At 75, this retro Berkeley burger stand just had its best year yet

With its red-and-white facade, retro murals and Coca-Cola logo, Berkeley's Smokehouse is as much a city landmark as Sather Tower or the Claremont Resort & Club. For 75 years, locals have been lining up at the old-school stand for exceptional flame-grilled burgers - they start at $6.69 - and gathering at picnic tables on the grassy knoll with milkshakes at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Woolsey Street.

"It's quintessential American," general manager Shakaib Shaghasi told SFGATE. "There's so many places that offer gourmet or sophisticated burgers. Ours is a no-frills experience. That's the edge. It's as simple as a backyard barbecue with the family."

Smokehouse's origin story is quintessentially American, too. The late Jean Kisner opened Smokehouse in 1951, tying it with pizzeria La Val's for Berkeley's oldest restaurant, on the site of a former gas station and cafe. Kisner charged 10 cents for burgers and cooked them over charcoal. In 1999, she offered the business out of the blue to Saleha Shaghasi, a longtime worker and immigrant from Afghanistan who was so devoted to Kisner that she showed up for work the day after giving birth to her son. That boy was Shakaib.

He was just 6 years old when his mom took over the restaurant, so he practically grew up in a cot in the back, refusing to go home and willing to do any job his mom would give him, including scrubbing milkshake residue off the walls. 

"I was fascinated by the whole thing," he said of the business.

By 13, Shakaib was working as a cashier, taking orders from the construction crews, office workers, families and late-night diners who still comprise the core of Smokehouse regulars. He took over as operator nearly half his life ago, when he was 17. Over the years, the now 33-year-old has made small but critical changes, like accepting credit cards, which increased business by 40%. 

"My mom was in disbelief," Shakaib recalled, adding that every change was a "hard sell" to his mom. "You have to understand that this business landed on her like a lottery ticket, so she was hesitant to make any changes." 

Over time, she came to trust his instincts. She calls Shakaib her "American boy" - the first in the family to be born in the U.S. - as well as "honest" and "hard-working." 

"If I don't have him, I don't think that I can grow," Saleha, who also goes by Sally, told SFGATE. "I was fighting it. I thought, ‘I follow Jean's way.' But he kept pushing me. Now, anything he does, I'm not going to say no."

Classic menu under $9

What hasn't changed are the burgers and fries. The burgers look and taste just as delicious as they did when I lived down the street over a decade ago and hit Smokehouse weekly. They've got just the right amount of char and are sandwiched between golden, buttery brioche buns with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles. The fries ($3.89), meanwhile, are just how I like them, on the thicker side and light-golden.

A few Fridays ago, I added caramelized onions and cherry peppers to my burger ($6.69) - two of several free add-ons - as I watched grill cooks inside the small kitchen drape slices of American cheese over sizzling patties. The smells were intoxicating. I asked Shakaib why he offers things like extra cheese, beef chili and other toppings without charging.

"I think nickel-and-diming is a very bad business practice," he said. "Everything should essentially be baked into the price." Another practice he hates: restaurants treating Impossible burgers as a premium, up-charged item. In Berkeley, it's not unusual to find Impossible burgers that fetch up to $16. Smokehouse's Impossible burger is $8.49.

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Three years ago, Shakaib had no choice but to raise prices for the first time in decades due to inflation. The pandemic, along with construction following a 2019 fire that effectively shuttered the business for two years, didn't help, either. "That was a last resort thing," he said. "I withheld as much as I could for as long as I could." 

Smokehouse prides itself on being affordable - everything on the menu, including the double cheeseburger, is under $9 - and often aggressively goes to bat with vendors to get the best prices possible. Shaikab would rather do that or absorb costs than pass them on to customers.

"It's a lot of renegotiations," he said. "We really fight. I think more businesses should do that. Don't just accept the reasons that they give you."

It must be working, as Smokehouse just had its record year, Shaikab said. "Our costs continue to rise, but so does our volume, and that has insulated us," he said. "It's a value-oriented business." And that's what people want more than ever. 

Kisner's promise

My lunch was so wallet-friendly, in fact, that I also ordered a milkshake ($5.89). Smokehouse offers more than a dozen flavors, and several are hard to find, such as taro, butterscotch (my choice) and horchata. I enjoyed it on the benches as children frolicked on the grass and wisps of grill smoke filled the air. I used the thick, cold shake as a dip for the last nubs of fries dotting my wax-papered tray.

In addition to burgers and hot dogs, Smokehouse offers a grilled chicken sandwich ($7.89) and a fried cod sandwich ($7.69). Shakaib said he offers these entrees because he doesn't want anyone to come to Smokehouse and feel left out. 

"Smokehouse has survived many difficult times," he said, referring to the financial crisis of 2008 and the pandemic. "But Smokehouse has been preserved. We're so grateful to our customers and really in disbelief about that."

Over the years, people have approached the Shaghasis hoping to invest or franchise, but Shaikab said even a second location is "pretty much a hard no." Instead, he said, they want to maintain what it is: a place where families can find a simple, affordable meal and where immigrants can find work - and a very bright future.

Shakaib's mom, Saleha, left Afghanistan in 1983 to join her brother in the East Bay. He was working at Smokehouse at the time and got Saleha, then in her 20s, a job there. She "worked day and night for many years," staying until 4 a.m. to clean up after Smokehouse closed at two in the morning and then coming back hours later. She forged a friendship with Kisner, who she says treated her like a daughter.

"She was a very generous woman," Saleha recalled. "She said, ‘God didn't give me kids, but now I have you.'" One day, Saleha told Kisner she longed to buy a small home with the money she was saving up. Kisner told her to buy the restaurant instead - at a very good price.

"I didn't believe it for two months," she said. "I came home and told my husband and children, and they said, ‘No, you don't understand English.'" They gathered around the phone as Saleha's older son dialed Kisner's number to ask. It was true. The phone dropped on the floor. Everyone cried, including Saleha, who put the phone to her ear. 

"I am with you," Kisner told her. "You can do it." 

Smokehouse, 3115 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. Open Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-12 a.m. the next day, Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

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