The Counter, a restaurant franchise featuring custom-built burgers, reported a strong turnout yesterday at its second hiring event to fill about 70 positions for a store at Kahala Mall slated to open early next month.

More than 100 job seekers filled out applications for positions, including servers, bartenders, hosts, bus boys and girls, line cooks, prep cooks, dish washers and kitchen supervisors.

The company is continuing to accept applications, which can be downloaded from www.thecounterburger.com/now_hiring and faxed or e-mailed to the Kahala store through the Web site.

The 5-year-old chain, known for its industrial decor, music, creative burger combinations and a drink menu that includes beer and unique wines, is being operated in Hawai'i by partners Pablo Buckingham, DK Kodama, Daniel Dae Kim and Ed Robles.

"We're looking to open from three to five more restaurants in Hawai'i. It's contingent on the economy," Buckingham said. Three of the restaurants would likely be on O'ahu, with others tentatively planned for Maui and the Big Island, he said.

The Counter, established in 2003, gained national exposure when a GQ magazine columnist in 2005 toured the country sampling burgers and ranked Counter No. 15 in a list of "20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die." The list was featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last year.

As a restaurant, The Counter stands out for an ordering process in which patrons fill out a checklist on a clipboard for custom-building burgers with ingredients that include such unusual burger items as cranberries, green onions, pineapple, fried eggs, peanut sauce, apricot sauce and feta cheese.

The company says roughly 312,000 ingredient combinations are possible.