Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries to hold grand opening Friday

A new Green Springs restaurant is stepping back in time.

Neon lights, teal booths, and pink walls outfit Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries’ 1950s-style interior. Instead of ordering at the counter, customers sit down to order and eat food. 

Its grand opening event will be held Friday, May 15 and will feature "Elvis Presley" waiting tables as well as 1950s prices, including 5 cent Pepsi's and 15 cent frozen custards. Also on that day, the restaurant will be presenting a $1,000 check to the Exceptional Foundation.

The chain is known for its burgers, cheesesteaks and custards. 

Andy’s Burger, which is made fresh to order, features specialty seasoning in a combination that won the 2012 BurgerBusiness.com Burger Brackets. It comes with the choice of 16 different toppings including sautéed mushrooms and onions, plus a drink, for $6.99.

There’s also a 55-ounce burger, if you are up to the task.

“People do it,” said Gerd Anderson, Alabama’s franchiser for the chain. “It’s amazing. Often they are the skinny guys, too.”

You’ll also find hot wings, a grilled chicken sandwich and hot dogs on the menu as well as some items that can’t be seen at a typical burger chain. There’s a shrimp po boy, a salad with chicken or shrimp, and chicken cordon bleu.

“You are not going to be hungry,” Gerd said.

And then there’s the custard. 

Gerd said the frozen treat is made onsite and is creamier than regular ice cream. The base is always vanilla, but heath bar, chocolate, strawberries and other mix-ins are added for specific flavor profiles. 

Similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard, the Hwy 55 Concrete lightly blends toppings such as heath bar chunks into the custard. They can also make it into a milkshake.

“Homewood is going to love it, I am sure of it,” said Gerd, who is a former Hollywood resident.

Hwy 55 began in 1991 as Andy’s Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers and over the past three years has expanded from its North Carolina base into a national chain. The Homewood location is its second in Alabama; one opened in Pell City last April.

Homewood franchisee Kevin Butler said he chose Hwy 55 after the “great feeling” that came from meeting with the people behind it in Mount Olive, North Carolina. 

He, of course, is a fan of the food, too. 

“If a family of six comes in and not everyone likes hamburgers, there’s something on the menu that everyone’s going to like,” he said.

He said the cheesesteaks are awesome and has heard people from Philly say they think they are better than the ones they have had at home. He also noted that the shrimp is breaded and cooked on site. It was the frozen custard, though that garnered the most enthusiasm from him. 

 “That custard is unreal,” Butler said. “It’s not like getting ice cream out of a machine. It’s homemade just like you would make homemade ice cream.”