Social media star Ali Chebbani has opened his first bricks-and-mortar burger restaurant in Marrickville, with dreams of creating a “burger empire” to rival US fast-food chains Shake Shack and In-N-Out.

The small, slick shop is decked out in Chebbo’s signature purple and white, with a menu offering five burgers − including the classic American-style smashburger with house-made sauce − and loaded fries, a custom soda machine, and seating for 20.

It’s a big step for the 24-year-old entrepreneur, who got his start flipping burgers at Punchbowl McDonald’s.

“It sounds funny, but working there really did kick things off for me,” Chebbani says. “At the time, they had the Create Your Taste menu and they were proper burgers. You’d flip and sear them and put on all sorts of ingredients.”

I’m proud of just being here, I never thought I’d be able to open my own shop.

Ali Chebbani

It sparked something in Chebbani, who would watch burger videos on YouTube to pick up tips, and taught himself to make smashburgers.

The modern cousin of the hamburger, smashburgers are characterised by their juicy, crusted beef patties − made from a blend of cuts such as chuck and sirloin − which are pressed against a grill to sear.

“It’s like recreating the nice crust you get on a steak … concentrating all that flavour onto the surface, and making it a much more savoury and umami experience,” Chebbani says.

Smashburgers soared to popularity in the US in the late ’00s, and are the signature burgers at cult fast-food joints In-N-Out and Shake Shack.

In Western Sydney, Chebbani’s smashburgers became popular during COVID lockdown, when he set up a grill in the driveway of his Punchbowl home and started posting burger videos to TikTok. It was a side hustle, staving off boredom and making extra cash while he studied accounting.

“After a few months of trading, we were making 300 burgers a night,” he says. “It was wild, we had the police called on us a few times because people were waiting for up to two hours in their car … but there was only so much we could do with the equipment we had.”

More people were watching his TikTok, too, where Chebbani began developing and posting a new burger daily “until I get famous”. It worked: his account, @chebbo, has gone viral multiple times, recreating burgers from McDonald’s and Spongebob Squarepants, and amassing a following of more than 1.2 million people.

It was enough to convince Chebbani to “strike while the iron was hot” and walk away from his budding finance career.

The first step was a food truck, set up in a warehouse car park in Roselands. It was low risk, high reward, but after two years growth was limited.

“It’s become a no-brainer to take that next step and open a bricks-and-mortar shop, where we can establish a simple set of systems and processes to grow, without compromising on quality,” Chebbani says.

“That could mean 10 stores, or 100 stores. It could be the start of the burger empire.”

The first Chebbo’s Burgers restaurant builds on the food truck’s menu. Patties are a brisket blend with an 80:20 fat-to-protein ratio, and classic fillings include melty American cheese, pickles and fried onion rings. When it comes to building a burger, Chebbani says it “comes together like a painting”.

“Everything works in harmony, from the salt of the milk buns, to the tang of the pickles, and a sauce with a little bit of sweetness and heat.”

“We don’t want to be the best burgers in Sydney, or the hottest new spot. We just want to be your favourite spot,” Chebbani says. “I’m proud of just being here, I never thought I’d be able to open my own shop.”

Chebbo’s Burgers is open Tue-Sun 11am-10pm at 308 Victoria Road, Marrickville, chebbos.com