"That money that we raise now will be available to other workers in Carbondale who want to try to buy their business and turn them into their cooperative as well," says Smaligo.
The team says they hope to be able to work out a deal soon. You can donate to help reopen Fat Patties by clicking on this .
