By Sarah Truckey
Photograph by Katherine Bish
If anyone else had opened a restaurant purely for the money, it would seem selfish. But when Kevin Winter and Barbara Harrington opened Booster’s Café in July with that motive, it seemed perfectly acceptable—mainly because the profit, although indirectly, was benefiting AIDS education in Africa.
It all began in 1983, when Harrington and her sister, Kathy, were traveling around Africa, distributing medication kits and training young people to survey and monitor the agricultural progression of their villages. The sisters spent most of their savings on the work, but a craving for a hot cup of coffee and a good burger soon changed everything.
So as any hungry American with an entrepreneurial spirit would do, they opened a diner, the Hamburger House (Harrington soon earned the nickname “Madame Hamburger”) and fed everyone from expatriates to missionaries. It was staffed entirely by locals who served customers scrambled eggs, pancakes, chili macs, fish and French fries. The restaurant took off, and the sisters went on to open several more throughout the region, with the proceeds going to support their philanthropy. Along the way, they crossed paths with Winter, who was working there as a journalist and an English teacher.
After a few decades of working in Africa, Winter and Harrington are back in the States, but they’re still interested in their pursuits abroad, and they decided that the best way to keep money flowing would be to do what Harrington knows best: food. Booster’s serves a lot of the same comfort food items that were on the menu at Hamburger House, and the profits are going to help programs that Winter’s wife and Harrington’s sister are undertaking in Nigeria.
Located just off of Delmar, the café is small and cozy, with simple décor and friendly service. The food is lovingly made, each dish containing an interesting flare that sets it apart from any other café in the city.
In Africa, says Harrington, business was great. But here, “it’s like pulling teeth trying to get customers.”
567 Melville, 314-721-4499. Hours: 7 a.m.–8 p.m. daily..
