Business Spotlight: Beehive Bandit Burgers

 Local Business Spotlight: Beehive Bandit Burgers

By Paul Johnson

Chris Manning, whose son owns Beehive Bandit Burgers, behind the restaurant counter.

Walking into the building that used to house Freedom Subs, across from Payson High School, guests quickly get the idea that the restaurant is shooting for a "Wild West" theme. On the wall high above the order counter is a cow skull framed by a pair of revolvers, and above the order pickup area are a wagon wheel and a pair of antlers. The wall opposite is plastered with wanted posters for Bonnie and Clyde, Sitting Bull, Billy the Kid, and other 19th-century historical characters. (I'm not enough of a history buff to tell at a glance whether the posters were authentic replicas, but they give the place a really nice touch.) 

Shaun Thomas, the owner, confirmed his love for the Old West era and theme. Growing up, he used to watch westerns like John Wayne shows with his grandfather and always thought old-time cowboys were awesome. Born in Payson, he had been living in Springville for several years. They looked around the area for a while to find the perfect spot for their restaurant, ruling out Provo and Springville, and settled on Payson, opening in 2025. Their idea was that the small-town feel would be a perfect fit for a mom-and-pop restaurant like this. They loved the picturesque landscape with farmland surrounding the town, plus Shaun wanted to return to his roots here. He and his family had already been visiting this side of the valley for years, going shooting at West Mountain, riding ATVs, and fishing.

Shaun emphasized that Beehive Bandit Burgers (hereinafter, "B3" for short) is family-owned and family-operated. I asked what made him decide to open his own place last year. He said he had worked as a general manager for a Utah Valley chain restaurant and two others before leaving to launch his own. Working at that previous shop, the owners had projected a $50k loss for 2025, but Shaun turned that around and ended the year for them with a profit instead. Shaun had wanted to start his own business anyway for several years, and his family said they would support him in doing so, so he took the leap. His dad, Chris, helped him file for the city and state licenses, and select farm-fresh suppliers, and Chris still pitches in by making burgers throughout the week. Chris says he's only here long enough to help the restaurant get off the ground -- which includes working 10-hour days -- and then he's going to enjoy retirement by traveling with his wife. Shaun also employs other family members and friends. As of this writing, the store is currently open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, and they are hoping to start serving on Saturdays soon. "Not Sundays," I asked? "Nope," Chris says, "Everyone deserves a break."

Shaun and Chris emphasized that everything is made fresh to order. In preparing to launch earlier this year, the main selling point for the new restaurant was "good food, great customer service, [and] everyone leaves happy." Hence, the emphasis on premium fresh-only food. "The only thing frozen here is the ice cream," they said. B3 is also conscientiously community-supporting in its business model, sourcing their meat locally from Lazy J, which in turn sources from farmers in Benjamin. Their vegetables come from Smith's Food across the street. Even their point-of-sale system, provided by Spot On, was chosen for the sake of supporting a local vendor. They are currently scouting for a local honey vendor for their "secret recipe" sauce. And instead of resorting to AI to make the logo -- a bee with bandana and smoking revolvers -- they had a local artist design the store's logo over the course of a week. "I like helping the little guys, having been a little guy myself," says Shaun. 

B3 has been remarkably successful in their short time here in Payson so far. Shaun reminisced how "the first week, we had two guys come in every single day to try the whole menu." The first two or three days, they even had to close early due to selling out of many food items. They also had two YouTube food reviewers come by, including one (Orange Scene) from Los Angeles. Shaun thought the store would see a big dropoff in the number of customers after the initial hype following their end-of-spring launch. While there was a small dip, he said, sales came back strong and with plenty of repeat customers. Despite being adjacent to the school, only a small proportion of that was from Payson High kids visiting the place, although Shaun is planning to add a lower-price-point burger for the new school year specifically for the students' sake. They also plan to start running an off-menu "burger of the month," so there will always be something new for the regulars to try. They have already had people asking if they're going to open up another place elsewhere in Utah Valley.

With the price of ingredients increasing as food prices rise globally, partly due to the ongoing war with Iran, B3 has felt the squeeze along with every other restaurant, but they've decided not to raise their prices to compensate -- "that doesn't help anyone out," they said. So far, they've also refrained from partnering with DoorDash, specifically to avoid having that company's surcharge get tacked onto delivery orders. "You've got to treat people the way you would want to be treated, and help people during a rough time," says Chris. With even the local chain stores increasing prices, B3's menu pricing is competitive, but all the more so for the fact that they are operating on the made-fresh-to-order restaurant tier. 

With its Wild West theme, I could easily see the restaurant becoming a regional tourist attraction for Utah natives and out-of-state visitors alike -- even an obligatory launching pad for folks from Provo on up through Salt Lake traveling down to central Utah, at least for anyone interested in local history. Naturally, part of Shaun's reason for his chosen theme was the fact that Utah's history is rich with notorious bandits that trekked through here or made their home here. I should mention as well that all the menu items are named after individual bandits and Old West icons. The Thomases have plans in the works for other ways to tap into the theme and strengthen the restaurant's niche as a tourist draw. 

"What's the best part?" I asked. 

"To watch people leave happy," they said with a smile.