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Jordan Desner is spreading his love for his favorite holiday — all year round.
Fusing his affinity for horror and adoration of hamburgers, the 48-year-old opened the Haunted House of Hamburgers in Farmingdale on Tuesday.
“I was born of Friday the 13th, so it’s in my blood,” Desner said of his Halloween spirit. “I grew up watching all the horror movies, all the classics my whole life and I grew to love the holiday.”
Inside and out, the burger joint doubles as an instagramable dining experience and a spooky go-to destination. Before they enter, customers will pass through a corn field loaded with tombstones that humorously reveal the way fictitious diners and waiters met their ends.
Many diners will likely sit on the bench with Frankenstein’s monster, or the next one over with his bride, for selfies.
Inside, senses are heightened when guests are handed a pair of 3D glasses, which help bring the restaurant’s neon paint and spooky scenes to life. Cobwebbed chandeliers light the restaurant as thunder crashes through speakers, triggering the electric glow of clouds amongst the rafters.
Moreover, spooky piano and orchestral music accompanies the squeaks of bats and classic horror films play on a television above the bar.
“This should have taken a year, year and a half, (but) we did it in about three or four months,” Desner said of the décor of his first restaurant. “We had to get it open for Halloween. We killed ourselves, but we got it done.”
The menu boasts such fun-titled starters as the tombstone tacos, slayer sliders and casket quesadillas, along with flatbread pizzas, soups and salads. And there is of course an array of creative hamburger options.
Diners can build there own burgers or choose from a list that includes the Zombie Burger, which is topped with a fried egg, avocado, cheese and bacon; the Tarantula Burger with pepper jack cheese, bacon, onion strings, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and garlic mayo; and the Horror-q Burger loaded with pulled BBQ pork, pickles, cheese and drizzled with homemade honey barbecue sauce.
The restaurant also offers breakfast on weekends from 8 a.m. to noon, when guests can order up silver Bullet Pancakes, Chilling Chicken and Waffles and Frozen with Fear French Toast, among other options.
Desner encourages customers to dine in costume.
“It’s an escape for everybody, it’s fantasy,” Desner said of his beloved holiday. “I feel that once a year is not enough. People love it and they should enjoy it all the time. That’s why I had to do something like this.”
