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Elijah Daniel's GayBurger Is the Perfect Charitable Project Right Now

Elijah Daniel's GayBurger business

You get food, support small businesses, and give money to fight LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.

MikelleStreet

If Elijah Daniel is one thing, he's a fountain of ideas.

The comedian came to the attention of many after writing a spoof erotica about Donald Trump and selling it online. Since, he's had a career as a rapper, was a mayor for a short period of time, started a charity named Cult for Good, and much much more. Now, Daniel and his ever growing cohort of friends and fans, is ready to make you gay burgers and save the economy while doing it.

"GayBurger came along as a joke inspired by Mr. Beast Burger as a creative new way for raise money, and help out small restaurants," Daniels tells Out of his new venture which allows people to use apps like DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, and Postmates to order from a virtual GayBurger restaurant. "I definitely didn't expect it to be as massive as it went, but I'm so glad it did."

The back story is pretty straight forward: after making a joke about starting a business called GayBurger, Daniel's business partner Katia Ameri worked with the incubator the two founded called Rocketship House to see if the idea could be reality. When she figured out it was, she presented the idea again to the social media influencer as a birthday present. That's when the real work started, finding collaborators in friends like Trevi Moran, Bryana Salaz and tktktk, while also sourcing partnering restaurants that would actually fulfill the wacky menu they had cooked up. It all took about a month.

"The restaurant that fulfills GayBurger in LA has been struggling, like a lot of other restaurants during the pandemic, and the owner is just the sweetest guy," Daniel said of those partnership. But on first day of GayBurger, that venue sold out of all of their food four hours before they were supposed to close. "My hope is we expand and be able to have a network of restaurants constantly running that are helping the local LGBTQI youth experiencing homelessness." Currently, the effort benefits the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

And while there's a ton of fans loving the menu and the slightly wacky idea in general there's been a little pushback. One location owner said no because they didn't want the word 'gay' associated with the business though the staff was in full support according to Daniel.

"The staff weren't happy with his decision, but we just moved on and every restaurant we've worked with since have been super kind and absolutely love it," he says. "The LA restaurant's owner actually named some products on the menu."

As is the case with the internet, the possibilities are endless for Daniel. He hopes to expand the business, not only in terms of menu but also in terms of where the service is available. Currently, only Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City are available. The menu boasts products like Love Me Daddy, No More Milk Daddy, and I Like Chick which are a beef burger, vegan burger, and fried chicken sandwich. Each comes topped with "gayoli" and there are Gay fries or Extremely Gay Fries (those include caramelized onions, cheese and bacon) as sides.

"Guess who's not bottoming tonight bitch," one fan said on a review video.

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.