Whether or not these rumors come to pass, the brilliantly named Wahlburgers is lending some of Hollywood’s bright light to the Launch at Hingham Shipyard complex.
The 80-seat (there are another 40 on the patio) über-fast-food restaurant and bar is owned by longtime South Shore chef Paul Wahlberg and his celebrity brothers Donnie and Mark Wahlberg.
In June 2010, when Chef Paul opened his first restaurant, Alma Nove, across the street from the Wahlburgers site, his brothers were investors but quietly so.
Now, with Alma Nove’s success, the brothers have put their star power and family story on proud display.
The retro-modern diner-inspired décor is filled with movie memorabilia and the family focus is graphically encapsulated in the restaurant’s highly visible logo - Wahlburgers: Our Family, Our Story, Our Burgers.
That story - written on the rear wall in large letters - is a familiar Boston tale: Nine kids in a triple-decker in Dorchester didn’t have much but one another.
The bright, windowed space is a large V-shape (or maybe half a W?) with an open kitchen between the two rectangular wings. One side offers table service with seating either at large communal tables for 10, or at the bar.
On the other side, people order at the counter and either sit at a booth or a two-top, or get the food to go. In warm weather, there’s great patio seating.
Since it opened last month, Wahlburgers has been packed. On four recent visits, timed to avoid peak hours, the place was still crowded. The owners, who also include family friend Ed St. Croix, have created a clever business by including a full bar and making it the only place in the area that’s open seven days a week until 1 a.m.
The option, too, for self-service nicely removes the cost of a tip, as do the credit card receipts, which offer no line for writing in a tip.
Wahlburgers isn’t really about the food. It’s about fun and filling up on satisfying comforts in a lively, easy environment.
Eight flat-screens line the walls above the bar; the brothers are big Boston sports fans. Music, too, is important to the lads (Donnie got his start in the ’80s in the boy group New Kids on the Block), so the sound system is great and the play list widely varied.
