The fried mac-and-cheese piled on the new burger at Wahlburgers isn’t on there to be gonzo or outré. There’s a memory behind it. “How much mac-and-cheese we ate as kids,” says Wahlburgers executive chef Paul Wahlberg, who co-owns the restaurant chain with two of his brothers, the actors/musicians Donnie Wahlberg and Mark Wahlberg.
“Homemade mac-and-cheese (made) with government cheese. Anybody who knows, knows,” Paul tells AL.com. “We had very humble beginnings growing up. And this is a reminder, especially for me, thinking about those family meals and sitting around the table.”
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The Wahlburger in question is also topped with bacon, lettuce, pickled onions, (more) government cheese and Wahl Sauce, the chain’s signature blend of ketchup, mayonnaise, sriracha, sauteed onions and parsley. Appropriately dubbed the anniversary burger, the item celebrates Wahlburgers’ 10th anniversary and will be on their menu until Dec. 19. (A press release didn’t include pricing, but other burgers at the restaurant run between $12 and $15 and include a side.) Founded in Massachusetts, where the Wahlberg family is from, as of late 2020 Wahlburgers has around 50 restaurants.
Recently, I spoke with Paul Wahlberg via Zoom video chat. This week he’s been at Wahlburgers’ Huntsville location, address 1030 Mid City Drive N.W., which opened last December and is the chain’s lone current Alabama restaurant. Below are edited text excerpts from our conversation.
Paul, what’s something similar between the foods you grew up with in the Boston area and the food here in Alabama? Or maybe something you just dig about Southern food?
Well, I think mac-and-cheese is that universal piece. Especially in The South, people stake their reputations on mac-and-cheese. We wanted to start out (at the Alabama location) with our core (menu), and show people who we are. But then we also definitely want to adapt to our surroundings and be part of the community and the flavor of that area. There’ll be specials coming up with a lot more Southern flavors. I’m really looking forward to it.
What’s something you loved about making the A&E Network show “Wahlburgers” (which aired from 2014 to 2019)? And what’s something that sucks about being on a reality TV show?
The best part of it was being with my family, and being able to spend time, you know, especially with my mom and Mark and Donnie. Like you see from a distance what it is they (Mark and Donnie as entertainers) do. But you don’t really know what it is until you’re doing it, and to find out what it means to really be on like that. And so that to me was amazing.
And then dealing with my family most of the time was probably the biggest pain in the neck. Because I’m in the restaurant business, right? And so it’s just different. It’s like, I gotta go do my work. I would be filming in the restaurant, and I want to go pick something up, like if someone had dropped their napkin, I would have to fight not to go pick up the napkin and go get them a fresh napkin. Or if there’s something going on in the kitchen, and I’m trying to focus on another thing (for the show). That was I think the hardest part. But we’re so blessed. We met great people and had great experiences doing it, and so it was just a lot of fun.
You mentioned Donnie and Mark. Which of them is better in the kitchen or what are their strengths there?
In the kitchen, they both have their strengths. Mark’s good at barbecue. He likes to cook on Sundays out on the grill, you know, for his kids. And Donnie likes to cook, and he’s cooking for the kids. What’s better than cooking for the kids?
Both my parents cooked meals for us, and there were things that we gravitate towards because my dad made it, my mom made it, and those are the things that you miss most about people. (The Wahlberg brothers’ beloved mother Alma Wahlberg died earlier this year at age 78.)
Often younger siblings will get into music through what an older sibling’s music tastes are. Did Donnie and Mark get into any music through what you were listening to?
Actually, what my mom would listen to. And so you know, it’s a lot of that (music from the) ‘50s and ‘60s, and then you would get a lot of that “easy listening” in the ‘70s. That stuff that my mom liked.
Everybody has their talents, and I’m still looking for mine. But (Donnie and Mark) they’re trying to egg me along a little bit and maybe get me into a band so I can do some moves. But to watch them do what they do it’s amazing.
If you get the chance to request your last meal ever, what are you having?
Something cooked by my mom or my dad. My mother would do roast pork, which was my all-time favorite from her. And my dad would cook pork cutlets. Nothing fancy. Or throw a big stack of English muffin pizzas in front of me and I’m as happy as a clam. We all had our favorite dishes growing up that my parents would make for each of us. Whenever Mark was coming into town, my mother was making lasagna. That was his thing.
Back when you were first starting out in the restaurant business, what’s the very first dish you got good at cooking to where you’re like, I’m good at this?
I literally had my Forrest Gump moment. I was working in the first restaurant that I ever worked at, my friend’s dad’s restaurant, a place called Trolley’s. And one of the chefs walked by and I was cleaning steak tips, and he says to me, he goes, “Wow, you’re really good at that. You know, like, you should become a chef.” And I was just like, OK. And that was like literally it.
But the first dish I ever learned how to cook outside of like family things was a dish called chicken bianco, white wine and chicken, and it was served over rice, like peppers and onions or something. It was super simple, but I was very impressed with myself. I learned how to make that. Making people happy through food is what I do, and so being able to do that for people is always the best thing.
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