Since 2008, Z-Burger has been a favorite spot for Sidwell Friends students and Tenleytown residents alike. The restaurant is known for its delicious burgers, hand-cut fries and endless varieties of milkshakes and concretes. Peter Tabibian, Z-Burger’s founder, said he “fell in love with the burger business” at the age of 14 while working his first job at Burger King.
Tabibian said that “Z-Burger is all about fresh ingredients,” pointing to the bread that is made twice a day and the meat that is ground daily. Z-Burger currently has six locations in and around Washington. The Tenleytown location, closest to Sidwell, is where Tabibian often holds fundraisers and collaborations.
“Z-Burger is all about community, and we always like to help people out,” he said.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Tabibian and his team at Z-Burger have dedicated several weekends to handing out free burgers to frontline workers and healthcare officials. In January, they “gave out a couple thousand burgers to members of the National Guard” at the D.C. Armory, Tabibian said. Z-Burger also delivered burgers to healthcare workers at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Howard University Hospital, George Washington University Hospital and Virginia Hospital Center as a thank you “for risking their lives every day to keep us all safe,” Tabibian said.
In tribute to those essential workers, a life-sized sculpture of a doctor praying, designed by Italian artist Sergio Furnari, was installed at the Tenleytown location. The installation has already toured New York City hospitals and a number of Washington hospitals and is “dedicated to all healthcare workers in America and around the world” for risking their lives to keep everyone else safe, according to Z-Burger’s website.
Tabibian said that the healthcare worker in the sculpture “is praying that hopefully this issue of Covid goes away, because everyday these people are risking their lives and a lot of people are dying… we just wanted to send the message out that people should be putting on their masks and staying safe.”
On Feb. 18, however, the statue was vandalized, and multiple parts were dam-
aged.
“It will take days to restore this monument that glorifies all healthcare workers,” Tabibian wrote. “The damages will take dozens of hours to repair.”
The art installation is currently being restored in Florida. “It’s very sad, but we’re going to get through it,” he said.
Tabibian’s burger empire has grown to mean a lot to the community, and many Sidwell students share their love for the store.
“Z-Burger is a great place to go for Sidwell kids because it’s close and it’s fun and they definitely love seeing us,” said junior Lulu Sullivan, who has been featured on the Z-Burger Instagram page.
Tabibian is always looking toward the future. “I want to let everybody know that if anybody wants to do something and they try hard enough, they can make it happen,” he said.
Tabibian said he hopes his success story of a young boy who created a burger shop “can inspire some people to pursue their dreams.”
