From humble home-based business to restaurant: Local burger specialist NBCB opens first outlet at Orchard Central

Since the start of the pandemic, numerous home-based businesses have sprung up islandwide. 

Tommy Wong, 36, is one such entrepreneur who decided to try his hand at starting his own small venture, Nothing But Cheeseburger (NBCB).

And now, he is living the dream with his humble home-based business evolving into a full-fledged restaurant at Orchard Central.

With its cheeky name and no-nonsense burgers, it isn't hard to see why NBCB has become popular enough to warrant its own physical store, which opened just two weeks ago on March 4. 

As of now, due to a shortage of ingredients, NBCB is limited to serving 200 cheeseburgers a day. However, that hasn't deterred the hungry crowd from rushing down to try their food. 

In fact, business is going so well that even national football hero Aleksandar Duric himself came down to visit. 

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Who would have guessed that Tommy's desire to satisfy his then-pregnant wife's cheeseburger cravings would result in this? 

Back during Phase 2 (heightened alert), Tommy, his wife Janice Chew, and their son, were unable to dine out due to the two pax restrictions, according to 8days.sg. 

Additionally, as Janice was pregnant and unvaccinated, Tommy was tasked to “run around Singapore to tapow (takeaway) food” to satisfy his family's cravings. 

One food that Janice craved for was cheeseburgers, so Tommy tried his hand at creating his own rendition from scratch to satisfy her. 

In fact, she loved the cheeseburgers so much that she encouraged him to set up a home-based business to sell them.

After experimenting with over 80 burgers, he finally took her advice and started NBCB, with burgers starting from the affordable price point of $10.90. 

Back then, as Tommy was also juggling his full-time job as an insurance manager, he could only push out burgers on Fridays and Saturdays. 

In the past, people could also only preorder his burgers when he announced their availability on Instagram. But now, there isn't the need for that hassle - just head down to NBCB's very own physical store. 

Address: NBCB Nothing But Cheeseburger, #04-23 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896

melissateo@asiaone.com