Burger Joint Grows With Peace, Love and Burgers

KC Cargill, owner of Lexie's. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry

Just six years after opening their flagship burger restaurant in Portsmouth, fiancés and business partners KC Cargill and Alexis Wile recently unveiled their fifth location of Lexie’s in Exeter.

Cargill and Wile started the business in February 2010 to pay the bills. Cargill previously worked as a bartender (he was named Best Bartender in Boston in 2002 by Best of Boston), cook, and ran a summer concession at a boat club in Massachusetts with his fiancé. The restaurant nearly failed, but the concession stand kept them afloat.

The couple reined in expenses (the restaurant was $10,000 in debt) by letting go of staff and Cargill took over cooking and all administrative duties. It was a grueling schedule, but it worked. They got glowing reviews on TV Diner and Phantom Gourmet. “It was the best thing to happen to me. I have not bounced a check since and business doubled almost every year since,” Cargill says.

As of April he had about 50 employees and expected that to increase to 80 when he reopened the Newburyport location (which was recently renovated) and opens the Exeter restaurant by early May.

Under the slogan “Peace, Love and Burgers,” the restaurant caught the public’s attention. Cargill hit profitability last year and took out his first bank loan to help further grow the business.

That growth was not exactly planned, however. “I believe in letting things come to me,” Cargill says. Every one of his locations resulted from others approaching him. 

Besides Portsmouth and Exeter, he has burger joints in Newburyport, Mass., Great Bay Marina in Newington and across from the University of NH in Durham. The Portsmouth restaurant remains his flagship location and generates the most revenue. He recently purchased a food truck for his growing catering business.

The restaurant industry thrives on part-time help, but Cargill says about 80 percent of his staff are full-time, with cooks earning between $15 and $17 per hour. “I want them to love the food and the work and not have to work two or three jobs,” Cargill says. “We treat the food with the respect you would treat it at home.” That means offering an assortment of unique burgers along with several options of fries, including bistro fries with herbed aioli, bacon and parmesan; and hot fries with spicy aioli, jalapenos, Sriracha ketchup and scallions.

Cargill recently hired a director of operations, which will allow him to step back into the kitchen to get the new Exeter location up and running. “We are New Hampshire residents now. Live free or fry,” he says of his commitment to growing the business in the Granite State. “I want to be the burger of choice for New Hampshire,” Cargill says.

For more information, visit peaceloveburgers.com.