Afzal Hussain said he brought his brand to Liverpool after seeing a gap in the market
Afzal Hussein from Legends Desserts and Burger Bar in Old Swan(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
A new Liverpool restaurant has opened with a bang, selling so many of one item on the first day that the owners were overwhelmed. Afzal Hussain, originally from Leeds, founded Legends, a family-run burger joint, eight years ago.
Fast-forward to now, and the brand is a popular chain with restaurants dotted all around the UK – the most recent of which can be found on Prescot Road. With over 60,000 followers on TikTok alone, the venue needs no introduction to most.
The 35-year-old business told the ECHO: “We started doing smash burgers before it was widely introduced. We did that years ago. When it comes to Leeds, we introduced smash burgers to Yorkshire. We’re the pioneers of it in Leeds. I love Liverpool as a city, but we’ve always struggled to find food there.”
Afzal and his team pride themselves on introducing flavours and fusions that are new to Liverpool. He explained how the city has been responding positively well to it so far.
On the opening day for their Liverpool store, they announced that they were going to sell 59p burgers, leading to an overwhelming turnout.
Afzal Hussein from Legends Desserts and Burger Bar in Old Swan(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
He said: “We sold over 4,000 burgers on the opening day. That was the most we’ve sold in one day across all our chains. The queues were huge, they were very big. Customers were waiting outside the shop with queues going down the road. It was honestly overwhelming.”
The family-run establishment already has a strong presence across Yorkshire and Lancashire, operating seven stores in total, including two in Bradford and others in Huddersfield, Leeds, and Manchester.
Specialising in Angus beef burgers and offering a variety of other dishes, including halal products, Legends has a unique, sports-themed menu.
Legends Desserts and Burger Bar in Old Swan(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Their offerings are inspired by sports icons from football, boxing, basketball, and MMA. Despite offering a variety of beef and chicken burgers, fries and munch boxes, their most popular item is the Fat Ronaldo.
He said: “It’s a smashed patty with stir fried donner meat on top of it. We don’t make donner the usual way that people are used to eating, we stir fry it instead. Our chicken burger is very popular as well.”
Afazl said the Liverpool opening was easily the biggest so far and something he wasn’t expecting at all.
He added: “What we were expecting, it was ten times more than that. I want to say thank you for turning up the way you have. The response has been way bigger than we’ve experienced so far.”