William “Bill” Elwell, the humorous and infrequently ornery proprietor of a legendary burger shack within the San Fernando Valley, has died at 98, prompting an outpouring of admiration and recollections from burger aficionados and restaurateurs who have been impressed by him.
Elwell, who based the Van Nuys burger stand Invoice’s Burgers in 1965 and labored there constantly for 60 years, died on July 21. Over the course of a long time he grew to become as a lot of a draw because the burgers themselves.
Elwell seasoned and seared beef patties on his stand’s authentic griddle, which he believed dated again to the Nineteen Twenties. Characterised as “gruff,” “cranky” and “grumpy,” he proudly ran the 10-by-20-foot stand with strict guidelines (money solely, no substitutions), and he may typically be discovered ribbing his prospects.
“Is McDonald’s closed today?” he’d repeatedly yell. “Why is everyone here? Go down the street!”
One other signature phrase sits at each the highest and backside of the menu: “You can’t have it your way, this is not Burger King.”
Allen Yelent, proprietor of native burger chain Goldburger and a Invoice’s buyer since childhood, mentioned Elwell embodied the very best entrepreneurial spirit of the Valley.
“Bill’s, for me, represents what I love about small business and what makes small business really beautiful in L.A.: the same person cooking the burgers literally every single day,” Yelent mentioned. “Everyone can say they got a burger from Bill.”
Elwell working the grill at Invoice’s Burgers in 2014.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Instances)
Sandwiched amongst tire outlets, lighting shops and factories, Elwell’s shack fed the Valley’s industrial employees simply as readily as meals lovers who’d make a go to to Invoice’s a burger pilgrimage. Yelent, a San Fernando Valley native and resident, mentioned Elwell epitomized the “absolute worker mentality, worker ethic of the Valley that I grew up in.”
William Clement Elwell was born in Ventura on Nov. 23, 1926. He served in World Battle II and labored in a wide range of trades, together with as a cab driver and at a linen firm. He bought the Van Nuys stand for $2,500 in 1965, earlier than the block’s sidewalks have been even paved and solely a mud path led to the constructing.
Elwell and Invoice’s Burgers noticed innumerable modifications via the a long time. At one level the stand was known as Invoice & Hiroko’s, named for Elwell and his then-partner, Hiroko Wilcox, whom he’d met whereas bowling. She labored the burger shack with him alongside one in all his 5 ex-wives, Sharon Elwell. Invoice Elwell advised The Instances in 2014 that one in all his exes quipped: “We get along fine. It’s him we can’t stand.”
In accordance with an obituary written by his household, which was printed within the Ventura County Star, the burger icon is survived by his son, James Elwell, and his daughter, Charlene Morris, together with eight grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews.
A double cheeseburger at Invoice’s Burgers, pictured in 2019.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Instances)
“The first time I met Bill, he was very busy over the grill, and such a professional and so focused that you didn’t know if you could talk to him,” McComas mentioned. “He came up to me and started a conversation, telling me how great his burgers were, but he took a raw patty and some of the beef and ate it in front of me and said, ‘This is how good the meat is.’
“And I was hooked ever since.”
On Sunday, when McComas heard of Elwell’s demise, he made a degree of visiting Tuesday morning proper because the restaurant opened, thanking the workers for his or her continuation of the enterprise. He needs Invoice’s Burgers to proceed for years to return.
“Bill’s legacy means so much to the Valley,” McCormas mentioned. “It really is a staple. My hope is if the family wants to continue the business that they do, because we’ll be here for their burgers.”
The legendary burger man sometimes threatened retirement or promoting the enterprise, as he advised The Instances he’d thought of in 2020 throughout the pandemic. However Elwell mentioned he hoped that even when he did, Invoice’s Burgers would proceed with out him. One workers member advised The Instances that they wish to personally proceed the restaurant in Elwell’s honor.
Yelent of Goldburger beforehand ran an Instagram account devoted to posting burgers he’d loved. The very first image was of Invoice’s. Dated Aug. 12, 2014, he captioned it, “Bill and Hiroko are inspirations.”
They remained an inspiration as Yelent grew his empire from a pop-up to a number of stands.
Elwell, then 93, takes an order from a buyer at his hamburger stand in 2020.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Instances)
“They worked super hard,” he mentioned of the duo. “They touched their product every single day. They were always completely and utterly devoted to what they were doing, and the city responded well. I want to have even a small fraction of the legacy that Bill’s created in L.A.”
Yelent, who grew up in Chatsworth, discovered himself at Invoice’s Burgers a number of occasions throughout childhood, particularly via the stretch of years his father operated a TV restore store close by. In maturity, he rediscovered it and located Invoice’s to be much more inspiring than his earliest recollections of it.
Extra not too long ago he’d discovered one in all Elwell’s grandsons working on the burger stand, taking orders on the window whereas Elwell nonetheless manned the flat-top grill.
Heavy Handed homeowners Max Miller and Danny Gordon additionally grew up within the San Fernando Valley and frequented Invoice’s Burgers. As they started their very own burger enterprise, they turned to a few of the eating places that formed not solely their very own tastes however the area that raised them. Invoice’s, they mentioned, represented “frozen-in-time Valley spots” and “a taste of what the San Fernando Valley was” earlier than they have been born.
“He was really one of the last to do food in his own unapologetic way and stick to his guns when it comes to how he serves, how he runs his business and how he operates personally within the space,” mentioned Miller.
Miller, who attended highschool in Van Nuys, would typically vie for one of many coveted counter seats overlooking the grill.
A pair of consumers go away with their order from Invoice’s Burgers in 2020.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Instances)
Each have tried to emulate Elwell’s “quiet showmanship,” most frequently seen via him slapping American cheese onto the patties, as if casually however precisely flinging a enjoying card from a deck of them.
“To me, it’s sort of the West Coast version of Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn: the old man going at his own pace, not really giving you the time,” mentioned Gordon. “He was just doing his thing, and you’re there for that experience. It’s a kind of restaurant that you don’t see many of anymore. It’s definitely a bummer to lose [Elwell]; he was a legend.”
Like Yelent, Colin Fahrner additionally ran a burger Instagram account earlier than launching his personal restaurant, however he by no means posted a photograph of Invoice’s — in all probability, he mentioned, as a result of his go to predated the social media account completely.
It was, Fahrner mentioned, the form of old-school L.A. burger operation that impressed him to launch his restaurant, Yellow Paper Burger, although Invoice’s completely griddled burgers come wrapped in white.
“There’s other places that do it, but I feel like he really stuck to it for the long haul,” he mentioned of Elwell. “I think it’s also a reminder: All these legacy places are closing. Don’t wait to go to these spots, because they can close any day or the owner can pass away, or whatever might happen … Now is the time. These places are not going to be here forever.”
