BOHNS Are Flipping Nottingham's Burger Scene On Its Head

It’s Saturday night in the city centre, and Broad Street is ominously empty. But as we walk down the street to BOHNS, the atmosphere feels ever so slightly more vibrant. “Mmm, I can smell food.” Good job we’re heading in the direction of it. We descend down the BOHNS staircase, where we are hit with the rich scent of sizzling meat. Friendly and efficient, we’re given a bag fulla burgers and fries. Night in, sorted.

BOHNS wasn’t always nestled under Brewdog on the edge of one of the city centre’s (usually) busiest streets. In fact, the inspiration for it came from Tom Bohn living somewhere also pretty sweet. “I used to work in a barbecue restaurant in Canada and, as you can imagine, they’re big on their low and slow-cooked meat and their smoke and spices,” he says. “I came back with eleven or so spice recipes that I was trialling with friends and family, and my future father-in-law Jeff [who gives me a friendly wave in the background of our Zoom] suggested putting the recipes in retail packs and selling them to wholesalers and retailers.”

They were soon at trade shows with their spice combos, sold along with tasters, which then led them to go into catering and doing pop-ups in pubs and other places. “We were given an opportunity to take over a small unit at The Post House in Derby, which was a bit like Notts Street Food Club,” Tom continues. After being there for a year, they knew they wanted to open their own restaurant. “We wanted to get away from Derby, with Nottingham being a more vibrant city and the food scene in Nottingham being bigger and better.” After scouting out a few venues, they eventually settled on their current location and opened up shop in October 2018.

Flipping the Notts burger scene on its head, they’ve gained a steady army of loyal followers and even nabbed themselves a spot on StagWeb’s list of the country’s most badass burgers. But what makes BOHNS burgers stand out? “Our high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients – our meat is organic beef and our brioches are made by a local bakery,” Tom explains. “But our main USP is our homemade spice blends, which we use in rubs and incorporate into our sauces and which you can also buy from us.” When I pry on what spices they particularly love, Tom coyly says that they play around with lots of different ones. “Jeff is a big fan of smoked paprika – he always opens up the tub if we’re mixing different rubs.” At this point, I lose my professionalism and confess my unwavering love for smoked paprika too.

Of course, as with any interview conducted at the moment, our conversation strays to the current global pandemic. “January was our best-performing month ever and February was phenomenal too, but then a couple of weeks later we had to close because of COVID,” Tom tells me. “At the moment we’re having to constantly adapt and change our business strategy every few weeks, while still trying to get people through the door and pay our staff.” They quite literally moved walls to adapt, knocking down one of theirs to maintain capacity while also maintaining social distancing. 

While you can’t sit in and enjoy at the moment, you can grab their burgers by collection from Wednesday – Saturday, as well as on delivery apps Just Eat and Uber Eats. When I start to wrap up by asking for a personal highlight, Tom says, “One of the biggest things that gives me motivation is having people tell us it’s the best burger in Nottingham, or even seeing people take a big bite of their burger, then nodding and smiling.” Although Tom can’t see me at home, when I tuck into mine I do just that. The flavours jump out and spice up my night, and I’m left feeling beyond satisfied. And as for the best burger in Nottingham part? Well, you’ll have to go down Broad Street and try one for yourself.

BOHNS website