Cape-based Burger King franchise wins prestigious honor

Congratulations to the Drury Management team and all the employees who recently took home the prestigious awards for best Burger King Franchisee both globally and in North America.

The group, based in Cape Girardeau, was competing against thousands of other franchisees across the globe. There are 13,000 Burger King restaurants in 89 countries. This is some accomplishment.

The winner was chosen via a "Global Franchisee Excellence Program," which is based on a variety of criteria, including guest satisfaction metrics, technology adoption, updated brand image and quantifiable results such as same-store sales growth, according to Joel Neikirk, chief operating officer of Midamerica Hotels Corp./Drury Restaurants.

The Midamerica Hotels Corp./Drury Restaurants organization has employed more than 100,000 people since 1972, when the first Burger King opened on Broadway, according to a news release.

"We have many career members of our team that have been serving guests for over 40 years, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for them," Chuck Bell, director of restaurant operations for Drury Restaurants, said in the release. "I can still remember my first restaurant manager, Harold Detjen (a Vietnam veteran), and coming to work on my first day 44 years ago and the excitement that he instilled in me about the brand."

Congrats, again, to the Drury team and everyone involved, from the cooks in the kitchen to the management at the top. Well done.