The Chuck Box – Tempe, Arizona
“I’ll have the great big one,” the barrel-chested behemoth behind me chortled. One of his companions, a bookish nerd followed up with “I’ll have the big one.” Not to be outdone, several male Arizona State University (ASU) students took turns ordering either the “great big one” or the “big one.” Each order was followed by raucous laughter as if they were the first students ever to place their orders for burgers named for their respective sizes (the burgers, not the students’ manhood). Not one of them dared ask for “the little one” for fear of being humiliated or even ostracized by their fellows. “What a brilliant marketing strategy!,” I thought as I, too, ordered a “great big one” even though I wasn’t that hungry The great big one, as you may have surmised, is the biggest burger available at The Chuckbox, an ASU area institution and one of the oldest businesses in Downtown Tempe. Now in operation for nearly half a century, it’s been continuously owned by Frank, formerly an executive for a now defunct burger chain. When the chain wanted him to move, Frank decide to remain in Phoenix to focus on his family, and create a new, and…