POLL: Got a Hankering for Hardee's? Burger Chain Could Call Burnsville Home

How far would you go for some Hardee's heaven? At present, the nearest Hardee's is 10 miles away in St. Paul, and other stores are over 30 miles from Burnsville, but that may change in the near future.

Hardee's parent company, CKE Restaurants Incorporated, recently unveiled plans to quadruple the burger chain's presence in the Twin Cities metro area, with ambitious plans to add 59 total stores in the region. Right now there are 21 Hardee's locations in the state. 

"We are excited to expand in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area," said CKE vice president for domestic franchisee operations Jim Sullivan. "Our brand recognition, current franchisees' performance and the Midwest's rapidly growing desire for great-tasting burgers makes the area an ideal expansion market," he said.

Hardee's has a tagline—"Eat Like You Mean It"—and a menu to match. The trademarked Monster Biscuit (720 calories) and the Thickburger series, which features burgers that range up to 1300 calories each. The chain is not seeking boutique burger eaters. Instead, their target demographic group is men aged 18- to 24-years-old, according to a recent report in the Star Tribune.

"When you see their commercials with [supermodel] Kate Upton and these big sizzling burgers, I think they really understand who their demographic is," Sam Oches, editor of a fast food industry magazine, told the STRIB.

On the other hand, the company faces fierce local competition. Burgers are not hard to come by in the Burnsville area, which boasts all the usual suspects (McDonald's, Burger King and a Culver's in Savage) and a number of local joints like , Roasted Pear and Burger Jones.

"It's one thing to say you're going to [open new franchises]," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic. "It's another thing getting there."