In Business: Casperz Burger Joint in Bemidji Plans to Go Mobile

A local corner burger joint in Bemidji has grown in popularity recently, so much so that they’re looking to go mobile to hopefully expand their reach across northern Minnesota.

After spending several years working in the Bemidji food and restaurant industry, Casper McDermott felt he was ready to try it out for himself and created Casperz Burger Joint.

“Home of the smash butter burger,” he emphasized. “This is my dream right here. I have a big passion for it, and I love seeing the reaction of people when they eat my food. It’s an amazing thing.”

The smash burger itself was popularized in the mid-2000s thanks to the chain Smashburger. McDermott, though, felt this was something the Bemidji area was missing out on.

“That’s a new thing around here, too,” he said. “I took it from the Oklahoma version and made it my own.”

And his own way of doing things includes using locally sourced ingredients.

“I get [the meat] locally from Stittsworth, and our buns and cheeses come locally from Lueken’s [Village Foods],” he added.

Casper and his daughter Ilithyia have been selling smash burgers from his stand on the corner of Irvine Avenue and 14th Street since 2023, but they have a dream of one day making this food stand a bit more mobile.

“We’ll be out from underneath the tent and then we’ll be right into the trailer, and then we’ll be able to make a bigger menu, add some things, and hopefully get people excited about the smash burgers, because we’re going to definitely keep that,” he explained.

Casper was even able to lug the necessary equipment down to Hackensack a few times to put his food truck dream to the test.

“We were just kind of worried about how we’re going to do [it], because we have to bring everything from here to there for supplies and prep. I was there twice and it was really great, really great both times, better each time, and I’m hoping they’ll welcome us back, too. It seemed like we did a really good job there, and a lot of people were happy.”

Customers at the stand are greeted by Ilithyia, who always has a smile on her face because she’s just happy to be working alongside her dad almost every day.

“I take orders,” she said. “It’s pretty hard when you do it because you have to, like, know how to do good math. I love it, especially [since it’s] me and my dad. I’m loving it.”

Casper says he currently has a trailer being rigged to haul his equipment and should be ready to venture into the mobile food world in just a few months.