What do you do when your two brothers are famous movie stars and you still want to be your mother’s favorite? You open up a famous bar and grill restaurant in the middle of a big city and hire your mom, of course. This is the simple story of an Irish American family growing up in Dorchester, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Alma Elaine Wahlberg and Donald Edmond Wahlberg were the parents of nine who worked hard to put food on the table for all their children. Only four children are in the spotlight today, while the other five went on to separate career paths.
Mark, the youngest brother, appears in most episodes of the show. He is the main investor as well as a famous actor. He has appeared in numerous films including “2 Guns,” “The Fighter,” “Date Night,” “Max Payne,” and of course the highly acclaimed newly released film “Lone Survivor.” Mark often likes pointing out to the brothers that although he is the youngest, he is by far the biggest and strongest, which has become his signature way to persuade them to go his way. Donnie, the next brother, is currently starring on the NBC acclaimed show “Blue Bloods,” and is always claiming that he is Alma’s favorite son.
“They all think they are my favorite, but are all really just pain in the asses,” Alma is always explaining. Although the family is tight knit and all love each other, they are always competing for her love. Paul, the oldest of the three brothers seems to be the most needy on the show so far, and the other brothers never let up on him for it. The Wahlburger restaurant is the brainchild of Paul, but would not be possible without the support of his brothers’ investments. Paul is a “slow and steady wins the race” kind of guy, which makes him the center of his brothers’ scrutiny. Despite this, Paul keeps an upbeat attitude and finds ways to get back at them.
In the first episode of the show, Donnie goes to the restaurant to check up on Paul and discovers that he has a burger named after him, the “Double D Burger”. Paul laughs but Donnie is not amused and scoffs, “I like boobs as much as the next guy, but I don’t want it to be the name of my hamburger.” Paul even took it a step further and told Donnie that he was going to name a burger after his new girlfriend, Jenny McCarthy. He joked and first named the burger “My Brother’s Girl’s Dog,” but eventually named it Jenny’s Chicago Dog (an ode to McCarthy’s hometown of Chicago).
The show is getting promising reviews, and so is the restaurant. It has grown in popularity since the show has aired and Mark, being the outgoing, fast-paced, adventurous brother, is forcing Paul to leave his safe zone of Boston and expand the empire of Wahlburgers. In the latest episode, Mark sent Paul and Donnie to a “great” place in Toronto that he claimed “would be a great place to build” a new burger joint. Upon arrival they discover that it is a hair salon and is across the street from a Wayne Gretzky burger, bar, and grille restaurant. Paul and Donnie come to the conclusion that Mark may have jumped the gun on this one, but need to make it work. Will this new location and jump into and international corporation destroy the brothers? The answer will be discovered in the next episode airing on A&E on Wednesday at 10:30 titled “Sibling Rivalry”.
