Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

An impromptu party occurred in downtown Suffolk as Gourmet Burger Bistro held its official grand opening. 

Located at 202 E. Washington St, a line of visitors came out to be the first to enjoy delicious burgers and more at GBB’s new location in Suffolk, which is third to their two Portsmouth restaurants in their eight years of business. GBB owner Major “The Burger King” Mahoney says he’s “feeling great” about the opening.

“We’ve always been big in the community, doing things in the community, and it shows today that the community still came out,” Mahoney said. “So I am always feeling great about being successful in life.”

GBB Co-Owner Tyisha Baskerville says it means a lot to them to be part of the Suffolk community.

“We have a lot of people that support us from the City of Suffolk and we just appreciate the opportunity to be able to come out here and provide them good service and good food,” Baskerville said.

Alongside Council Member John Rector of the Suffolk borough, Mayor Michael D. Duman came out to celebrate the grand opening during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Duman thanked Mahoney and the GMM staff for bringing their restaurant to Downtown Suffolk.

“It’s businesses like this and operations like this that will make Downtown a success,” Duman said. “It’s something different, it’s something unique. It needs to become a destination for people to come, not only from Suffolk but from outside Suffolk as well. And I understand you guys got some experience in Portsmouth, we need to get some of those Portsmouth folks over here and show us how we do it in Suffolk!”

Vicki Wiggins-Pittman, a patron of one of GBB’s Portsmouth locations, says she couldn’t wait after discovering that Suffolk was added to their list of locations.

“After confirmation, I was determined that I was going to be one of the first, in line, for a delicious specialty burger,” Wiggins-Pittman said. “They have wonderful food, its taste is creative, and it’s a different spin on what you have [in] the basic restaurants.”

Wiggins-Pittman continued.

“I am so looking forward to seeing this restaurant flourish in Downtown Suffolk and I just want to enjoy a good meal today!”

Roshawn Holland, says he attended to support Mahoney and his wife while noting he also participated at the grand opening of their first location in Portsmouth.

“So I want to be one of the first people here today,” Holland said. “So me and my girl, we came out here today, we got here about 10:30 a.m., so we were the first customers to come through the door.” 

On what residents can expect from GBB, Baskerville says they can expect great quality food, fried rice, wings, and homemade brunch alongside their namesake burgers.

“We don’t do fast food. We do make all of our food fresh,” she said. “It’s important for us to be able to serve top quality food using top quality ingredients, and that’s an art lost in today’s society.”

Baskerville gave a message to Suffolk residents just finding out about GBB.

“Definitely come on by, give us the opportunity to serve you. You definitely won’t be disappointed,” she said. “We definitely strive to provide great service and also great food as well, and we’ll prove that to you if you just come through the door!”

Likewise, Mahoney gave a final message to the Suffolk community.

“Keep looking at me, let me be an example to you to show you that we can do this as a community – we can come together as a community. We can also be successful as a community,” Mahoney said. “No matter what you do, just believe in yourself, man, and you’re going to make it happen.”

For more information, go to facebook.com/GourmetBurgerBistroLounge, instagram.com/gourmetburgerbistro757 and gourmetburgerbistrova.com.