“If you’d told me three years ago there’d be a Chuck’s in London, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Chuck George

The Filipino-American chef is taking the smashburger craze across the Atlantic with Chuck’s

By Elena Clavarino

In Milan, smashburger restaurants styled after New York hot spots such as 7th Street Burger are all the rage. Think graffitied walls, pounding hip-hop, and the essentials: thin patties of ground chuck, white onions, pickles, and cheddar, all tucked into a Martin’s potato bun.

The trend took hold of Italy’s fashion capital in 2022, when Chuck George, a 37-year-old Filipino-American entrepreneur, opened Chuck’s, a small spot inside Sidewalk Kitchens, a collective of independent restaurants near the city center. His strict “no modifications” rule (“If you want to change an ingredient, you aren’t eating Chuck’s”) and sleek branding quickly inspired a slew of copycats across town.