POOLE, Ky. — Kenny Todd spent years missing the simple pleasure of a good burger.
The longtime owner of Papaw’s Poole Mill Restaurant developed alpha-gal syndrome after Lone Star tick bites he got while fishing. For the first four years, he did not know what was wrong. He dealt with shakes, nausea, sweating, brain fog, vision problems and a growing sense of anxiety and depression.
“It affects you mentally as well,” Todd said. “Because you go so long without beef or pork or any type of red meat and it kind of puts a little anxiety and depression on you as well as all the symptoms.”
A doctor in Henderson eventually diagnosed the condition about two and a half years ago. Todd has lived with it for roughly six to six and a half years total. Alpha-gal syndrome causes the body to react to a sugar molecule found in the meat of most mammals. That means beef, pork and other mammal products are off-limits. Some people also react to dairy.
Todd switched to fish, chicken and turkey. He still wanted a burger.
About a month ago, he ordered ostrich meat from Alpha Roost Farms, a Kentucky company he found through social media. He tried it, liked it and added an ostrich burger to the menu at his restaurant in Poole.
“It’s richer than beef, but it tastes like a rich beef burger. And it’s pretty lean. It doesn’t shrink up,” he said.
Ostrich is a bird, not a mammal. Its meat does not contain the sugar molecule that triggers the allergic reaction for people with alpha-gal. That makes it one of the few red-meat-like options available to them.
Todd is careful about preparation.
“Separate grill. Separate kitchen,” he said. “We’ve got separate lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. We’ve got alpha-gal-friendly buns that we order specially for this. We got alpha-gal-friendly cheese, plant-based cheese that we use for that.”
In the first month, he said the burgers have sold well. Some days he moves three. Other days the number reaches five or six. Customers have driven three or four hours to try one.
“These people that’s coming, and they’ve been driving anywhere from 3 to 4 hours away to get one of these burgers here in the last 30 days. And they loved it,” Todd said.
Some reactions have been emotional.
“I’ve had a customer’s tears run down her face because she hasn’t eaten beef or pork or any type of mammal in over three years,” he said.
Regular customer Jeff Todd, who is not related to Kenny, has known the owner for years. He does not have alpha-gal but has watched the change in his friend.
“They serve great food, and it’s all done with love and the ostrich burgers for people that couldn’t eat red meat. That’s very unique. He’s a great guy,” Jeff said.
He also remembers how difficult the diagnosis was at first.
“When I first heard it, I was like, no way. I mean, it’s like so out there that he got that. And I think it really was hard on him. I mean, till he found out what was wrong with him. And I almost kind of forget about that sometimes because you see him now and he looks so good.”
Kenny Todd said the ostrich burgers have helped him mentally as well as physically. He sees the new menu item as a way to help others facing the same restrictions.
“I’ve been blessed. And I’m here to bless everybody else if I possibly can,” he said.
He is already thinking about the next step: adding freezers so customers can buy the meat and cook it at home.
For now, the work continues in the small kitchen in Poole, one carefully prepared burger at a time..
Dining and Cooking