If you have recently moved to Zurich, you’ll know that trying to find an affordable house or apartment to rent can often feel like trying to find a specific needle in a pile of other needles while unicycling. The same is true for businesses: in their attempts to set up shop, a burger joint from Geneva is offering free burgers for life to anyone who can find them a place to call home in the Swiss metropolis.
In a post on Instagram, the Sando burger restaurant promised that anyone who could find them a home in Zurich would get “free burgers for the rest of your life.” The brand, based in Geneva, is currently running a temporary store in Zurich Main Station, which they said has been so successful that they want to gain a foothold in the city permanently.
Restaurant owners Ivalu Acurio and Yoss Kakinuma admitted that trying to find a space suitable for their restaurant is a challenge in Zurich, a city famous for its housing bubble and shortage. Therefore, the pair promised that anyone who is able to find them a suitable location would be given a “fat” reward - a free burger every week for life.
“Of course we are serious!” Acurio told 20 Minuten, explaining that the restaurant’s fusion of Japanese flavours in burgers and sandwiches had been such a hit that they simply have to make their branch in Zurich permanent. “We want to move to Zurich because the sales figures at the main train station were twice as high as we expected”, she noted.
Specifically, Sando is looking for a 60 to 100-metre-squared restaurant with good visibility and connections to public transport. A good extractor fan system is also desired, "So that we can finally offer our popular fried chicken burgers and fries in Zurich”, Acurio explained.
The plan has gone down a treat with the local restaurant association, with Gastro Stadt Zurich spokesperson Nicolas Kern telling 20 Minuten that it is a “great campaign.” “It has always been extremely difficult to find a restaurant in Zurich… There are obviously creative minds behind the idea. I wish you good luck."