- The Classic Koji Burger — 2 Koji Aged Patties, American Cheese, House Pickles, Shaved Onion, Sesame Soy Kewpie, Milk Bun ($13)
- The Good Golly — 2 Koji Aged Patties, Cotija Cheese, Sweet Corn Aioli, Smoked Poblano ($14.50)
Koji Burger is the brainchild of Chef Brendon Miller, who owns Jollity with Chef Zackary Weiner. The concept was tested and developed during the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s winter restaurant week in 2022.
“We never wanted to put (a cheeseburger) on our dinner menu because we didn’t want to take away from things we focus so intently on every single day,” Weiner previously said. “When we joined the restaurant association, we decided to put a burger on the menu to try to draw some of the crowd that may not normally dine with us.”
To make a Koji Burger, Weiner explained that it takes the same amount of work and craftmanship as it does to make a dish on Jollity’s dinner menu. He said the meat must age for three days before it can be cleaned and air dried for an additional day, prior to grinding it.
If they have a pop-up on Friday, Weiner said they typically begin prep on Sunday or Monday.
After the initial restaurant week, Weiner explained that people kept asking when they could have another Koji Burger. The owners decided to offer burgers again during summer restaurant week and eventually had a Sunday pop-up.
Weiner recalled that they made almost 300 burgers and sold out within 70 minutes. He said there was a line around the block that passed the library.
He noted they couldn’t produce anymore food for the pop-up in the amount of space they had. From that day forward they knew they had something and wanted to see where they could take it, Weiner said. That’s when they began lunch pop-ups on Fridays and Saturdays.
After much success, the owners are planning to open a second restaurant to house Koji Burger in downtown Dayton.
Credit: Submitted Photo
Credit: Submitted Photo
“We are super grateful for all of the support we have received both at Jollity and at Koji Burger,” Weiner said.
When asked if he ever thought he would own a restaurant specializing in burgers, Weiner said, “Absolutely not. We just wanted to eat cheeseburgers.”
For more information about Koji Burger, visit the pop-up’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
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