Christian Schumann and Todd Kniess have known each other since they were in the second grade in Wallingford, and both have always had a passion for cooking and have been in the cooking industry for decades.
Todd Kniess owns four Acme Burger locations in California and around Columbus Day, another location will be opening to his native Connecticut. Kniess is the founder and co-owner of Acme Burger, and Schumann, his lifelong friend, will be the owner/operator of the Middletown location.
Acme Burger opened its first located in Cotati, California in Feb. 2019 just before COVID and continued to flourish during the pandemic, adding four locations.
“We weathered the storm and it actually springboarded us,” Kniess said. “Business started booming six weeks into COVID because a lot of restaurants had closed. We stayed open throughout the whole thing and our business was up 35% to 45% and kept going up. Then we opened up our second location, then a third and a fourth.”
Acme Burger is expected to open next month on Main Street in Middletown. The owner said the business focuses on good food, affordability and customer service.
Kniess recently caught up with Schumann when he was visiting Connecticut and suggested that Schumann run an Acme Burger.
“It’s a great business model and I decided to take him up on it,” said Schumann, who lives in Wallingford with his wife Victoria and children Lorelei and Wolfgang.
Schumann, 55, has been in the food industry for 40 years after attending Johnson & Wales University and worked in the food industry in New Orleans, Massachusetts and Rhode Island before returning to Connecticut in 2007 as the chef partner at the Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in West Hartford. Since then, he’s had several jobs in the food industry, including most recently as the director of food service at Midstate Medical Center.
“Acme is really family-oriented and we want it to be a good place where people can bring their family and have really good food that’s affordable with no additive and not antibiotics,” Schumann said.
The restaurant will be located at 584 Main St., which was previously Schlien’s Furniture Co. Work is well underway at the property, said Schumann. He expects to employ about 20.
Kniess said the company pays a dividend of its profits to its employees as a way to say, “thank you” and has distributed about $80,000 to its employees so far this year. Schumann said he wants Acme Burger to be a part of Middletown community and be involved in fundraising.
There are no servers. Customers order at a kiosk or at the register and will be alerted when their food is ready.
Schumann said when you order a burger it comes with the patty, lettuce, tomato and burger sauce as the base cost. Other additions like cheese, avocado, egg, bacon are an additional fee.
The restaurant also offers other options like turkey burgers, Beyond Burgers, chicken sandwiches, fried cod, pulled pork, tuna and hot dogs, as well as soft serve ice cream milkshakes. Schumann said there will also be weekly specials.
Kniess, who previously owned a French bistro, Bistro Liaison in Berkeley, California, for 16 years, said he thinks Middletown is going to be a great spot for its first Connecticut location and its close proximity to Wesleyan University.
“We cast a wide net because our prices are very affordable and we get families, seniors, everybody, everybody loves a good burger,” said Kniess, who plans to travel to Middletown for the opening next month.
“A lot of people ask me, what the secret is to our success is, but it’s not really a secret. You treat people nice when they come in. That’s number one. Number two is you serve them good quality stuff and then you don’t rip them off. It’s pretty straightforward.”
Acme Burger is expected to open at 11 a.m. daily and close at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and close at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
