Dearborn Heights – At Taystee’s Burgers, they know how to flip a tasty burger (I mean come on, it’s in the name!), but you would never guess, by tasting them, that these high-quality burgers were first served up in a gas station. That’s right, Taystee’s first opened up about 5 years ago in the BP gas station that is right across from the Ford Drive-In Theater on Ford Road in Dearborn. In fact, you can still dine on their delicious burgers there.
“My grandpa actually owns the gas station, so he was remodeling it and I knew the spot was going to be available, so he told me, ‘You know what, let’s do this together,’” explains Ali Jawad, the owner of Taystee’s Burgers. Jawad started the restaurant when he was 21 years old. “It was tough in the beginning. A lot of people think, ‘Oh you’re in a gas station, you know, it’s going to be $2 burgers, or it’s not going to be, you know, a fresh, high-quality experience,’ but that was the exact experience we wanted to give.”
Soon the gas station was filling up with people, so Taystee’s decided to expand and Ali jetted on over to Dearborn Heights and opened a full-blown restaurant there. The space has a lot more room than the gas station and features a large mural on the wall with pictures of their burgers.
So what kind of burgers made them so beloved? Well, they use a 1/3 lb of halal beef and pile it high with toppings. Their signature burgers are fun and inventive, like their Hawaiian burger which features grilled pineapple and teriyaki sauce. For the spicy lovers out there, they have the Volcano Burger which has grilled jalapeños and jalapeño poppers on top of it. Their most popular burger is the Notch-Yo-Burger which is topped with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and jalapeños, beef bacon, American, Swiss and Pepperjack cheese, nacho cheese, mayo, hot sauce, and Nacho Cheese Doritos all on an onion bun.
While their new location is currently closed temporarily due to COVID-19, their original location in Dearborn (10419 Ford Rd, Dearborn, MI 48126) is still doing take-out.